Well, I dunno' about the whole thing of fox, but I think Wife Hunting should probably be banned.........The following from today's 'Columbus Dispatch:'

HUNTER SHOOTS WIFE

Gary Johnson's first shot this deer season came early Monday at home when a slug from his shotgun pierced a love seat and passed through the kitchen wall and into the microwave oven.

He was one of thousands of hunters gearing up for what state wildlife officials say was a banner opening day for deer-gun season: 41,257 deer were bagged Monday, an 18 percent increase over opening day 2000.

But Johnson, 52, of Byesville in Guernsey County, never made it to his favorite hunting spot. He was inspecting his shotgun about 2:15 a.m. and thought the safety was on when it discharged.

After the blast, he heard his wife, Sherry, call his name and walked into the kitchen.

"I thought she was going to raise hell with me,'' he said yesterday from his home, about 80 miles east of Columbus.

"She was lying on the floor with blood surrounding her head.''

The .410-gauge slug grazed her scalp.

Mrs. Johnson was taken to Southeastern Ohio Medical Center in Cambridge, where she was treated and released that day.

Officials said only one hunting injury was reported in the woods.

Vicki Mountz, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said a hunter in Hocking County was injured when his shotgun exploded as he fired it Monday.

Last year, there were 11 injuries and one fatality during deer-gun season.

"People are taking safety seriously,'' Mountz said.

Officials said ideal weather Monday brought hunters out in droves.

"The conditions were great Monday. It was clear, the temperature was in the 50s and there were a lot of deer out there,'' said Tim Waldren of Waldren's Hunting Supplies in Newark. "People were saying it was a perfect day to go deer hunting.''

Hunters killed 96,290 deer during last season.

Waldren said hunters brought 189 deer to his store for tagging on Monday.

"That's double what we got last year on the first day,'' he said.

State officials estimate there are about 500,000 deer in Ohio, about a 10 percent increase over last year.

Hunters are limited to one deer in most counties. But wildlife officials say that depending on the 2001 harvest, the state might expand the number of two-deer counties.

"We think we're 7 percent to 10 percent above our target population levels,'' Mountz said.

In Guernsey County, however, Johnson said he plans to give up hunting after his wife's near miss.

"It's been a nightmare since it happened,'' he said. "She's the mother of my kids. The woman I've been with for 31 years."

I'm glad to see they're taking safety seriously this year...........

Spaw