A hunter died after he was attacked by the deer he had just shot, according to officials in the US state of Arkansas

"It’s one of the stranger things that’s happened," Keith Stephens of the midwestern state's Game and Fish Commission told the KY3 news channel, adding that he had worked there for 20 years.

Thomas Alexander shot the buck with a muzzle loading gun while hunting near the small city of Yellville, in Marion County.

Unlike their modern equivalents, they are loaded by pushing the ammunition down the barrel.

Mr Stephens said he did not know how long Mr Alexander left the deer "but he went up to check it to make sure it was dead and evidently it wasn’t."

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That is when the creature attacked.

“It got back up and he had several puncture wounds on his body,” he said.

The 66-year-old had been alone at the time of the attack, but had apparently been able to make a phone call to his family, who called the emergency services on his behalf.

However, he later died in hospital. The deer's status is unknown.

It is unclear whether Mr Alexander died from the puncture wounds inflicted by the deer he had been targetting, or from other causes, such as a heart attack as a result of the attack.

“It’s my understanding there’s not going to be an autopsy, so we may never know what actually happened,” Mr Stephens said.

He added that there had been a similar incident in nearby Ashley County.