[fabsroman]

Okay, if he was shooting a 12 ga. with 00 buck or a rifle, I am going to assume that he wouldn't be swinging on a flushing bird, but would probably have time to think about the shot. Bird hunting is completely different than big game hunting unless you are trying to drive deer and shoot them when they get up, which I personally do not like because of the safety factor.

With upland bird hunting, a bird flushes and you have to shoot it before it gets out of range. You do not have the time to scan ahead of its flight and check to see if anybody is there. When it gets up, you mount your gun, you start tracking it, and when you get the muzzle in front of it you pull the trigger. If you shoot with one eye closed, like I do when I get ready to pull the trigger, you really have no peripheral vision, especially if it is a right to left bird and you are right handed. At the end of the day, you are using your memory of what is around you right before that bird flushes. If you are the man on the end of the line, that gives you the ability to swing all the way around.

As I have said a million times before, crap happens and we don't know all the facts on this one. He might be to blame and they both might be to blame for this accident. The rest of the hunters and the guide might also be to blame.