Stockholm  - A 76-year-old Swedish man said he was "lucky" to have survived a kick from a moose cow in the northern town of Gallivare, reports said Sunday.

"It was pure luck that the hoof just grazed my chest, it it had impacted fully I would have been crushed to death," Mauritz Henriksson told the Expressen newspaper.

The seasoned moose hunter said he had been walking his four elk hounds on Saturday evening when they started to bark furiously.

Two of the dogs pulled free and raced off, after apparently picking up the scent of a moose in a neighbour's yard.

The moose charged suddenly and kicked out at Henriksson who sustained a cut above one eyebrow but was otherwise unharmed. The 300-kilogram moose disappeared into a forest.

Police said they did not know why the animal had charged Henriksson. (dpa)