ARKANSAS (KTVE/KARD) — While deer season is a fun time of the year for many people, it can also be a dangerous time with hazards that need caution from all hunters. These hazards, one in particular, has led to the recent death of a Johnson County, Ark., man.
Randy Zellers, Assistant Chief Communications for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said that, “The hunter fell out of his tree stand [and] when he was found, he was at the base of the tree stand.” Last year, 26 hunters in Arkansas were hospitalized because of hunting-related accidents and 13 of those were people who fell from a tree stand with 4 of those falls being fatal.
Zellers says that time after time, investigators find that the victims of these accidents were not wearing a fall arrest system or a safety harness. He goes on to say that the best way to prevent a potentially deadly situation on a tree stand is to follow a simple step.
“Wear a full body safety harness anytime they are using that stand and that is from the time they leave the ground until the time they get back on the ground at the end of the hunt.”
No matter if you are an amateur hunter or an expert hunter, failing to wear a harness and then falling can catch anyone off guard. Zellers said, “A lot of times, people will fall the wrong way [and] they’ll fall on their head or neck or somewhere that causes serious injury.”
Zellers, and other hunting and safety experts, are urging hunters to take all safety precautions as they prepare to go out into the woods this season.