Every year numerous hunters take to the woods in pursuit of the White-tailed deer. As the season progresses conditions in those stands deteriorate as the snow and ice cover the equipment and cold weather numbs the fingers and feet. Still most of the hunters will use a treestand.
Many injuries occur to treestand hunters in the stands and climbing into and out of them. Most of those injuries are preventable with just a little common sense thinking ahead of time.
Hunters go high for a variety of reasons. But, they seem to boil down to just a few basics. The idea is to get above the deer’s line of sight and scent. In early days of treestand use the premise was that 6 feet high would accomplish those purposes. The idea that deer never look up soon gave way to experiences of deer seeing a treestand hunter and avoiding him/her.
Soon hunter moved up to higher positions and soon they were taking positions up to 15 or 20 feet off the ground. The deer found that that there are other things in the trees besides the squirrels.
Aside from staying out of high stands, how else can one avoid injury?
To begin, inspect the stand thoroughly for flaws in workmanship. If it is a permanent stand, check it thoroughly before the season begins and at least once during the season. Replace any suspect steps. Look for signs of rotting wood, loose nails, etc. If they even look like they might not be sound, replace them with new materials.
The same common sense applies to the stand itself. Check it for stability and soundness of construction. In addition to the safety angle, check it for squeaks and creaking sounds. Noise from a treestand will spook deer. Make sure the stand is one in which you can be comfortable. If one is uncomfortable in the stand, he will be tempted to move around in order to finds a more comfortable position. Deer fix on movement and it spooks them. The more one moves around the more the risk of falling out of the stand as well.
Falls from stands are the most preventable cause of accidents for hunters. All one need due is invest in a safety harness or use the one that comes with the stand. The best ones have nylon webbing and a 2-3 inch width on the straps which are adjustable. It attaches to the tree not to the stand. That way, if the stand gives way you still have protection.
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