Falls from Tree Stands Have Become the Leading Cause of Deer Hunting Accidents in Pennsylvania

This study aimed to describe, using a statewide trauma registry, the incidence, trends, and injuries for tree stand falls while deer hunting in Pennsylvania.

Falls from tree stands were abstracted from the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation registry (1990-2017) and combined with the number of licensed deer hunters, deer hunting days, and deer hunting-related shooting incidents (HRSIs) provided by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to calculate tree stand fall and HRSI rates (per 1 million deer hunting days) and age-group specific fall rates (per 100,000 licensed deer hunters). Poisson regression was used to assess the significance of the annual and age group rate trends (significance P < 0.05). Case fatality rate (percentage of number of deaths per number of injured hunters) also was calculated.

There were 1229 victims of tree stand falls and 560 victims of HRSIs between 1990 and 2017. Fall rates increased from 1.5 to 10.4 (P < 0.0001), and HRSI rates decreased from 4.9 to 1.2 (P = 0.001). Fall rates surpassed HRSI rates in 1999 and increased with advancing age (P = 0.007), peaking at 7.2 for hunters aged 50 to 59 years. Most (77%) injured hunters sustained multiple injuries. The case fatality rate was only 0.8%, but 26% of the injured hunters had a dependent functional limitation at hospital discharge.

Tree stand falls are now the leading cause of Pennsylvania deer hunting accidents. Fall victims usually sustain multiple nonfatal but often disabling injuries. Study findings support the need for surveillance of these accidents and additional tree stand safety education.