While hunting is a pretty safe activity, one aspect continues to rack up the statistics: falls from tree stands. Would you send your son into a football game without a helmet? Likewise, would you let him hunt from a tree stand without a hunting safety harness? With bow hunting season starting throughout the nation, it's a good time to review some hunter safety considerations for tree stand hunters.
It's likely that at some time during your hunting career you've said to yourself, "I'd love to hunt that spot, but there's just no way." The problem could be a lack of suitable trees for hunting stands. It might be the tall CRP grass and scrub brush that forms an 8-foot carpet over the spot. Or, it might be a huge short-grass pasture the buck crosses on his way to dinner. Regardless of the hurdle, today's tree stand manufacturers are likely to have a solution that will allow you to get on that buck and hunt the unhuntable.
Sure it's hot, humid and miserable. But at night if you catch a breeze on your cheeks, you can almost feel fall in the distance. Yes, it may not seem like it now, but soon you'll be perched on a platform overlooking your favorite deer trails with a cool breeze on your face and a bow in your hands. Or, you might be sitting in a hunting blind watching a food plot in the fading evening light, fingering the safety on your favorite rifle. Regardless of where you'll be or the weapon in your hands, there are things you can do now to up your odds then. Here are some suggestions...
I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye - something crossing behind me and to my right. My heart jumped and pulse rate instantly increased, but when I slowly turned my head to get a look, it was another hunter, and not the buck that made the rub 20 yards in front of my stand. The hunter moved on through the little draw and never saw me 25 feet up a tree in my Summit climber.
Hunting is an extremely safe activity. According to the National Safety Council, far more people per 100,000 participants are injured while bicycling or playing baseball than while hunting. Further statistics show that while around 100 die in nationwide while hunting each year, more than 1,500 die in swimming-related accidents. But, there are dangers. Here are a few things you can do to ensure you don't become a statistic.
