A new dad has been apparently shot dead by his pet dog while he was packing up after a hunting trip.

As he put his still-loaded shotgun in his car boot, the dog is said to have stepped on the trigger with its paw, blasting its owner at close range and killing him instantly.

Police and prosecutors are investigating the bizarre death.

Ozgur Gevrekoglu, 32, had been on a hunting trip with his pals on the Kizlan Plateau – in Alacam District, Samsun Province, Turkey – last weekend (26th/27th November) when the bizarre incident happened.

According to reports, as he was putting his pet dog in the boot of the car, the pooch touched the shotgun trigger with its paw, causing it to discharge.

His body was first taken to Alacam State Hospital and then transferred to the state capital, Samsun, for an autopsy.

Local media reported that he had become a father just 10 days earlier.

A snap shows him grinning widely while holding up a string of dead birds with one hand and petting a dog’s neck with the other.

But some media think the killer dog claim could be a cover-up for a murder.

At least one news outlet reported that the version of events widely reported in local media seems unlikely and that Ozgur may, in fact, have been the victim of murder.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the case.