A 17-year-old was shot and killed by his friend who mistook him for a deer during a hunting trip.

Bobby Lane was on a hunting trip with friends in Glynn County, Georgia, when one of his companions shot him with a rifle.

Police say Hector Romero, 32, mistook Bobby for a deer when he was in heavy foliage and shot him.

Bobby Lane, 17 (left), was on a hunting trip with friends in Glynn County, Georgia, when one of his companions shot him with a rifle

Glynn County police received reports that someone had been shot at 6.48pm on Saturday.

Romero and some other members of the hunting party took him to a nearby Friendly Express gas station where an ambulance was waiting.

Bobby was then taken to Southeast Georgia Health System’s Brunswick hospital.

He was pronounced dead later that evening.

Police say Hector Romero, 32, mistook Bobby for a deer when he was in heavy foliage and shot him

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources was called in to investigate with Glynn County police.

The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have yet been made.

Even though it's currently bow season in Georgia, police say Bobby was shot with a rifle.

Fewer than 75 people a year are killed in hunting accidents, according to the International Hunter Education Association.

Earlier this month an Italian man accidentally shot dead his father after mistaking him for a wild boar.

The 34-year-old son heard his hunting dogs barking and noticed a bush rustling so fired a shot.

But instead of hitting a wild boar he killed his 55-year-old father, Martino Gaudioso.

The son has now been charged with manslaughter.