State group promotes tree stand safety for local hunters

Several injuries, one death this hunting season attributed to stand accidents

Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005

After a Frederick man hung to death in a safety harness and two other hunters narrowly escaped serious injury in separate tree stand accidents, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police this season are promoting tree stand safety for hunters.

Safety courses Maryland deer hunters may enroll in hunting safety courses held by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources each year. Contact the Natural Resources Police at 410-260-3280 or e-mail NRP_Safetyed@ dnr.state.md.us or visit www.dnr.state.md.us⁄nrp⁄education. Some courses have a fee of up to $6.

‘‘We’re going to keep preaching safety until there are no hunting accidents,” said Sgt. Ken Turner of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The day firearm deer hunting season opened, four tree stand-related hunting accidents occurred throughout the state.

This year’s firearm deer hunting season ran from Nov. 26 to Dec. 10 in Frederick County, but other hunting seasons will continue through spring.

So far, 10 accidents have been reported for the 2005–2006 hunting season. Six of those accidents involved a tree stand, Turner said. Last year, there were 12 deer hunting accidents in Maryland during the hunting season; nine of those accidents were related to tree stands.

Tree stand accidents are the leading cause of death among hunting accidents, according to the Natural Resources Police. Nationally, one in three hunting injuries involves a tree stand.

Among accidents in Frederick County this year, Wilmer Karn, 59, of Hagerstown, fell 15 feet from a tree stand Nov. 26 when he was hunting on private property near Wolfsville. Karn, who was not wearing a safety harness, was transported to Washington County Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Turner said.

In a similar accident, Domer E. Ulery, 50, of Smithsburg, suffered serious injuries after he fell 18 feet from his homemade tree stand Nov. 29 while deer hunting in Wolfsville. He was not wearing a harness, Turner said.

Ulery was hunting on private property when he fell and then crawled across a field to Garfield Road, according to police. A passing motorist found him and called 911. Ulery was transported to Washington County Hospital, where he was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries.

Hunters use tree stands to boost their odds of catching a deer. From a lofty perch, hunters get an overhead, advantageous view of the deer and are kept above the deer’s range of smell. A tree stand provides a broader view of the woods, allowing hunters to more easily spot prey.

Several factors may cause hunters to fall from tree stands, including a weakness in the stand’s structure or an incorrect installation. Hunters may slip on steps or fall asleep while on their stands and tumble out of them if they are not wearing a harness.

Other injuries may result from accidental firing of a loaded firearm while the hunter is climbing to the stand.

In the only reported fatality so far this year, Frederick resident Andre Strickland, 53, died after he fell from a tree stand and became entangled in his safety harness on the opening day of firearms deer hunting season, according to Maryland Natural Resources Police.

Strickland was descending from the tree when he got caught in the harness, Turner said.

Rescuers found Strickland about midnight Nov. 26 in Seneca Creek State Park off River Road in Montgomery County. The state medical examiner’s office classified the death as an accidental hanging.

Turner said because the investigation is still concluding, he could not reveal the details of the cause of the accident, which he plans to release before hunting season concludes. But he said Strickland’s death was caused by a ‘‘chain of events” that has a ‘‘valuable safety lesson.”

Turner said the fact that a harness was involved in Strickland’s death should not dissuade people from heeding advice to wear one. He said statistics show that harnesses save lives and compared his advice to hunters to wear a harness to The State Highway Administration’s advice to motorists to wear a seatbelt.

‘‘From time to time you’ll see a freak accident,” Turner said. ‘‘But they’re very rare.”

Turner detailed other tree stand-related accidents in Maryland this year:

*A Stevensville man was injured after he fell about 16 feet from his tree stand Nov. 9 while he was hunting on private property without permission. Kevin Austin, 37, was flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma with non-life threatening injuries.

* Ronald Jarvis Sr., 69, of Dundalk fell about 20 feet from his tree stand Nov. 8 in Worcester County. Jarvis, who was not wearing a harness, fell when the older stand collapsed as he was climbing into it. He was flown to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Maryland Natural Resources Police have held several tree stand safety demonstrations this year, Turner said. The department hosted a demonstration at Bass Pro Shop in Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover Sunday at the shop’s tree stand display.

More than 30 hunters, between the ages of 30 and 50, attended the free course, said Bass Pro promotions manager Allan Ellis said. With real tree stands on display, hunters learned how to climb into the stand safely and use their safety harness correctly, Ellis said.

Ellis said safety harnesses are key to preventing serious accidents. Wearing a harness, he said, is ‘‘a lot safer than not wearing one.”

‘‘A safety harness is designed to allow you to get back into your tree stand,” Ellis said. ‘‘If you’re napping and fall, the point of the harness is not to suspend you over the ground. It’s to tie you to the tree.”

Turner said the Natural Resources Police campaign to promote safety is having a positive effect on preventing accidents in Maryland.

‘‘If you consider the number of accidents in the state compared to the number of hunters, Maryland hunters are heeding our message,” Turner said. ‘‘But one accident is too many. We can’t say too much about safety.”