A man out hunting in Iowa was shot in the leg after a hunting dog stepped on his gun, authorities said.
The accident happened after James Harris, 37, put his gun on the ground to retrieve a fallen pheasant.
One of a pack of hunting dogs following behind stepped on the trigger, and up to 120 birdshot pellets hit Mr Harris in the left calf at short range.
A local official told a news agency the injury was “not life-threatening, but will give him trouble for a long time”.
Alan Foster, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, told AFP it was not uncommon for hunters to be shot by their dogs.
“I hear about it a couple times a year,” somewhere in the country, he said.
“They’ll step on the trigger assembly and, if the gun for whatever reason wasn’t on safety, it doesn’t take a whole lot to trip a trigger.”
Harris was treated at Grinnell Regional Medical Center and later transported by helicopter to University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, following the accident in Poweshiek County on Saturday afternoon.
I wonder if this man bit his dog for doing that to him.
Maybe he should kick himself for being so careless.
