Hunting: Tree Stand Safety

Let me start this story by providing a few statistics on tree stand related accidents. I did a little research and found that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) maintains a statistical information system called the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). This system samples 100 of the approximately 5,300 nationwide emergency hospitals and then formulates a national estimate on different injuries. (See the NEISS link for more detail.) I queried a period of 1/1/2008 to 12/31/2008 and found 127 tree stand related accidents from the sampled population of emergency hospitals. You can actually view the cases and descriptions from the queried results. My point to this is not to provide a shocking estimate of deaths or injuries from tree stand accidents, but to just show that accidents do occur. All hunters that use tree stands more than likely have experienced some sort of close call. The following close call was literally slammed into my memory, and almost put me into the statistical category noted above.

Stepping from my buddy’s truck, the soaking rain from the night before was evident from the water seeping from the ground as I took my first step. This provided some promise for the morning hunt as we figured the deer would be eager to move because they would have hunkered down during the night to weather the storm. A cool misty fog rolled across the field as we started towards our hunting spots. We knew that this hunt would be what I like to call ‘all eyes and no ears’, because the rain had taken the crunch out of the earth’s floor. We came to a split in the path which signaled it was time for us to part. My buddy was headed to a fixed stand looking over a pasture bordered by young pines. I was going to hunt a funnel of hardwoods that extended out from the pasture we just crossed.

Let me interrupt the story for a few important details. We were hunting on my buddy’s property, which I had only hunted a few times before. My buddy was letting me borrow his climbing stand because we were limited on the number of fixed stands we could hunt. I kid with him now that he was a horrible guide because as we got to the split in the path he pointed and said, “Somewhere over there would be good”. I can remember shining my light in the direction he pointed and thinking he was crazy. The hardwood funnel was surrounded by ten foot pines packed so tightly that it would’ve been hard to squeeze a mouse through them and here I am with a cumbersome climbing stand strapped to my back. With no other options, I managed to fight through that mess. Standing on the other side of the pines, I was a bit confused, frustrated, and wet!! Now, let’s get back to the story.

As I entered the funnel area, I found what appeared to be a good tree to climb. I strapped my rifle across my chest and attached the climber to the tree. I started up the tree, trying to be as careful as possible. I usually try to climb about 20 feet or so, but as I got up the tree something didn’t feel right. I eased my weight back into the stand to realize that the tree was angled slightly and I was on the wrong side of the tree. Without much thought, I decided to work myself to the opposite side of the tree. When I made my first move I knew I was in trouble. The upper section of the stand swayed quickly. All in one motion, I let go and grabbed the tree. In a split second my stand was on the ground and I was hanging on. What now and a few expletives swept through my mind. Like a cat, I shimmied down the tree. My heart was racing because I knew I had escaped major injury. My buddy said the clanging of the metal stand as it fell echoed through the woods like a gun blast. It’s no surprise that I saw no deer that morning.

Three key mistakes I made that day:
1. I didn’t have a tree picked out prior to climbing. I was unfamiliar with the area!
2. I was not familiar with the stand I was using.
3. I did not have a safety belt or strap. (Most Important)

One statistic that I would like to know is how often this has happened to other hunters. I can imagine that the number of close calls is significant. I learned that day that safety is most important and a safety belt is a must. At the top of my blog is a custom Google search. Take a minute and type in hunter safety harness into the search field. There are many good options these days. I don’t necessarily have an opinion of which is the best, but I do have an opinion that one is a must!