Hunting season is upon us and my first thoughts always turn towards safety. Shooting incidents while hunting get all of the press, and we aretaught to be very safety conscious with firearms. Most people don’t realize that the overwhelming majority of injuries occur with elevated stands. IHEA estimates that at least three times as many hunters are injured in stands as in shooting incidents.

Every year the NY DEC and PA Game Commission publish statistics on incidents related to elevated stands. Unlike shooting incidents, slips and falls in stands are generally not reported. PA logged six serious incidents last season, including two fatalities. NY reported eight incidents in 2023 with no fatalities - although one of the shooting incidents was a hunter that was killed while hauling a loaded firearm up into a tree stand with a rope. I know of two hunters that have had a fall in an elevated stand. 

 A gentleman named Hank at a bear camp I was at in Maine, broke the third rung on the ladder he was climbing and ended up in the hospital at Presque Isle with his leg in a cast. Another friend fell out of a tree stand in Swan Lake and suffered a shoulder separation when he caught himself on the way down. Neither incident was reported to any wildlife agency.

Fortunately, the risk of injury can be minimized with proper safety precautions and gear. The law now requires tree stands that are sold to have a Fall Arrest System (FAS) included. An FAS is a vest that the hunter must wear with harnesses in case of a fall. The main strap that attaches to the tree is sewn with a series of small break-away loops that come undone one at a time to dampen the shock of the fall. An FAS has a special loop to stand on to relieve the pressure on the hunter’s legs from the leg straps.

All hunters using elevated stands need to have a safety rope tied to the tree above their heads that is also tied to the base of the tree. The FAS harness needs to be attached to that line using a carabiner and prusik knot, which is designed to slide easily up and down the safety rope, but will lock in position (“kink” if you will) under sudden stress and prevent a fall. Three points of contact need to be made with the ladder at all times whileclimbing. 

Obviously, a strong tree needs to be selected. Gear should be hauled up using a line and not just carried up. Clearly guns need to be unloaded when hauling them up. One additional thing that bears special mention is ice. If the weather conditions are bad and it is icy, the best plan is to hunt from the ground.

Be safe in elevated (tree) stands this season and enjoy the outdoors!