'TIS THE SEASON...

For troglodytes with weapons to go out and shoot each other, as well as other humans, which is to say, any animals of whatever stripe that get in the way of their big manly guns. And true to form, there they go: A Virginia man was fatally shot by a hunting companion, and two other hunters survived shootings in separate accidents over the weekend. Meanwhile in Colorado, a guy named Cory Ruchti was shot by his hunting buddy, who mistook him for an elk the two were tracking. And not to ignore the kiddies and their need for personal expression with high-powered weapons, a teen hunter in Virginia mistook another hunter for a deer - the latter was carrying a tree stand, which apparently made him a dead ringer for same - and shot him in the stomach, wounding but not killing him. Not so lucky was James Griffin Jr., of Maine, who died in the woods as a result of a gunshot wound to the torso, fired by a fellow gunslinger from his own hunting party. And David Williams of Florida told investigators he thought the two men on horses approaching him in the dark were wolves, which is why he started firing, blowing a hole in the arm of his own hunting guide. That one we can understand - because wolves are so scary they can make a lot of people do irrational things.