Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Body Harness for treestand hunting

Most falls take place getting in and out of the stands!

New systems use linemans belt around the tree going up, then attach the retention strap to the tree above the stand BEFORE unhooking the linemans belt and climbing in.

Place the ladder/steps etc above the bottom of the stand so you can step off the ladder/step onto the stand and not have to attempt to climb up.

Now you can use a safety line/lifeline above the stand to the ground with a simple sliding prussic knot to go up and down and still being tied in. Summit systems and others sell them for $30-40.

http://www.huntersafetysystem.com/store/tree-stand-life-line.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bw3IlQ3mVs

1/3 of all hunters will fall at some point. 10% of those will be killed or permanently disabled. Pure statistical fact still valid today.

Can you cite a source for those stats? I'd like to have some backup for the next time I talk to a hunter about treestand safety.

That is commonly known statistic in all of the state hunter ed courses today; published in numerous articles in hunting magazines and the International Bowhunter Education Program courses.

State of Virginia now has an 8 hour treestand safety course.

Maybe I read that wrong but 3.3% of hunters who hunt out of a tree will die from a fall....no way.

This is just a sample

"A team of medical researchers in Pennsylvania carried out a study on tree stand falls. Their study of the database of emergency rooms and trauma centres covered the period 1987-2001. During that time 280 hunters received treatment for tree stand falls. Of the 280 hunters, 6 died after falling from their stands. The main findings from the study were:

The highest rate of falls were in the 50-59 year age group
The median height for the falls was 18 feet [falls ranged from 4 feet to 40 feet]
63% [176 hunters] had some alcohol in their blood
10% [17 hunters] were legally intoxicated "

"Maryland has had 111 tree-stand accidents reported to the state between 1990 and 1998, five were fatal."

"What You Must Know About Treestand Safety- Pt 1
By Richard L. Holdcraft, - HHD Consulting Group
Oct 14, 2008 - 6:58:04 AM

In a recent report, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimated that 6,410 injuries attributed to treestand use were treated in U.S. hospitals nationwide in 2001. This is based on a review of their National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). Their data sources further indicated that there were 137 incidents involving treestands from 1980 through 2001. Included in these statistics were 62 deaths, 55 injuries, 17 incidents not involving death or injury, and 3 incidents in which the outcome is unknown. Of the 137 incidents, 54 mentioned treestand failures resulting in 6 of the deaths, 40 injuries, and 8 incidents without injury. There were eight incidents involving hanging or traumatic asphyxiation by a safety belt around the waist or chest that resulted in death. These are only the incidents reported by hospitals; they do not include statistics for incidents that are misclassified but still treestand related.

The CPSC estimates there may be at least 11 million treestands in use by hunters. The estimated annual shipments of all manufactured treestand types could exceed 1.4 million units. The total annual retail sales of all manufactured treestand types range from $75 million to $150 million. The use of treestands for hunting has increased dramatically in the past few years. Along with the increase in their use comes an increase in the number of serious or fatal injuries. While firearms related incidents has declined tremendously since mandatory hunter education courses were instituted and blaze orange laws were passed, the number of treestand related incidents has increased significantly. During 2003, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission reported that 75 % of their hunting fatalities were due to treestand accidents."

"Current Trends Tree Stand-Related Injuries among Deer Hunters -- Georgia, 1979-1989
Tree stands are elevated platforms used for hunting large game; they provide an expanded field of vision while minimizing ground scent. To characterize unintentional hunting injuries associated with the use of tree stands, the Georgia Department of Human Resources and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR) studied all tree stand-related deer hunting injuries (reported on Georgia's mandatory Uniform Hunter Casualty Report form) for the 10 hunting seasons (mid-September through mid-January) during 1979-1989. A tree stand-related injury was defined as any injury associated with any device used to hunt deer from a tree. The number of big game (deer, bear, and turkey) hunting licenses issued in Georgia from the 1979-80 through the 1988-89 seasons was obtained from the Fishing and Game Licensing Bureau, GDNR.

