Hunting incident report reinforces continued need for treestand safety

LITTLE ROCK — Cooler weather has many deer hunters heading to the woods to set up their hunting stands for the coming archery opener on Sept. 27, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wants to remind all hunters to double-check all of their equipment before they climb into a tree and always wear a safety harness when they leave the ground. According to the recently released Fiscal Year 2025 Hunter Incident Report, 11 of the 17 reported hunting accidents in Arkansas were the result of treestand falls.

With more than 307,000 hunting licenses sold last year, 17 injuries requiring medical assistance beyond first aid reinforce the fact that hunting is a safe, enjoyable outdoor pursuit. In the eyes of the AGFC’s Education Division, any injury while enjoying the woods and waters of The Natural State is one too many, especially when most could be avoided with a few simple precautions.

According to Joe Huggins, Hunter Education Program coordinator for the AGFC, only two of the 11 victims involved in falls from treestands were wearing safety harnesses, and those two harnesses were not attached to the tree at the time of the fall. 

“That time transitioning from a ladder or step into the stand is one of the most critical times to be wearing a harness, but that’s also when some people temporarily disconnect their harness from the tree to adjust it to the higher level of the platform,” Huggins said. “There are special safety ropes called lifelines that allow a person to stay connected throughout the climb and transition, and we strongly encourage hunters use one of those to ensure they’re attached to the tree from the time they leave the ground until the time they return at the end of the hunt.”

Most treestand falls resulted in broken bones, specifically damage to the victims’ hips or vertebrae, both of which can be life-threatening or life-changing.

“In my career, I’ve seen where people have been paralyzed or killed from falls as short as 5 feet,” Huggins said. “It may not seem like much of a distance, but if you’re unprepared and fall in an awkward position or on equipment, it can cause major damage.”

For the second year in a row, at least one reported treestand fall came from someone using a tree saddle, a device that substitutes for a traditional platform stand. Saddles are seen by some hunters as being a safer option because the user is essentially tethered to the tree while hunting, but improper use of the equipment can still result in a fall. According to the incident report filed last hunting season, the user involved in the saddle-hunting fall had just completed attaching his final climbing stick to the tree and was reaching back to get his foot platform when he heard a “pop” and his lineman’s belt disconnected from the tree, causing him to fall 25 feet to the ground. Huggins believes user error was involved in attaching the belt to the saddle with a carabiner. The victim was not wearing an additional safety harness during the incident.

A single fatality was reported last year. A person who was hunting coyotes in June shot at what he believed to be the back end of a coyote in dense vegetation, but it turned out to be another person who was gathering berries. The victim died at the scene from the injuries sustained. 

Huggins points out that additional injuries may have occurred throughout the hunting season, but these were the only ones reported where the victim was actively hunting at the time of the injury.

“We know of a few other incidents, one well-publicized in January, where duck hunters were involved in boating accidents,” Huggins said. “They were not recorded in the Hunter Incident Report as the victims involved in these accidents were traveling to their hunting destination and not yet hunting. They were, however, reported in the AGFC’s 2024 Boating Accident Year-End Report published earlier this year. It’s still highly doubtful that any incidents regarding serious injury or fatalities are not reported to the AGFC.”

The 2025 Hunting Incident Report is available at the AGFC’s Hunter Education web page, www.agfc.com/huntered.

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CUTLINES:

REPORT COVER
According to the Fiscal Year 2025 Hunter Incident Report, 17 injuries requiring medical attention beyond first aid were reported last hunting season. AGFC photo.

VIDEO
Falls from treestands are still the cause for the vast majority of hunting accidents in Arkansas. AGFC video.

ATTACHING LIFELINE
A lifeline can keep a person’s harness attached to the tree throughout their climb and hunt. AGFC photo.