As people across Illinois prepare for this weekend’s firearm deer season, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is urging hunters to use safety harnesses when hunting from tree stands in the field. Tree stands are the No. 1 source of hunting-related accidents and fatalities in Illinois.

The 2023 firearm deer season dates are Nov. 17-19 and Nov. 30-Dec. 3.

So far during the fall 2023 hunting season, which includes archery deer season, Illinois Conservation Police have documented two hunting-related fatalities, both of which involved tree stands.

One fatality occurred when a hunter fell out of a 15-foot-tall ladder tree stand.

The second occurred when a hunter who’d been reported missing in Fayette County was eventually found deceased on the ground at the base of his ladder stand.

Most of these injuries are preventable by using fall arrest systems, avoiding drug and alcohol use, and making sure the tree stand equipment is in good working order.

Conservation police have already documented several tree stand falls that resulted in injuries this season.

Among them was a hunter in Jefferson County fell from a tree stand, resulting in two broken legs. He crawled nearly a half mile before a passerby saw him and called 911.

A rural Salem man was injured last Thursday when climbing into a tree stand in rural Iuka.

For more information about hunting safety, visit IDNR’s hunter safety website.