A few weeks ago the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reminded deer hunters that tree stand safety is critical to hunting safely and urged them to follow the “ABC” of tree stand safety each and every time out.

Before getting into the details of tree stand safety, there is another pressing safety issue that must be addressed in an effort to keep deer hunters from harm. An Arkansas deer hunter paid with his life the consequences of failing to make sure a deer he had shot was dead.

The tragedy happened Oct. 22 while Arkansas resident Thomas Alexander, 66, was deer hunting by himself with a muzzleloader.

Alexander shot a buck late in the afternoon and called a family member, according to various media reports. About an hour later, he called another relative to notify the deer attacked and injured him.

That relative called emergency services promptly and first-responders arrived at the scene, then quickly took the wounded man to the nearest hospital, where he died. Officials pointed out they were unsure if the injuries inflicted by the deer were the primary cause of death.

“I’ve worked for the (Arkansas) Game and Fish Commission for 20 years, and it’s one of the stranger things that’s happened,” Keith Stephens, the agency’s chief of communications, told KSPR-TV in Springfield, Missouri.

“I don’t know how long he left it there, but he went up to check it to make sure it was dead and evidently it wasn’t,” Stephens said, adding that is when the deer attacked.

“It got back up and he had several puncture wounds on his body,” he said.

The AGFC said it was unclear whether Alexander died from those puncture wounds, or from another cause, like a heart attack.

Stephens said the only other time something like this happened was in Ashley County.

“There was somebody that did get stuck by a buck’s antlers, and this was about four years ago and it was pretty significant, but they did survive,” he told the television station.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said it’s important for hunters to make sure the deer is not moving for about 30 minutes before approaching it.

“When you get up there, be really careful around it because it may not be dead. But if you let them lay there for a while and they don’t move, and he may have done that. We just don’t know,” he said.

While there were few details of the attack, another media outlet noted that follow-up shots with a muzzleloader take significantly longer than with a semi-automatic or bolt-action rifle. Muzzleloaders are single-shot weapons that need more time to reload, which means if the deer hunter’s first shot grazed the animal it was difficult to ready the weapon quickly before the deer attacked.

K-9 units searched for the deer but were unsuccessful.

Deer hunters must practice hunting safety in another area, too, cautioned Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. LDWF officials emphasize “ABC:”

• Always remove and inspect all your (tree stand ) equipment before hunting.  (35 percent of falls involved inspection elements.)

• Buckle your harness securely. (86 percent of fall victims didn’t wear a harness.)

•Connect before your feet leave the ground. (99 percent of fall victims were not attached.) 

Here are some other statistics — taken from the video — that you don’t want to be a part of.

• 80 percent of tree stand accidents happen during the climb, transition or descent.

• Tree stand accidents are the No. 1 cause of serious injury or death for deer hunters and have been for the past 20 years

• Statistics show half the deer hunters don’t practice tree stand safety consistently. Also, one-third of deer hunters never practice tree stand safety

The video’s host said, “Really simple, we want you to stay connected, from the time you leave the ground until your feet touch back down again and that means a harness and a lifeline … all the way up and all the way down …

“Stay connected, your life depends on it,” he said.

There also is a 56-second video deer hunters can watch to learn more about tree stand safety on youtube.com from Kalkomey Enterprises LLC in Dallas.

For more information, go to treestandsafetyawareness.org.

 

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.