Tree Stand Safety

[Grute Man]

Every year there are hunting accidents and many of those involve tree stands.  Falling from a tree stand is the last thing anyone wants.  It could absolutly ruin a hunting trip or even the rest of your life.  I'm a construction safety manager by day and I deal with fall protection every day.  I won't go into the graphic details on why and what happens if...Ill just say that it is worth the time and money to use fall protection in any tree stand.

Just today, I taught my 15 year old to hang a stand using a linesman's belt.  First we use the strap on tree steps rather than the screw ins.  They're easier, faster and better for the trees.

Then we use the linesman's beltl.  Its a belt around your waste or connected to your harness with a rope that goes around the tree and then connects back to itself so you can hang your steps and stand with both hands rather than hold onto the tree with one hand and hang the stand one handed.  Here's a picture of a guy with a linesman's belt attached to his harness:


Then when we're up in stand, we always tie off.  We wear a vest style harnes like this:


I attached a carabiner to the strap that comes out the back (lanyard.)  There's another belt (not pictured) that goes around the tree above head height.  Then when you attache the carabiner to that belt.

With either the linesman's belt or harness, if you fell, you would still not be feeling to good but at least you won't  fall all the way to the ground.  I always tie off in tree stands and am teaching my children to do the same.  I feel I owe it to my family and hunting partners to be as safe as I can.  I wouldn't want to shoot a hunting parter, so why would I take the chance of falling 20' to the ground? 

[Outdoors Junkie]

Hey Don,

Great post.  Our hunting party check our perminant stands a few weeks before the season.  If they need repair we fix them up.  We want to make sure we have a safe place to sit.  The people who sit in portable stands always wear a safety harness.

Good luck this season and remember safety first.