GRAND FORKS, N.D. _ September is Tree Stand Safety Awareness Month, and while September days are numbered, the importance of being safe in a tree stand doesn't end Sept. 30.
If anything, tree stand safety becomes even more important as deer gun and muzzleloader seasons approach.
Every fall, it seems, hunters make news for all the wrong reasons after falling out of tree stands in accidents that could have been prevented.
Ten years ago this fall, a Canadian friend suffered the consequences of a momentary lapse in tree stand safety. He was muzzleloader hunting near Carbury, Manitoba, and setting up a portable stand in a spruce tree near the base of a ridge that provided a corridor for big bucks.
As I wrote in a column after the accident, the lay of the land meant he had to set the stand about 30 feet up the tree to get proper sightlines. He fastened his safety harness and installed footpegs as he worked his way up the tree. He then secured the platform and cleared branches to get a better view.
He'd done everything right up to that point, but then he made the mistake of removing his safety harness before climbing down the tree to get his gear.
He slipped on one of the top pegs and plummeted 30 feet to the ground.
The miscue could have cost him his life.
"When I hit, my head bounced off the ground," he recalled at the time. "I thought I was going to pass out."
Somehow, he managed to crawl the half-mile to his truck and drive to a friend's place and eventual medical help.
He shattered his left heel in the tumble and endured multiple surgeries and years of pain. Two years ago, he had the heel fused _ a procedure I don't understand beyond knowing it limits the heel's mobility and alleviates much of the pain.
As he has most every year since the accident, he'll be hunting again this fall _ but the days of using a tree stand without the proper safety equipment are history.
