A New Zealand man shot in the eye after daring a man to pull the trigger while drunk at a house party has refused to cooperate with investigators saying the incident is none of their business.

Christchurch resident Joshua Small said the shooting was his fault because he was drunk and wanted to fight.

"The argument was over nothing, I was drunk and I felt like picking a fight with someone," he said in a candid interview with stuff.co.nz .

Mr Small said he was "getting on the piss" at a friend's home when a group arrived and he began arguing with one of them.

He said one of the men returned to the home about 45 minutes later armed with a gun and threatened to shoot him.

Joshua Small. (stuff.co.nz)

"I said 'either you're gonna f---ing shoot me or put that s--- away'," Mr Small said.

The man then fired a shot in the air but it failed to intimidate Mr Small who told him: "If you're gonna f---ing shoot it, shoot it at me."

The gunman then pointed the gun at Mr Small's legs but when he laughed the shooter raised the weapon at Mr Small's head and fired, hitting him in the left eye.

Mr Small said he didn't realise he was shot until blood started "pissing out everywhere".

Not wanting to get anyone at the house in trouble, Mr Small, who said he has led a "criminal life", walked to a nearby service station, where employees called an ambulance.

Mr Small said his eye would heal without surgery and he felt lucky to be alive. He believes he was shot with a small calibre weapon.

He has refused to cooperate with a police investigation and has not identified his shooter or even the location where he was shot.