Tree Stand Safety

Richard McQuillen is a Master Volunteer Instructor with the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife. I attended a seminar on tree stand safety and some of the statistics are eye-opening, plus he has some tips for deer hunters using stands to obey.

Three to five hundred hunters are killed annually in North America due to an accident involving tree stands. Another 5000-7000 are permanently disabled, while 10,000-15,000 receive some type of lesser injury.

Back 15 years ago, I never wore a safety belt in my stand. Hunters back then didn't’t have any on the market and we all took our chances in our stands.

Today, a safety belt is pretty much standard issue for stand hunters. There is a variety of belts on the market and you might be surprised to learn even those can cost you your life, if not used properly.

First, let me say that any safety belt is better than no safety belt and I urge every hunter using a tree stand to use some type of commercial safety belt or harness.

The most common type of safety belt is the waist belt. One belt goes around your waist and is usually attached to another belt that is secured around the tree. If you do fall with this belt, you have 30 seconds to one minute to get back in your stand before suffocation becomes a factor and you expire. The problem with a waist belt is your fall could be in such a manner that you land upside down.

No matter what type of belt or harness you use, it is key that you immediately try to get back in your stand. Suffocation will occur even with the best belt after a certain amount of time.

The next belt is really a harness that connects to your shoulder or the middle of your back. With this harness, you have one to five minutes to get back in your stand. This harness is safer than the belt, but McQuillen says that sometimes the harness can be connected to low down or not be worn right and cause problems.

The best type of belt/harness on the market is the Seat-of-Your Pants model. It is a belt and harness combined.

This type of safety apparatus has straps that come over your shoulders, a belt that goes around your waist and straps that connect to the waist belt that run between your legs. The harness also attaches high on the back, just below the neck and distributes your weight more evenly after a fall. You will always land upright with this type of harness.

You increase your odds dramatically with this type of safety harness. You now have from 5 minutes to 30 minutes to get back in your stand or call for help. Prices vary, but the Seat-of-Your Pants will cost you around $85, but is well worth the money.

McQuillen has some safety tips for deer hunters hunting out of stand should follow.

First, 75 to 80% of falls occur going up or down the tree. Always wear a safety belt while climbing up and down the tree. The belt you choose should be at least 3 inches wide to insure it will hold a sufficient amount of weight.

After you are in your stand, make sure the belt or harness is connected to the tree middle ways of your body. If done properly, you should only be able to barely stand up and also set down. This will allow you to only fall about 6 to 8 inches.

Make sure you use a tow rope or hauling string to pull your equipment up to your stand. Don’t try and carry equipment up the tree with you. You will need both hands incase a step or limb were to break or your feet slip off a step.

Remember to always unload your firearm before pulling it up the tree. If a live round is in the chamber and the rope slips off and the gun falls, while pointing up, the impact when it hits could cause the gun to discharge and with the muzzle pointing up, the shot will shoot the hunter in the stand.

McQuillen suggests you use your soft gun case to haul your gun up the tree. Unload your rifle and place it in a soft case, tying the rope around the handle of the case. The case helps keep the gun from getting scratched and you won’t get your scope or trigger hung in the branches.

One last tip, McQuillen says to make sure your last two steps are even. This allows you to hang your stand and take your stand down with both legs receiving the same amount of pressure.

Follow these safety tips so that you don’t become one of the statistics of death or injury when it comes to tree stands.

Field Dressing a Deer

1. If you're in an area that uses tags, tag your deer immediately. The tag must remain with the deer at all times, or you risk confiscation of your deer among other nasty effects.
2. Carefully cut a circle around the anus so it's free and can be removed from within. Some folks tie it off with string to prevent its contents from tainting the meat.
3. Remove and discard the testicles and cut the penis free so that it can be removed by the same route as the anus.
4. Beginning close to pelvis, open the stomach cavity to the ribcage. After starting the cut, use the first two fingers of your other hand to help guide your knife... you must only cut through skin and a thin layer of meat, and miss the entrails.
5. Cut through the ribs and skin, following the breastbone, on up to the neck. This is no problem with a sharp knife, but don't twist the blade while it's between bones; a brittle knife blade could easily break if twisted.
6. Continue cutting on up to the base of the skull.
7. Sever the windpipe and esophagus at the base of the skull.
8. Cut the diaphragm loose. This is the sheet of muscle that separates the stomach area from the chest cavity.
9. Allow the animal to roll on its side, and "help" the organs to come out. You'll have to pull a little, but they should be mostly free.
10. Be extremely careful in removing the bladder! You must reach up into the pelvis and pinch it shut while you cut it free with the other hand. If any urine is spilled on the meat, remove it immediately with water from a thermos or a clean cloth.
11. Clean any debris from the cavity. Any stomach contents or other substances should be removed as quickly as possible.
12. Separate the heart and liver if you or someone you know likes to eat them. Cloth bags are recommended for keeping these clean and allowing them to cool.
13. Start toting your animal back towards civilization after a break to catch your breath.

The Boone and Crockett scoring system for whitetail deer:
So you've just taken down the biggest buck you've ever seen. You're patting yourself on the back, complimenting yourself on your unparalleled hunting skills, certain you are destined to be the first poster child of the hunting community. But before you ring up Guinness to claim your record, you must make a few simple measurements to estimate your buck's score on the Boone and Crockett scale.
The first thing to remember is that the buck's gross score is the sum, in inches, of the rack's point length, the measurement of its inside spread, and eight other mass or circumference measurements.

These are rather precise measurements to be made for the final tally, but since time is of the essence when in the field, there are several quick things to check to get a good idea of your buck's final score:

• Check the number of points - a good trophy will have at least ten points, five per side, including eye guards.

• Check overall frame size - look at the point length, main beam length and the inside spread. A trophy buck will have a high rack that spreads to his ears or past (this implies a rack of at least 16 inches wide). In short, the higher, wider, and thicker the better. (If the horns on the rack are thin, it usually means the deer is young.)

• Check the profile -- Trophy bucks typically have main rack beams that stretch past the nose when looking at it from the side. If it doesn't stretch past the nose, though, it still might be of trophy status. If, for instance, the ends of the main beams curl back towards the buck's eyes, there might be three or four more inches on the rack that won't be visible unless viewed from the front.
  

• Count the number of points on each antler: The projection must be at least an inch long to be counted as a point and the length must exceed the width. The beam tip is counted as a point, but not measured as a point.

• Measure the tip to tip spread: Simply the distance between the tips of the main beams.

• Measure the inside spread: Simply the greatest distance between the inside edges of the main beams.

• Calculate the length of all normal points: Normal points project from the top of the main beam and are measured along the outer curve of the beam.

• Calculate the lengths of all abnormal points: Abnormal points emerge from atypical locations, such as off other points or from the bottom or sides of a main beam.

• Measure the length of the main beam: This is measured from the lowest outside edge of a burr along the outer edge to the most distant point on the main beam.

• Make four final circumference measurements: These are the smallest distances around certain areas of the rack -- between the burr and the eye guard, between the eye guard and the second point, between the second and third point and between the third and fourth point.