DINWIDDIE COUNTY -
It's easy to tell Skipper Andrews loves the outdoors by just looking at the walls of his home.
The family room is lined with fishing trophies, a deer head, antlers and turkey feathers.
Andrews says there's just something about being outdoors "Getting out there, being with my friends, having a good time. It's not all about killing" he says from his Dinwiddie County home.
Hunting since he was 12, Andrews decided to try out a friends tree stand in October of 2003 "That tree stand was a friend of mines and it was a wrap around tree stand and I felt it was safer than my other tree stand, the reason why I was using that one", he says. It was a decision that changed his life and his families.
"Before day break, I went up in the tree stand and the blade that holds it to the tree, about half way up, about 10-12 feet in the air, come apart and me and the whole tree stand hit the ground", the fall paralyzed Andrews from the chest down and now when he talks safety he makes sure hunters understand when to use a strap and safety harness that comes with today's tree stands.
"Wear them. Wear them. They work" is the mantra of Marlon Dance who says today's tree stands come complete with a safety harness.
And Dance adds a surprising statistic when it comes to hunting accidents "There's actually more tree stand accidents than there are shooting accidents and 99 percent of these could be avoided if people would use the harness systems that come with the tree stand".
A few simple tips will keep both hunters and those who love the outdoors safe this Thanksgiving Holiday.
1) If you head out into the woods make sure you wear bright colors, for hunters that's blaze orange. 2) Always wear a safety harness, climbing up and back down and the entire time you are in a tree stand. 3) Do not load your gun until you are ready to start hunting. 4) Never put a loaded gun in your car or truck. 5) Always check your safety switch, making sure it is on and that it works. 6) And if you are out with a new hunter, whether young or old, make sure they understand how to use the safety on their gun and discuss the rules of safe hunting before heading out into the woods.
The family room is lined with fishing trophies, a deer head, antlers and turkey feathers.
Andrews says there's just something about being outdoors "Getting out there, being with my friends, having a good time. It's not all about killing" he says from his Dinwiddie County home.
Hunting since he was 12, Andrews decided to try out a friends tree stand in October of 2003 "That tree stand was a friend of mines and it was a wrap around tree stand and I felt it was safer than my other tree stand, the reason why I was using that one", he says. It was a decision that changed his life and his families.
"Before day break, I went up in the tree stand and the blade that holds it to the tree, about half way up, about 10-12 feet in the air, come apart and me and the whole tree stand hit the ground", the fall paralyzed Andrews from the chest down and now when he talks safety he makes sure hunters understand when to use a strap and safety harness that comes with today's tree stands.
"Wear them. Wear them. They work" is the mantra of Marlon Dance who says today's tree stands come complete with a safety harness.
And Dance adds a surprising statistic when it comes to hunting accidents "There's actually more tree stand accidents than there are shooting accidents and 99 percent of these could be avoided if people would use the harness systems that come with the tree stand".
A few simple tips will keep both hunters and those who love the outdoors safe this Thanksgiving Holiday.
1) If you head out into the woods make sure you wear bright colors, for hunters that's blaze orange. 2) Always wear a safety harness, climbing up and back down and the entire time you are in a tree stand. 3) Do not load your gun until you are ready to start hunting. 4) Never put a loaded gun in your car or truck. 5) Always check your safety switch, making sure it is on and that it works. 6) And if you are out with a new hunter, whether young or old, make sure they understand how to use the safety on their gun and discuss the rules of safe hunting before heading out into the woods.
