In a freak hunting accident, a man who was supposedly out hunting in Iowa got himself shot in the leg by a dog.

According to local reports, the accident freak occurred after James Harris, 37, put his gun on the ground to retrieve a fallen pheasant.

However, one of a pack of hunting dogs following behind accidentally stepped on the trigger, firing up the gun embedding up to 120 birdshot pellets in Harris' left calf.

The hunter was immediately taken to Grinnell Regional Medical Centre for first aid treatment and later taken by helicopter to University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City.

A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said it was not uncommon for hunters to be shot by their dogs.

"I hear about it a couple times a year," Alan Foster 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."

While a local official described the injury was "not life-threatening, it will give him trouble for a long time."