Hunter plummets from a tree after his cable snaps in Tennessee woods, officials say
A hunter is seriously injured after he fell from a tree in the Tennessee woods, officials say.
The 30-year-old man was climbing down a tree in Madison County on Friday when the cable on his climbing stand broke, sending him plummeting 20 feet to the ground, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says.
He wasn’t wearing a safety harness, TWRA said Saturday.
After the fall, the hunter managed to call 911 from his cellphone, and he was airlifted to a hospital in Memphis, according to the TWRA.
The man’s name has not been released, and there was no update on his condition as of Sunday afternoon.
Last month, a 66-year-old man was found dead in South Carolina after plummeting 32 feet from a tree stand, McClatchy news group reported.
Although tree stands can give hunters an advantage, falls from them are “common” and have “a high rate of neurological injury,” according to a 2014 study published on the National Institute of Health’s website.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says it’s important to wear a safety harness while using a tree stand or climbing equipment, inspect the tree stand before climbing, have “three points of contact” while climbing and to use a “haul line to raise and lower firearms or bows.”
It’s also important to tell someone where you are hunting and when you’ll return, and to have a device to use to call for help, such as a cellphone or two-way radio, the TWRA says.
