Tree Stand Safety

Trees.  If one thinks of nature, trees are the first vision one has.  They provide oxygen for most other living things, filtering out other gases such as carbon dioxide.  Their roots enhance the stability of the ground beneath.

Trees help us in visualizing our ancestral lineage.  The ‘family tree’ can start with an ancestor and blossom to our current extended family or it may start with the newly married couple and expand back generations.

Trees represent the changing of the seasons.  They also represent how to provide strength to a situation; without a strong root system even the mighty will fall.

When deer season approaches, one of the steps in scouting comes in the form of searching for a good straight tree.  Without that tree, the hunting style changes drastically.

Many hunters use a variety of stands.  Ladder stands, both home-built or store purchased, lock on style stands, and climbing stands are the most popular choices.  Regardless of the type, they provide a secure and stable platform in order to wait and then fire upon the intended target.

Just as it is often quoted how safe airplanes are, the statistic that always matters is when one crashes is the number of injuries and fatalities involved.  Between the 2008-2009 season and the 2010-2011 season, a span of three seasons, North Carolina reported 132 total hunting incidents resulting in 13 fatalities.  Of those incidents, 57 were related to stands and of the 13 fatalities, 8 were from a stand.  If you speak to any long time hunter, most will tell you at some point they fell from a tree or stand.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) began the Home from the Hunt safety campaign last year in an attempt to minimize the incidents.  During this same time, we are experiencing a growth in the number of hunting licenses sold, meaning there are likely more people in the field.  I spoke with Geoff Cantrell of the NCWRC about the Home from the Hunt campaign recently.  Geoff shared that hunter education instructors are encouraged to cover elevated stand safety to a greater extent.  He also shared a few tips.

-Never carry anything when climbing.  Use a haul line to raise and lower unloaded firearms and equipment once seated safely.

-Have an emergency signal device readily available.  A whistle, flare, or cell phone on vibrate works well.

-Let someone know where you are hunting and when you plan to return.

-Select a healthy straight tree and do not exceed height recommendations.

Cantrell also stresses the importance of keeping three points of contact with the stand while climbing up or down and wearing a full body harness.

If you have ever used, or attempted to use a safety harness, especially one that comes with a store bought stand, you will quickly realize unless you are accustomed to putting one on, it can be difficult.  It is even more difficult if you are going in for a morning hunt and it is still dark while trying to slide it on.  Just as you do with your bow or firearm, practice makes perfect.  If you are going in early, put it on before getting into the vehicle and wear it to the hunting land.

I have also come across people who mention they do not have one and just don’t have the funds to spend on a $50 - $100 safety vest.  We will not get into what is more important between ammunition, firearms, or a safety device; it is self explanatory.  But, I do have an alternative.  Will Jenkins, a blogger located in Virginia began a program last year for those who do not have harnesses.  Harnesses for Hunters became a success, and soon Will had gathered many harnesses and vests donated by hunters who had extras from stands they had purchased.  Will became a holding partner, accepting harnesses from the donations, and shipping, for free, to those hunters who requested vests but felt like they did not have the money to purchase one.  While the vests were free to Will, he did incur costs for shipping and feared he would have to halt the program.

Earlier this year, he gathered a few sponsors that assisted in the shipping costs.  He also began taking monetary donations to help with shipping as well.

If you would like to donate either a harness or vest to Will, or would like to request a vest, you can go to Will’s site, TheWillToHunt.com and follow the links there.

If you get a harness, or if you hunt from a stand, just remember to use it.  North Carolina, your family, and I would like to see you return Home from the Hunt.

More Great Things Coming!

As we get closer to the one year Blogoversary on Monday, things just keep getting better!

First, Bill Howard's Outdoors broke the 10,000 mark for reads earlier.  I hope as this number continues to grow that you, the reader, is getting something from this, whether it is a bit of knowledge, a warm cozy feeling of nostalgia, an understanding, or maybe even a tear down the cheek every now and then.

Second, on the one year mark, I will be making a guest appearance on Coast2Coast Outdoors with RB Wright and Kerry Mackey.  I will post a link to the show on this blog afterwards.  The show appears LIVE at 9pm EST here:  Coast2Coast Outdoors. There will be a good message in my appearance, so I hope you all will be able to join or watch later in the week on the embedded video.






Emily Anderson and her
Kansas whitetail grace our
first cover.

Lastly, I am working on my newest endeavor, BowAmerica.  BowAmerica is an e-magazine featuring all things bowhunting!  We have lined up some great talent in our inaugaral issue set to launch in January.  The awesome thing here is subscriptions are FREE!  All you have to do is sign up via email and the magazine will come to your inbox each month with departments in TRADITIONAL, COMPOUND, BOWFISHING, DO-IT-YOURSELF, LIFE, WOMEN BOWHUNTERS, TARGET SHOOTING, HUNT RE-CAPS, GEAR REVIEWS, and much, much more!  If you bowhunt, there will be something each month in BowAmerica that you are interested in. 

