It's that time of year where people are preparing for bow hunting. If anyone has good safety tips/tricks, lets hear it.

Switch to saddles. Nothing is ever 100% but with those your always connected to the tree at all times from th g kind to at height.

Been hunting from a saddle since the mid-1990’s, and I’m still alive to tell you that deer are indeed afraid of a snoring man in a tree.

We run about 20 ladder stands, in August every stand gets inspected for wear, strap replacement, new pull ropes, etc. We also run a lot of cable locks for a redundant mount around the tree. Every stand has a strap with a carabiner to hook a Hunter Safety System to, the strap is positioned for a standing shot with about 1" of slack when sitting. While one person is inspecting the stand condition and hanging bow holders and maintenance. The other person is cutting new growth on site and shooting lanes with the vantage point of the person in stand.

We had a work day recently. Nearly all tower stands will have a wasp nest in summer, but one stand was unique. A single buzzard chick was sitting in a nest in a molded plastic seat. it was pink with no feathers.and could spit several yards. Stunk.

Saddles are new to me Someone please educate me. Do you still climb a ladder to get elevated then attach the saddle to the trunk of tree?

Below is a free, 15 minute tree stand safety course.

https://www.huntercourse.com/treestandsafety/

Please check the straps on stands you have up! If you have hang on stands check the cable (from seat to the platform).. Use a lifeline You can hook onto at the base of tree and stayed teatherd to while in stand. As a father of a 15 year old son and two 13 year old girls it’s great piece of mind for me.
Hunt with the wind in your face

The last couple of years we started using life lines which is a system that allows you to be connected to a safety line from the first step all the way up and back down. If using a climber I put my harness on the tree from the start and move it up as I go. Takes a couple of minutes longer but well worth it.
What is a saddle??

Climbing sticks. Saddles are mostly used by mobile hunters. They've really started getting popular the last couple of years. The market is growing for the product.

There's several methods guys use to get into the trees. Many use climbing stocks/1 stick method, bolts/scew in steps. Some use spurs. I use rope climbing methods, either stationary or moving rope systems

Saddlehunter.com is a great resource for guys getting into saddle hunting.

Use a ground blind and be safe and still kill deer. At my age I have decided I'm never ever going to sit on a ladder stand ever again.

My Dad would always say... you guys hunt where the trees are- and I'll hunt where the deer are. lol

Whole mess of deer get killed every year from a ground blind.

I use ladder stands but NEVER use all the sections. 12 ft is High enough . Life line is best thing ever invented . Tied to the tree before you get off the ground. Easy to make just google it .

Use a harness even in a ladder stand. It always shocks me how a lot of guys do not.

... don’t fall .. it’s worked for me so far

How I lived to be this old is beyond me. I started hunting when a tree stand was railroad spikes as steps and a couple of 2x4’s and a piece of 2x6 was the stand.
My first climber was a Baker. No hand climber, hug the tree and pull your stand up. Don’t stand towards the back or you was going for a ride.
Ladders were homemade and tied off with a rope at the top.
Only “tip” I ever got was “Don’t fall or your mom will be mad” so far I’m still listening to Dad and haven’t made Mom mad yet.

Ha,1987 i'm about 10 feet off the ground in my fancy new Baker with my new Bear whitetail hunter when i spined my first buck with a bow.

proceeded to walk right off the front of it forgetting i was 10 ft up in all my excitement.

got the buck though.