From wire services

WASHINGTON – The White House on Monday blamed the 78-year-old man whom Vice President Dick Cheney shot during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas for causing the incident.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan tried to absolve Cheney of blame for shooting wealthy Austin lawyer Harry Whittington, saying that hunting “protocol was not followed by Mr. Whittington when it came to notifying others that he was there. And so, you know, unfortunately, these types of hunting accidents happen from time to time.”

Several hunting experts were skeptical of McClellan’s explanation. They said Cheney might have violated a cardinal rule of hunting: Know your surroundings before you pull the trigger.

“Particularly identify the game that you are shooting and particularly identify your surroundings, that it’s safe to shoot,” said Mark Birkhauser, the incoming president of the International Hunter Education Association, a group of fish and wildlife agencies. “Every second, you’re adjusting your personal information that it is a safe area to shoot or it’s not a safe area to shoot.”

Safe-hunting rules published by the National Rifle Association and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department echo Birkhauser’s advice.

The jokes are inevitable.

“I would be proud to hunt with the vice president – cautious, but proud,” said Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, beating the late-night television comedians to the punch.

The vice president wasn’t joking – or talking at all in public – about Saturday’s accident in which he peppered Whittington with birdshot in the face, neck and chest as he fired on a covey of quail.

There were questions about Cheney’s adherence to hunting safety practices. And 48 hours after the shooting, the vice president’s office revealed that Cheney and Whittington lacked $7 upland game bird hunting stamps and were given warning citiations by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for violating the law.

Cheney had a $125 nonresident hunting license, the vice president’s office said Monday night in a statement, and has sent a $7 check to cover the cost of the stamp.

Cheney, an experienced hunter, avoided reporters Monday by leaving an Oval Office meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan before the press was escorted in.

President Bush was told about Cheney’s involvement in the accident shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday – about an hour after it occurred – but the White House did not disclose the accident until Sunday afternoon, and then only in response to press questions. Press secretary Scott McClellan said he did not know until Sunday morning that Cheney had shot someone.

Facing a press corps upset that news had been withheld, McClellan said, “I think you can always look back at these issues and look at how to do a better job.”

Katharine Armstrong, the owner of the ranch where the shooting occurred, said she told Cheney on Sunday morning that she was going to inform the local paper, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She said he agreed, and the newspaper reported it on its Web site Sunday afternoon.