Several years ago a buddy of mine was climbing his ladder stand prior to opening day to make a few last minute preparations. As he reached the platform, a swarm of wasps came alive from a nest they had built below the treestand’s seat. In the midst of all the chaos of swatting wasps and being stung, my buddy fell from the stand. Fortunately for him, he was anchored by a safety harness and life-line that allowed him to stay safe from the moment his feet left the ground. My friend was very smart that day by being safely tied in, even when climbing a ladder stand. I’d be willing to bet most hunters would never have even bothered with a harness when climbing a ladder stand.
Most hunters fail to use a safety harness when climbing and hunting from a ladder stand. Here’s what you need to know about how to safely hang and hunt from a ladder stand.
Hanging a ladder stand sounds pretty simple, right? But doing it properly by keeping safety first and foremost isn’t always the way it is done. That’s why Hunter Safety System, the company dedicated to saving hunters’ lives, has launched a new instructional video specifically on this topic on the popular video-sharing website, YouTube.
This new 7-minute, 30-second video addresses every detail of hanging a ladder stand and how to be safe the entire time. Staying connected 100-percent of the time is of paramount importance. You can’t fall but so far if you are connected at all times. In fact, during the course of the video, the HSS staff demonstrates various obstacles that could occur while setting up the stand that leads people to unconnect themselves. The video shows the safe and proper way to address these obstacles should you encounter them.
“Each year, we hear about hunters who fell from their treestand and sustained life-altering injuries or even died,” said Jerry Wydner, president of Hunter Safety System. “With educational videos like this one, we at Hunter Safety System are hoping to help hunters avoid these tragedies.”
Treestand accidents continue to be the number-one cause of serious injury and death to deer hunters. Recent data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) estimates there were approximately 5,600 treestand incidents in 2015 that resulted in injury. Don’t become a statistic; stay connected from the time your feet leave the ground until they return.
Brodie Swisher is a world champion game caller, outdoor writer, seminar speaker and Editor for Bowhunting.com. Brodie and his family live in the Kentucky Lake area of west Tennessee.
