More than a third of all hunters who climb trees fall out of them.
That is the word from the folk who stay awake nights keeping statistics on such matters.
Tree stands are the site of a growing number of woodland accidents, some of which occasionally end tragically for the hunter. We have all exposed ourselves to danger while perched in a tree at one time or another.
At least a dozen tree stand accidents were reported in the Mountain State on the first day of buck gun season last year, one fatal for a Mason County man.
And in a separate incident in Mason County, hunters rescued a man who was found hanging upside down by his feet, which were caught in a tree stand, authorities said.
The victim had been hanging upside down for about two hours when he was spotted dangling from the stand about 20 feet in the air. “I thought I was a goner,” the dazed hunter reportedly told his rescuers. “I’m lucky to be alive. I could have broken my neck. God spared me. I’ll never climb another tree.”
Woodland mishaps largely go unreported by those suffering the injuries.
Little wonder. Hardly anyone wants to own up to having been hurt while pursuing his favorite pastime. It just is not macho to blurt out to the fellows at the lodge: “Guess who fell out of their tree stand today?”
Perhaps another reason for the scarcity of such data is this: It takes bullets to make headlines. People are not impressed with figures about hunters who fall out of trees.
Not long ago, I met a man in Charleston who confessed that he had been seriously hurt while hunting near his home—would you believe in Mason County?
The chap strolled up and sat down on the bench where I was sitting, guarding some of my wife’s holiday season purchases.
He did not know me from Adam. But he suddenly launched into a tirade on his miseries: he had suffered through three different surgeries on his arm, wrist, and hand after falling from his favorite tree stand during bow season last fall.
I let him talk.
His tale began something like the Ancient Mariner’s, only it had the trappings of camouflage and deer scent.
You see, the middle-aged gentleman had been at his stand for most of the morning when he suddenly witnessed the approach of two does being pursued by an eager buck. But the angle was all wrong for a shot with his bow.
The hunter turned in the stand to get a better view of the magnificent antlered creature striding within range of the would-be ambush. “That’s the last thing I remember,” the bowhunter recalled of the mishap. “When I came to, I was lying on the ground and my right arm was mangled from the forearm on down.
“Luckily, I was only about 100 yards from my truck. I staggered to my vehicle and then drove myself to the emergency room.”
This hunter was fortunate, even though he has had to submit to some painful ordeals at the hands of his surgeons.
And he is not alone. The fact is that for every case of mistaken identity or accidental shooting, dozens more hunters are severely injured after taking a fall.
Hunters fall from horses. Hunters fall off cliffs and logs. Most, however, fall from trees.
Tree-stand tragedies may be the greatest cripplers of our sport, but the victims form a silent majority. If no one hears the fall, who is to say there was noise?
Over a ten-year period in Georgia alone, 214 hunters were injured due to tree-stand falls: 156 suffered broken bones; 17 died.
And what relatively few hunters realize is that their movement and behavior following the fall is critical. For instance, if the fall has fractured the spinal column or caused a ligament injury that allows the vertebrae to shift, and standing up may compress the spinal cord and cause paralysis.
If you have back or neck pain, or feel numbness in your legs or trunk, it is far better to stay put and wait for help. And when someone does find you, firmly inform them that you cannot be moved without being strapped to a spine board. Have them send for additional help.
A hunting buddy once exhorted me to take along a sports whistle and a warm jacket with a space blanket in one of the pockets, when we were in some particularly rough country.
Since he is an accomplished woodsman, in the prime of his youth and vigor, he wanted to let me know that I was not such a young specimen anymore.
When he helped me set up my tree stand overlooking a rocky ridge in the south Raleigh County area, he certainly did not want to come back to find me sprawled out on a ledge with broken bones.
Perhaps more importantly, he did not want to have to carry me back to our vehicle.
There is only so much sacrifice a guy can make for a fellow hunter—and there’s additional risk involved in toting a guy out of the woods after dark.
Leaving an injured friend may be difficult, but it is a wise decision that might even save a life.
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Top o’ the morning!