Treestand safety measures.

[illinoisburt]

In the past I hunted public lands which did not permit leaving a stand up overnight - must pack in and pack out daily. The rules limit you to about an acre of designated spaces in wood lots mixed with crop fields. So stalking is a no-go. In some of these properties you were required to hunt from an elevated platform minimum 8 feet due to close proximity to houses (think edge of suburbia). Sounds terrible, right? Well we killed a lot of truly big bucks there in northern Illinois this way.

Anyway, going in and setting up in the dark makes you really appreciate a good safety harness system when you don't have the luxury of a pre-placed ladder with a safety line already attached up high. Whatever system you use, please hook up to the tree the moment you start climbing up even with a ladder. Most treestand falls are while setting up, getting into, or out of the stand. Your life and well-being is worth a few extra minutes to put a strap around the tree and move it up or down as your climb.

 

[peterk1234]

I hunt out of a saddle. When set up I am hanging off my tether, so no chance or a fall, not even six inches. I am locked into my tether in two different locations. I climb using wild edge steps and use a linemans belt when ascending and descending. I could also tether as well during the climb, but I am comfortable with the linemans restricting my fall, despite it not being a fall restraint. I make my own linemans and tether, using splices instead of knots. I replace every few years. Pete

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I hunt one of 3 ways.
1. Ladder stand
2. Box blind (either elevated or on the ground). Some folks around here call them shooting shacks.
3. My mobile Toyota ground blind. If it's bitter cold or drizzling rain, I'll set up the truck where I can see down a logging road. It's perfectly legal here, as long as you're not within 100 feet of the center line of a city, county, state or federally maintained road.

I do not use a harness when hunting a ladder stand, and frankly have no plans to start. I'm never more than 10 feet off the ground, and I attach my firearm to a rope and pull it up once I get situated in the stand.

I don't hunt lock ons or climbers. Folks love them I know, and I also know they offer a lot of advantages. But they're not for me.

 

[Johnm1]

Even though I can't use a tree stand where I hunt, no trees in the desert, I'd like to make a suggestion. Trauma Strap(s) are a useful addition to your harness. It might not be applicable in every situation but if your situation has the possibility of not being able to rescue yourself after a fall, the trauma straps, once deployed, allow you to stand on the straps and put your weight on feet instead of the straps around your legs. It doesn't take long to damage your legs by cutting off circulation. I think it is minutes when damage happens. Hang there for an hour and its possible to lose a leg or two.

We use them on the construction site. Here is what I'm talking about:

https://www.guardianfall.com/blog/gf-team-blog/297-new-release-trauma-strap