During the 1979-1989 hunting seasons, 594 deer hunting-related injuries (including 85 fatal injuries) were reported in Georgia--a mean rate of 24.9 deer hunter injuries per 100,000 hunting licenses sold per year (range: 11.2-32.4) (Figure 1). Of these, 214 (36%) were tree stand-related (8.9 tree stand-related injuries per 100,000 hunting licenses sold per year (range: 2.4-13.7)) (Figure 1); 17 (8%) of these were fatal. All the tree stand-related injuries occurred during hunting season. Tree stand-related injuries occurred in 89 (56%) of the 159 counties in Georgia; however, 24 (11%) injured hunters were residents of one of the five bordering states. The median age of injured hunters was 38 years (range: 8-72 years). Of nine who were less than 16 years of age, four were hunting without the supervision of an adult greater than or equal to 21 years of age.

The type of hunting weapon was known for 178 tree stand-related injured hunters: 139 (78%) were hunting with a rifle; 23 (13%), with a bow and arrow; and 16 (9%), with a shotgun. Fractures and strains or sprains were the most commonly reported injuries (Table 1). Cervical spine fractures accounted for 16 (10%) of the fractures. Injuries to the trunk and extremities included fractures of the lumbar vertebrae, ribs, wrists, and ankles."

So 33% fall and of those 33%, 63%(almost 2/3) had been drinking.
That's telling.....
It seems that my simple question about recommended harnesses has turned into a "If you hunt from a treestand, you'll likely die from having your nuts squished out." thread.
While there is some good info here, it's not really answering my question. I am aware of the risks involved with leaving the ground. But I'm also aware that wearing a comfortable harness that allows freedom of movement mitigates some of that risk. Having a comfortable harness also ensures that I will wear it every time.

There was a 42 year old guy here in KPT last week paralyzed from the chest down after the strap on his tree stand broke and he fell 20 ft and landed on the stand and he will never move from the chest down again, has a wife and three kids and worked at Eastman Chemical. The bad thing is he had on a safety belt, but he had it attached to his stand and not the tree , fatal mistake . Answer to the question, The hunter safety vest is the best out there.

Just wait until someone posts something about not wearing a seatbelt, that'll go 20 pages of lecturing at least.

I'll vouch that the HSS pro I have is very comfortable. The muddy looks pretty comfortable too but it looks like it could get easily tangled. Having one that doesn't get easily tangled is very important to me, that's why I got a vest style. Spending 5 minutes untangling the SOB every time I went hunting was a no go for me.

I love my HSS pro also. It's a little clinky, but once you have it on its quiet. It's actually more comfortable for me to wear under my outer layer of clothing and just stick the tether out my collar. I wear it all day, even if I wind up on the ground i usually forget i have it on.

HAs anyone used the Spider Harness found in the Cabelas catalog?

Do you guys wear safety harnesses when using lean-to stands also?

J.J. Keller, get certified fall protection!

Link

Phil

This is what I use. I like it a lot

I don't. We only have the "double wide" stands so there is room for your pack and we rarely have them more than 6 -8 feet off the ground and they all have a safety rail around all sides.

Also use a hoist line for rifle and pack so climbing up and down you have both hands to use.

I do. I use one whenever I'm off the ground unless I'm in a shooting house. I put the tether around the tree & shimmy it up when I'm climbing with a climber. The ladder types are where I haven't found a good way during climbing, but I strap in when I'm up there. The prussic knot slider system looks good but you'd have to have it in place before hand and you'd need one for every stand. That's not practical where I hunt.

Where I live treestands are the normal way of hunting so I've known a few who have been killed or paralyzed over the years from tree stand falls. The older I get the less risks I like to take with it. Anything can happen, but I try to play it fairly conservative.

I have to say I've never seen a harness being used over..Our lean-to's tend to be 10' to 12' to the seat and usually have a shooting rail all around..

I can only think of hearing about one serious accident where a guy got pitched out of a double when his mate climbed out and the whole thing slipped..I am sure there must be more but they are not common. I guess climbing stands, and tree steps ect are just more dangerous..

The millennium ladder stand I was hunting out of yesterday is 21' to the seat I think. It's got a rail around it but to shoot my bow I'd have to stand, it'd be real easy to slip & go over the rail while trying to twist into position for a shot. As I post this I'm sitting in a home made basket style stand chained to a tree, it's about 20' up. It would probably hold 1000 lbs but it's not an engineered & tested product, it was built by a couple of guys in their backyard with a welder. I trust it, but not enough to not wear the harness.

A fellow I went to high school with fell from a stand when he was 21 and spent the next 22 years paralyzed below his chest until he decided life wasn't worth living any more. Two years ago he stuck a pistol in his mouth & ended it. Not ideal under any circumstances.