Dick Cheney has been given an official warning for breaking Texas hunting law in failing to buy a $7 permit to shoot quail.

The Vice President of the United States's private hunting trip on Saturday became public knowledge after it emerged that he had accidentally peppered a 78-year-old Republican lawyer, and fellow quail hunter, in the face with birdshot. Now it appears that he did not have a licence to be out shooting game birds that day.

An early report by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has blamed Mr Cheney's judgement for the mishap, although it ruled out any suggestion that members of the shooting party had been drinking.

The Vice President was also chastised for not having bought a new upland game bird stamp for his shooting licence.

The hospital treating the shooting victim said that Harry Whittington, a prominent attorney from Austin, had been moved out of intensive care and his condition was improving. He was in stable condition in hospital, where doctors have decided to leave several pellets lodged in his skin rather than try to remove them.

Mr Cheney, however, was facing a deteriorating political situation, and has so far remained silent amid claims of a cover up. Journalists are pressuring the White House over why details of the shooting on Saturday did not emerge more quickly. It was 18 hours before the news emerged and then only because a local newspaper received a tip-off from Katharine Armstrong, the ranch owner.

The status of police inquiries remains unclear, with the local police department refusing to give details.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has found that the accident was caused by a "hunter’s judgment factor". The report said that Mr Whittington was retrieving a downed bird and stepped out of the hunting line he was sharing with Mr Cheney when he was sprayed with pellets.

"Another covey was flushed and Cheney swung on a bird and fired, striking Whittington in the face, neck and chest at approximately 30 yards," the report said.

Mr Cheney's office said last night that he had a $125 non-resident hunting licence and has now sent a $7 cheque to cover the cost of the missing stamp, which allows bearers to shoot game birds including woodcock, quail, pheasant and wild turkey.

Mr Whittington also received a warning for failing to have the stamp, a requirement introduced five months ago.

Mrs Armstrong told The Caller-Times, a newspaper based 60 miles away in Corpus Christi, how the accident occurred toward the end of the hunt, as darkness was falling.

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