The time has finally come. The rut has arrived and whitetail hunters across the country are focused on punching their buck tag. In all the excitement of the season we want to encourage you not to neglect treestand safety. Shreveporttimes.com recently reported the story below that serves as a brutal reminder to always wear your treestand harness, and never climb a tree without being anchored to a life-line system from the first step off the ground.
For the sake of your family and friends…always stay tied in to a life-line system.
Shreveporttimes.com / Jimmy Watson
Just a couple of weeks ago Choudrant’s Robert “Chicken” Younse was enjoying life in the woods of north Louisiana in a never-ending search for a trophy buck.
Today, the 53-year-old former truck driver is no longer with us due to a hunting accident that has left his family devastated at the loss of a doting father while searching for funds to cover his funeral expenses.
Younse fell out of a tree stand and broke his neck. Now, his 19-year-old son, Matthew, who was recently medically discharged from Marine boot camp, has assumed the duties finalizing his father’s arrangements.
Each year, more than 277,000 Louisiana residents head to their favorite deer stand to feed their family or bag a big buck. While only a small percentage of hunters (about 8,000 nationwide of 16 million in the U.S.) are injured annually, moving that number closer to zero would make folks like Matthew Younse happy.
The vast majority of hunting accidents derive from deer stand falls and not from firearms, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. The NSSF says a person is 34 times more likely to be injured playing soccer or skateboarding than hunting.
But that’s little comfort to those who have seen a loved one injured, especially due to negligence. That’s why officials caution hunters to be mindful of safety precautions each day when they climb out of their vehicle and head to the woods.
