US: Dog shoots man

A hunter is recovering after being shot in the leg at close range by his dog, who stepped on his shotgun and tripped the trigger.

James Harris, 37, was hit in the calf on the opening day of pheasant season in Iowa, said a spokesman with the state’s department of natural resources.

“He had surgery and is doing pretty well,” he said. “He took between 100-120 pellets in about a 4-inch circle to his calf.”

Mr Harris was reported to be in a satisfactory condition today in hospital.

He was hunting with a group when he went to get a bird the group had shot. He put his gun on the ground and as he was crossing a fence, his hunting dog stepped on the gun, the spokesman said.

The gun was about three feet away from his leg.

“The muzzle velocity is so great that the pellets don’t have a chance to spread out,” he said.

No one else was hurt, and the dog was not injured.