In the mid-1990s, I was hunting from a portable tree stand on private land in northern Illinois near Coal Valley. At quitting time, I climbed down my screw-in tree steps after lowering my bow and arrows with a haul line, as we still teach in hunter safety class.
When a boot found the next-to-last step closest to the ground, I shifted my weight and snap.
The metal step snapped where it met the tree. On my short fall, perhaps 5-6 feet, I missed the bottom step with my body and made the perfect two-point, Olympic-style gymnastics landing.
It was one of several wake-up calls on my journey to exclusively hunt from the ground.
Tree stands offer many advantages for deer hunters. They give a high vantage point, enabling hunters to see over thick foliage and spotting distant deer approaching. They sometimes allow human scent to waft up and over the deer below. Although deer rarely looked up for danger decades ago (deer have only one tree-level predator, the human hunter), the popularity of tree stands has certainly educated some deer to look up.
Without proper safety equipment, tree stand falls can result in severe injuries or death. In fact, falls from elevated stands kill or injure far more hunters than firearms or other weapons.
Surprisingly, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources does not keep records of tree stand falls. Fortunately, the Tree Stand Safety Awareness Foundation, an organization of hunting and tree stand products manufacturers, does keep track and offers plenty of tips on staying safe in elevated stands.
Only 14 states mandate the reporting of tree stand accidents, explained Michael Wydner, sales director with Hunter Safety Systems, one of the nation’s top makers of harnesses, lifelines and other tree stand safety gear. Hunter Safety Systems is represented on the TSSA board of directors.
Wydner said two pieces of equipment are crucial for every tree stand hunter: a full-body harness that fits your body, and a lifeline that is used from the time you first leave the ground until the time you reach your platform.
“If you do those two things, you are going to head home at the end of the hunt,” Wydner said.
Of those hurt in tree stand falls, 86% fall either setting up their stands, climbing into them or climbing out of them, not actually hunting. Wisconsin state law requires that tree stands must be removed daily from state-owned public lands and reinstalled the next day when hunting. This law changed in 2017 north of state Highway 64 to allow tree stands to remain seven days prior to through seven days after any fall hunting season. The old law requiring daily removal still applies to the area south of Highway 64 (most of the state).
The free safety strap that comes with all tree stands sold in the United States meets the minimum Treestand Manufacturers Association standard, but is cheap and often confusing to use, Wydner noted. The TMA uses an outside agency for testing products.
The Wisconsin DNR hunter safety class I help with in Waupaca always starts off tree stand safety by asking an inexperienced hunter to put on the tangle of straps that comes free with a stand.
Most stare in confusion or unsuccessfully try to put it on. The harness slips on like a jacket.
“Does price ever concern you when you’re buying a parachute?” Wydner asked, noting a top-quality full-body harness may cost a bit more ($75 to $200, depending on pockets and features) but could save your life. His company has more than 600 handwritten letters collected over 25 years that testify to the lives saved or protected by HSS harnesses.
“We don’t make a sexy product, but it’s a product that matters,” Wydner said.
The harness must fit your weight and size, so HSS makes them from youth through 4X-5X and 50-400 pound weight limits. They are adjustable for comfort and function. Breakaway stitching slows the fall of a person to cushion the impact, but in most cases if properly set up in the tree, no stitches need to break to stop someone, he noted. Once a harness is used, and it does break stitches, it should be replaced.
There’s also a lifespan for harnesses, typically five years, Wydner noted. This is especially true if they are exposed to the elements for long periods of time, as they typically are. Frequently inspect your stands for loose or missing parts, damaged straps and other wear.
The lifeline, which connects to the harness via an included metal carabiner, ensures that the hunter is protected from a fall the second he starts to climb. A Prussic knot, also included, allows the hunter to move the top of the harness strap up the lifeline, but it doesn’t slide down if the person falls. The 50-foot nylon lifeline normally has a 5,000-pound weight limit and sells for about $40. The harness-lifeline combo can be used with ladder, climbing and other tree stands, including the newer saddles.
The TSSA website, www.treestandsafety.org, is a wealth of information for tree stand hunters, including a number of videos demonstrating how to properly use harnesses, lifelines, tree saddles and more.
Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.
