He would have looked me in the eye and said "It will never happen to me," said Rod Slings, retired Iowa DNR law enforcement supervisor.

But it did.

Slings befriended an avid hunter who worked at an automobile service department near Slings' residence in Iowa.

"This guy lived and breathed bowhunting," Slings said. "Every time I took my car to the shop, he'd ask me questions or tell me about his latest hunt on the acreage he owned outside of Des Moines."

One afternoon, Slings' friend went to his stand, just like he had hundreds of times before. However, this time was different. During this hunt, he accidentally slipped off his stand. Although the hunter was wearing a safety harness, the leg harness was not attached so only the chest strap supported him. This mistake would cost him dearly.

"The hunter was tethered high in the tree so when he fell, he couldn't reach the tree. He began screaming for help. A neighbor heard the hunter and was able to locate him," Slings said. "The hunter asked his neighbor to fetch a ladder to help him down. While the neighbor was gone, the hunter's chest harness had worked its way up, shutting off his airway. By the time the neighbor returned, the hunter was unconscious."

The neighbor called 911. A rescue team arrived, but they were hampered because it was so hard to reach the unconscious victim. Precious minutes ticked by as rescuers got ladders in position, secured the hunter and lowered him to the ground. However, it was too late. The hunter was dead. He suffocated as a result of his safety harness not being correctly attached.

Slings recalled another bowhunter who had fallen from his tree stand. He was asked to interview the victim to better understand how the incident occurred. However, upon arriving at the intensive care unit at a hospital in Des Moines, it quickly became apparent it would be some time before the 60-year-old hunter would be able to give an interview.

As Slings made his way to the waiting room where the victim's family was gathered, the sadness and suffering was palpable. There sat the hunter's wife of 45 years and his two daughters, sobbing. Though the hunter had survived, he would live the rest of his life as a quadriplegic.

"The hunter had fallen asleep and ended up falling head first from his 12-foot stand. He was not wearing a fall-arrest system," Slings said. "Now he'll never be able to move his arms or legs, so he'll be restricted to a wheelchair for the rest of this life. Here's a man who was preparing to retire so he could enjoy his lifelong passion for hunting and spend more time doing things with his family. The suffering his accident caused for his wife and daughters was gut-wrenching."

The family told Slings the hunter made excuses for not wearing a fall-arrest system, saying he felt it restricted his movement. They had even bought him one for Christmas. He refused to wear it.

Think these accidents are isolated cases? They're not. The tree stand accident rate is as high as one in three with the probability of a near miss (incident) being much higher, according to the National Bowhunter Education Foundation (NBEF.org). That translates into thousands of accidents each year with many resulting in serious injury and even death. Slings said many tree stand incidents go unreported because the victims are too embarrassed to talk about it.

Slings said the bottom line is that hunters must take responsibility for their own safety. While it's not hard to protect yourself, there are several things you should know such as:
• How to use and inspect your fall-arrest system (FAS)
• Best practices for using and inspecting your stand
• Selecting the right tree
• Proper procedures for climbing your tree stand
• How to transport gear and firearms into your stand
• What to include in your hunt plan
• How to respond in case of emergency

Hunters who want to learn more about how to stay safe when using a tree stand are encouraged to take an online hunter safety course a www.hunter-ed.com o www.bowhunter-ed.com. The training offered at these sites is approved by the state agencies responsible for hunter education.

Studying a www.hunter-ed.com an www.bowhunter-ed.com is free to the public and allows students to learn about hunter safety at their convenience. Those who must be certified before they can buy a hunting license pay a one-time fee, which is due only if they pass the test. Students can take the test as many times as they need to pass it. Online hunter safety and bowhunting education courses are available in participating states so students should visi www.hunter-ed.com o www.bowhunter-ed.com to take a course specific to their state and to sign up for a field day (if required).

--- Tammy Sapp
Kalkomey Enterprises, Inc.
tsapp@kalkomey.com

About Rod Slings
Since retiring in 2008 Rod has kept busy as an instructor and has served as director of the International Hunting Incident Investigation Academy. He also has provided consulting services to law firms and insurance companies in hunting-related incident cases. Rod currently is the CEO of Hunting and Shooting Related Consultants, LLC(www.huntsrc.com) and continues to contribute to the safe and ethical mission of maintaining hunting the tradition he has been involved in all of his life.