Iowa authorities say an 18-year-old Nebraska man is expected to live after accidentally being shot by his father while the two were hunting pheasants in southwest Iowa.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources spokesman Kevin Baskins says Ryan Rearick, of Omaha, was shot at fairly close range in the back of his head by a shotgun being carried by his father, Christopher Rearick, also of Omaha. The two were hunting in Page County when the accident happened around 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

The younger Rearick was taken to a Red Oak hospital, then flown to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha. Baskins says Rearick is in stable condition and expected to survive.

Baskins says the shooting likely would have been fatal if the gun had been loaded for deer instead of pheasant.