Be Safe in Your Treestand

Hunting from a treestand is exciting and effective, but hunters must be sure to keep themselves safe.

In Ohio, we have hunters seriously injured and killed each year from treestand falls.  About one in every three hunters will experience a fall from a treestand in their hunting career. 

The Treestand Manufacturers Association offers these simple, lifesaving tips.

Protect Yourself and Your Family

You and your family depend on you getting home from the hunt safely.  The best way to do that is by carefully preparing for your hunt and using a full-body safety harness.

Watch this short treestand safety education course online before you hit the woods! 

More Treestand Safety Tips

• Always tell someone where you are hunting and when you plan to return.  

• Only use a treestand that has the approval of the Treestand Manufacturer’s Association (TMA).

• Never use homemade treestands or treestands made from wood.

• Hunters must always use a fall restraint system (a full body restraint system or safety harness that wraps around your chest, waist, and legs) when using an elevated treestand or platform.  A single safety belt is not a fall restraint system!

• Anytime your feet leave the ground, a fall restraint system should be used.

• Always use a haul line, or a rope attached to the tree stand left hanging to the ground, to raise your unloaded firearm or archery equipment into the treestand.

• Use common sense when choosing a height for your treestand, 30 feet is too high; a treestand height of 12 to 15 feet will give you all of the advantage you need.

 
Need more inspiration?  Read this Fall 2009 Wild Ohio Magazine article.