Police issued a brief media statement yesterday which confirmed the boy had been taken to Dunedin Hospital after he sustained serious injuries to his right hand in the incident on a farm on Sunday evening.
A Dunedin Hospital patient inquiries spokeswoman said yesterday the boy was "progressing well" in the children's ward.
It is understood the boy had an operation on his injured hand yesterday.
Sunday's duck-shooting incident comes two weeks after two Christchurch duck shooters received facial injuries from pellets on the opening day of the duck-shooting season at Tarras.
Sergeant Mike Williams, of Cromwell, said an investigation into the boy's case was under way, but preliminary details about what had happened remain sketchy.
Police were prepared to give the parents of the boy "a lot of space" to focus on their youngster's recovery, he said.
Constable Gary Hyndman, of Cromwell, visited the farm yesterday to inspect the site.
The boy was injured in an irrigated paddock and the incident appeared to have happened near a fence, next to a large puddle, he said.
Police understood the boy was shooting with his father and uncle, using a .410 shotgun, which Const Hyndman said was like a mini-shotgun.
Police still needed to interview the parties at the scene of the incident to determine what took place, Sgt Williams said.
Early indications were that at least one of the adults held a firearms licence, which meant anyone - even children - were able to shoot guns under supervision, Const Hyndman said.
The investigation would consider factors such as adult supervision, weapon reliability and safety procedures, but it was speculative to focus on these at such an early stage of inquiries, he said.
It was pure coincidence two serious duck-shooting incidents causing injury had happened recently at Tarras, Const Hyndman said.
Police were encouraging hunters to be more conscious of safety when using firearms, he said.
Otago Fish and Game has also called for duck shooters to examine more carefully the potential risks when out shooting.
Spokesman Ian Hadland said a second accident in as many weeks served as a wake-up call for all.
Shooting involved many unpredictable elements, such as poor light and the behaviour of other people nearby, and extra care needed to be taken when additional risk factors were introduced.
Responsibility for the police investigation into the first Tarras duck-shooting incident had been shifted to a Dunedin-based detective, Sgt Williams said.