Some of our contributors include Nick Viau (Life and Longbows), Al Quackenbush (SoCal Bowhunter), Will Jenkins (The Will to Hunt), Amanda MacDonald, (Bow Meets Girl), Mark Huelsing (Sole Adventure), Ryan Shoemaker (BowhuntQuest), Emily Anderson (Scent Free Lip Gloss) tips and stories from Lester Harper (LH Custom Archery), Tony Catalde (Bearded Boar), Timothy Borkett (Unlucky Hunter), Randy Mabe (Broadhead Kennels), Sonny Ithipathachai (NC Outdoor Adventures) and many many more!  Each of these are experts in their own rights, are parts of various prostaffs, have tremendous followings and even hold some bowhunting records.  We will also have guest stories from industry leaders in various segments of bowhunting and archery.

The best part of our magazine is it is not your typical magazine!  We are going to cover some of the usual stuff such as whitetail hunting, but we are also going to throw some stuff out there that is a little out of the norm.  How 'bout snow goose hunting with a bow?  Or how dogs can assist bowhunting?  Maybe even how to spot and stalk using a horse for cover.  We will have a directory for state wildlife agencies, taxidermists, and game processors for each state as well to help you no matter where you hunt.

So, if you love bowhunting, or just love hunting and the outdoors, this magazine will provide some good reads for you.  Just head over to BowAmerica and sign up there.  Again, its FREE!

Hunter's Safety - Lesson Learned

Several years ago, a man was heading out for a week of scouting and hunting.  We will call him Mr. Smith.  His plan was to scout some farm land in the Triad area of North Carolina during the weekend and then meet his buddies in Eastern North Carolina to hunt deer during the week.  Mr. Smith told his wife where he would be and when he would return.

Mr. Smith stopped at a local gas station to fill up his truck shortly after leaving the house.  An insurance agent was also purchasing fuel and noticed Mr. Smith was in camouflage and packed.  The agent inquired about whether Mr. Smith owned or leased his hunting land, and spoke briefly about some insurance products they may interest him and his hunting partners.  The agent left a handful of business cards with Mr. Smith as they parted ways.

After paying for the gasoline and a soda for the road, Mr. Smith started thinking, “You know, Eastern deer season is already in, and I can scout up here next weekend.”  This would allow Mr. Smith a couple of extra days of hunting before his buddies ever arrived at camp.

That Friday afternoon, Mr. Smith pulled up to the hunting cabin, quickly unloaded his stuff, and made a hurried track into the woods.  He spotted a nice straight tree overlooking a natural trail and fastened his stand.  After climbing up to the stand, he began to clip some limbs that would be in the way of making a clear shot.  There was one rather long limb from another tree nearby that Mr. Smith believed he could reach.  Stretching as far as he could, he grasped the end of the limb and pulled it toward him.  Once he had it pulled as close to his stand as he could he reached out with his other hand and clipped it as far away from his stand as he could.  Picture someone playing tug of war and the other person suddenly letting go.  Mr. Smith lost his balance and tumbled over the backside of the stand.

SAVE A LIFE! - HARNESSES FOR HUNTERS

Mr. Smith awoke later, unable to move and in severe pain.  Up in the stand was his backpack and rifle.  Inside the pack were his cell phone, food, and water.  He looked down to his leg, and saw an iron property spike protruding through his shin.  When he tried to pull his leg off, he passed out from the pain.

Mr. Smith continued this same scenario several times through darkness and light.  He saw a couple of deer, squirrels, even a rabbit while he lay there helpless.  He knew he was in big trouble due to the amount of blood he had lost.  At one point a beagle woke him while licking his face and wound.  Mr. Smith brushed the dog away in frustration.  Certain he was going to die in that spot, Mr. Smith found the business cards he was given at the gas station in his pocket and began writing his last will on the back.  He also found several orange clothes pins he was using to mark his trail in the other pocket.  An idea came to Mr. Smith.

After much calling, the beagle once again returned.  Knowing the beagle belonged to someone, Mr. Smith did his best at drawing a map of where he was in the woods, added his wife’s phone number, and the words ‘injured – help’ on the business cards and pinned them to the collar of the beagle.  He then shooed the dog off again.

A minister was returning from church service that Sunday evening when he found several orange pins and a single business card attached to his frisky pup.  Within the hour, rescue personnel had located Mr. Smith, badly injured and dehydrated.

I tell this story often in the hunter education classes.  Two things of importance are taught.  One, stick with your plan unless you let someone know the plan has changed.  Second, wear a safety harness whenever you are using a tree stand.  Mr. Smith now teaches hunters the importance of both, as well as how to tie different types of knots in the haul line so if one were to fall, he can pull on one line to have the pack drop to him on the ground.

Over the last month there have been a number of deaths and permanent injuries as a result of not using a fall restraint system.  Will Jenkins has started a campaign titled Harnesses for Hunters in which safety harnesses can be donated to hunters who may need one but cannot afford to purchase one.  If you would like to donate a harness, or if you are in need of a harness, you can enroll in the Harnesses for Hunters program at TheWillToHunt.com at no charge.

You may also like Bill Howard's Outdoors: Trees Beg To Be Climbed

                          Bill Howard's Outdoors: Safety First!

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the bowhunting blog site GiveEmTheShaft.com. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.