– I immediately understood that I was shot. I heard the bang, and my body was somehow put directly into shock. It hurt, but the pain was not extreme.
Dan Eriksson (50) takes us back to December 30, 2017, to Uppsala in Sweden, and the moment when another moose hunter had shot him by mistake.
Eriksson was terrified of being shot again. His first reaction was to flee.
– I tried to run, but my right leg did not work, so after seven meters I ended up in a ditch. In a kind of panic, I ended up there, he says to Dagbladet.
He got on his knees and looked up. He could not see the moose hunter who had just shot him. Then he looked down at himself, and discovered that he was bleeding profusely. He still did not know how bad it was.
– I shouted into the hunting radio that I had been shot, that they had to call an ambulance and helicopter. Then I tried to find out what had happened.
– I put my hands in my pants. There was blood, feces and intestines. Then I discovered the entrance wound in the groin, and realized that the race was over. I capitulated with the thought “this is not going to work, I can not do this”.
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Accidents in Norway
Both in Sweden and in Norway, autumn means hunting for many. The Norwegian Hunters’ and Fishermen’s Association (NJFF) estimates that approximately 150,000 Norwegians annually choose to take a shooting test to be able to hunt.
Unfortunately, every year there are also accidents in connection with hunting.
This is what information manager Espen Farstad in NJFF says.
– There are about two to three minor accidents every year, while a wet shot resulting in death happens about every three years, Farstad tells Dagbladet.
He goes on to say that it is in two different situations that accidents occur:
– The first is when a bird flies up, and the shooter has no control over his friend and hits him by accident.
– The second situation occurs when someone is sitting on a post, and thinks it is a moose or a deer coming, but then it is instead a hunting companion, Farstad continues.
– HAD LUCK: Dan Eriksson says that he is doing very well today. Photo: Shara Lundin
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Collection
Dan Eriksson fell victim to the latest variant of the hunting accidents. He was shot by a hunting colleague who mistaken him for being a wild boar.
Eriksson was the leader of the hunting team, and had started the hunt this December day with a gathering where they, among other things, went through who should sit where in the terrain.
– We always did that, so we knew where we had each other, says Eriksson.
It did not take long from the hunters had found their records, until the moose appeared. Via the radio it was reported that four moose had passed. Eriksson, who was walking a dog, decided to track them down.
– I was in an area that was difficult to get to, so I chose instead to get further up a road, and reported it on the radio.
– When I got up on the road I saw that there was another hunter up there. He was not to sit there, and as his leader I had to let him know. I took off my cap, waved to him, and walked towards him.
– Then he shot me.
– Did he not see you?
– In retrospect, it has emerged that he had seen a wild boar pass there just before I arrived. He therefore expected more wild boars, and when I got up on the road he only saw that there was a black lump. In his world, I became a wild boar.
WENT WITH DOG: Eriksson normally has the dogs loose during the moose hunt, but had them in line the day he was shot. Photo: Shara Lundin
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Fist and shoe heel
Eriksson was hit in the groin. The bullet went straight through his body. The entrance wound was 15 centimeters long, and when Eriksson realized this, he capitulated.
– I can not describe how it was. It was a variant of relaxing, at the same time as I thought “what happens now?”.
He lay there in the ditch, waiting for death. But then something happened.
– After a while, a survival instinct ticked in, he says.
– I had to do something, so I took off my shoe and pressed the heel of the shoe against the initial wound, and at the same time I pressed my fist on the initial wound, he says.
– That way I got a little stop on the bleeding. It saved my life, he continues.
Daniel (23) attacked: – Scream of death
Was alone
Farstad in the Norwegian Hunters’ and Fishermen’s Association says that he gets a stomach ache from hearing about Dan Eriksson’s hunting accident.
– He has done the only thing right. Running a fist into the wound sounds brutal, but can be what is necessary to be able to stop a bleeding, says Farstad.
Dan Eriksson on the other hand, had a terrible day. For an hour he lay in the ditch before the ambulance personnel finally found him, and periodically he lay there all alone because his hunting comrades ran to meet the ambulance and show them the way.
– For me, there was a lot that was extreme and horrible that day, but the worst was when I was alone, says Eriksson.
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– Extreme luck
After being transported by ambulance for a while, he was flown on by air ambulance to the hospital in Uppsala and the emergency room there.
It was immediately established that the gunshot wound had gone straight through his body. His pelvis had suffered six fractures, the thigh muscle was injured, and the anus had been shot away.
He was operated on there and then, and has had many operations since then.
– I have had an angel guard, an extremely extreme luck, says Eriksson that he is alive today – and that as good as normal.
– Today I only have a little pain and a little problem with the intestine, but if you look at the injuries I came in with, I manage by and large fantastically well today, he says.
He has also started hunting again, but says that it has not only been easy.
– I have hunted all my life, and I think we hunters are needed in the forest for the sake of the animals. And I’m hunting again now, but I’m still affected by the incident. I was scared of gunfire, he says.
– I have worked hard to get rid of it, and today it is manageable, he adds.
SAFETY: Dan Eriksson believes hunters can have an even greater focus on safety during hunting. – It is important that we raise security as a significant issue in all our associations, he says. Photo: Sarah Lundin
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Hunting safety
The accident has also made him talk loudly about and fight for hunting safety in Sweden to be even better.
– I experienced a dramatic event, and have traveled around and talked about it and described what has happened, says the 50-year-old and continues:
– In Sweden today we have a good hunting management education and all hunters must go through a hunting course, as well as take an exam and shoot up. We are concerned about high safety while hunting, because there are many accidents in this environment.
– Nevertheless, I sometimes think that we can be even closer to this. We hunters are not in any category. It is important that we raise security as a significant issue in all our associations.
He has appeared with the story and message in several Swedish media, including at SVT this fall.
Will have more first-time hunters on the autumn hunt
Trial
The man who shot Eriksson has pleaded guilty to causing serious bodily harm to Eriksson, but denied in court the indictment’s point of grievous bodily harm. In 2018, he was sentenced in Uppsala District Court to 100 days of community service.
In court, the man told that he had undergone cataract surgery prior to the incident.
– My client was incredibly sad and unhappy about having seriously injured a person in that way, says the man’s defender, lawyer Martin Karlsson to Dagbladet.
In the verdict from 2018, it appears that the client was adamant that he saw a black lump, and that he thought it was a wild boar he shot. It is also stated here that the man fired the shot that hit Eriksson at a distance of 275 meters.
The bear smashed the door and broke in: – Definitely unusual
Two million hunting weapons
Both being shot and shooting a hunting colleague is an enormously traumatic experience, says information manager Espen Farstad in the Norwegian Hunters’ and Fishermen’s Association.
They have says that there have been some hunting accidents in Norway so far this year, but not many – and no fatalities.
– There are a couple who have been shot in the foot; one himself, and one by another, but no mortals, he says.
The police are investigating these cases, Farstad states
According to him, about every tenth Norwegian is listed in the hunting register.
– This corresponds to a little over 500,000 Norwegians. However, not many people hunt every year, but potentially 10 percent of Norway’s population can go hunting now. Hunting is important for many in Norway, he says.
– How many hunting weapons are registered in this country?
– We think there are a little over two million hunting weapons in Norwegian homes. There is a high density of weapons among civilians. At the same time, there are very strict requirements for the storage of these weapons. For example, it must be approved by the police, and the owner of the weapon must have impeccable character.
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