West Virginia Wildlife from Eyewitness News

Tree Stand Safety

Placing your tree stand right, could save your life.

October 21, 2009
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice

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"The optimum thing to do is to find a tree in an area the deer is using and attach it to that safe tree." says Sgt. Jerry Payne a conservation officer with The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources.

That's the first rule in using a tree stand, make sure the tree can hold the stand, and you.

"What makes a good tree? It's not too big in diameter. You want your teeth on the back of the tree stand to bite into it. A hickory or locust tree would be too hard for the stand to bite into. These things work on weight. Your weight is actually what holds you into your tree." says Payne.

There's more to assembling and using a tree stand than just putting it up. If you don't follow the instructions, and a few simple rules, you could come out of the tree a lot faster than you want.

Payne explains,
"We're gonna adjust it around this tree where it's short of being level because the tree is going to go up, generally. You want it to tilt back a little bit, it will straighten itself out as we go. See, that's too loose.
When you put your weight on this, there's no way this is going to come off here. It's kinda opposite what you think, your weight is out here and it holds on this tree."

If you take your time and follow instructions, getting in hunting position is as easy as sitting and standing up.

As long as you're safe. Don't forget to use this kind of safety harness. That way if somehow you "do" fall....

"It's not gonna feel good, but it's not gonna kill you." says Payne.

So remember the most important rule in using your tree stand this hunting season-safety first.