A duck hunter died after he was blasted in the face by one of his own party during a waterfowl shoot in Iowa.

Victim Seth Egelhoff, 26, died before an air ambulance could reach him at the Bay Branch Wildlife Area, near the city of Panora, on 11th November, according to local media.

Egelhoff, who was from Chesterfield, in Illinois, had been collecting a downed duck when he was shot by a friend using a 12-gauge shotgun loaded with steel birdshot, a report into the death reveals.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources spokesman Jeremy King told local media: “The fatal shot was delivered accidentally by a member of his own hunting party while trying to harvest a duck.”

He added: “We have no evidence to believe there was any malicious or ill intent by any member of the hunting party.”

Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Police are reportedly investigating the shooting.

It is the second hunting death in the state in less than two months.

Mark Arends, 53, was shot dead while he was hunting coyotes with friends.