Tree stand safety should be front of mind this fall

Towards the end of our Wisconsin archery deer season last year, a couple hunting media personalities sustained falls from tree stands. One sustained a broken leg, the other a broken neck. One stated that she forgot her safety harness and thought she would be OK for one hunt.

We hear of “a full recovery” with traumatic injuries like these. Faithful readers recall that a good friend of mine sustained a fall when the strap securing his ladder broke over ten years ago. He sustained similar injuries to the female hunting personality.

Faithful readers might recall that he ended up needing multiple surgeries. “A full recovery” meant that he lived with pain day and night. A fused ankle provided pain relief five years later. He made it out west pheasant hunting once since his fall.

A human takes 1.05 seconds to fall 18 feet to the ground. Most hunters hunt from a height of 18 feet. Most ladder stands reach up 18 feet. We hunt from that height for several reasons. A 200 pound human hits the ground with 2,640 pounds of force from 18 feet, and at an accelerating speed of 23.05 miles per hour.

I listened for two hours one night to a person that fell from a tree stand, telling me everything that went through his mind in that 1.05 seconds. He told me that he knew when the fall started that his life would change forever - if he lived. He didn’t make “a full recovery”- not even close to it. He left his safety harness in the truck and thought that he would be OK.

This weekend we start hunting out of tree stands again. Please take the proper precautions so that you don’t experience one of the worst 1.05 seconds of your life.

Ladder stands account for the greatest number of falls. Most occur when setting up the stand or taking it down and when getting in and out of the stand.

Self-climbing stands users see the least number of falls from tree stands. Self-climbing stands remain the safest way to hunt from an elevated position. They allow the user to climb with the safety harness on and attached to the tree – but the hunter needs to use it. Wearing a “safety harness” every time you hunt from the ground up remains the single most important action that prevents a fall. The new fall restraint systems allow the users of ladder stands and hang-in stands to climb with a safety harness on. Saddle system hunters enjoy the use of safety harnesses from the ground up like self-climbing stands. But again, only if one uses it. Hang-in tree stands fall somewhere in the middle. Most falls with those occur when getting into and out of the stand or when shifting in the stand for a shot at a deer that came from an unexpected angle. Or simply falling asleep in the stand. Ice on steps, soles of boots covered with mud, hand grips that don’t extend high enough above the stand itself, foot-steps that don’t extend high enough to allow for the hunter to step down to enter the stand and up to exit, and footsteps too far apart. Incidentally no ladder stands allow all that either, and slippery steps apply to ladder stands too.

Carrying gear, weapons, and lunches up a tree with you causes a lot of falls. Three points of contact at all times. We all know this. In fact I bet we all joke around about it when we do something that is a primary reason women live longer than men - like tree stand falls.

You just can’t maintain three points of contact when you carry something in one hand. Additional weight on ones’ back alters balance. And we all need to face the facts, most of us don’t possess the agility of spiderman. We won’t just spin around in the air and land on our feet in a cool pose with music playing in the background in 1.05 seconds. Use a pull rope.

As a whole, hunters keep improving in safety involving tree stands. Not too many years ago one out of three hunters would sustain a fall in their hunting life. Today, one out of four. Improved, but understand more hunters get hurt from falls from tree stands than firearms.

Bait sitting for bear opened a week ago and today the dog hunters started. Good luck to all this weekend. But please remember that Safe Hunting is No Accident!

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CHUCK K OLAR LOCAL OUTDOORSMAN