A recent news story about a Wisconsin man who died having fallen out of his treestand has me thinking about treestand safety. This morning I had an awesome bowhunt; while waiting for a deer to show up I witnessed an amazing sunrise, had 3 coyotes come to within 20 yards, a flock of turkeys flew down 20 minutes later, bald eagles circled above.... And while I didn't see any deer, I couldn't bear the thought of not having any more experiences like this, not to mention the impact on my family, because I was too stubborn not to wear a safety harness.

This is my 7th year bowhunting and I'm proud to say that I've never sat in a stand without a harness. In fact, I'm probably overly careful so in addition to always maintaining three points of contact I generally attach the carabineer connected to my harness on a footpeg as I go by so I'm always maintaining 3-4 points of contact with the tree.

Sadly, the family of the man who died at the base of his treestand is thought to have fallen out as he left the tree. To be honest, it's the climb or descent that usually gives me the willies too...

Today I used a new product from Hunter Safety Systems called the LifeLine. It keeps you connected from the base of the tree all the way up to your stand by incorporating a simple knot on a rope that you slide up and down as you climb. In the event of a fall the knot cinches and holds you in place. According their website "82% of hunters who end up in a hospital (or a grave) from a treestand fall ARE wearing a harness at the time of the accident." And 86% of tree stand falls happen during the climb up or down from a stand."

I view this as a $40 insurance policy that insures many safe and successful hunts in the future.

Happy (and safe) Hunting!

-MJP