"Nothing lasts forever," as they say, and it especially true when we talk about tree stands.

         And we found in a tree, the proverbial "accident waiting to happen!"

         We were checking out one of our deer hunting spots one day, scouting, and looking over the new mast crop of acorns, beechnut, and apples. The air was crisp and clear under a blue sky and the goldenrod is beginning to bloom.

         Deer sign was everywhere and some of the trails in spots were even pounded down to the rich forest loam under the trees, through the Bracken ferns.

         And when we came up to an old, built wooden tree-stand in a huge, partially hollow ash tree, we began to reminisce about those hunting seasons gone by.

         It's a favorite stand and even has a name, not particularly creative or original, but fitting: "The Big Tree."

         There are thousands of similar tree-stands all over whitetail deer range, from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean.

         And a lot even have names, like; "Doc's", "The Corner Stand", "The Dead Porky" and "Heaven."

         That particular pressure-treated plywood-floored stand had stood the test of time to all appearances. Even the two-by-four supports appeared sturdy. Of course it was weathered and had become much more discrete than when it had been first constructed, almost natural.        

         Squirrels and porcupine chewing had beveled the edges a bit. So what? They just add to its patina and character.

         I climbed up, carefully, stepping up from steel climbing step to limb, as I had for years in this same tree.

         There's a comfortable familiarity which deer hunters feel when they swing up into an old favorite stand.

         Feels a little like home.

         Over the years since the stand was first erected, the tree had grown out and around the screw-in climbing steps, now only the step part itself was sticking out.

         When up above the platform, I carefully stood on a big limb with one leg and tromped down hard on one corner with the other, while my arms were wrapped around an upper limb. The old rusty spikes, holding the supports of the tree-stand to the tree, gave way with a "snap."

         Season after season of wind and rust had worked on them.

         The tree-stand had become a dangerous, life-threatening trap.

         The next hunter who swung up into it would come down a lot quicker than he went up, to say the least.

         And tree limbs on the way down in a free-fall are not very forgiving.

         That stand needs a complete overhaul with new supports and floor before it can ever be used safely again.

         Other deer hunters have personal horror stories about old tree stands giving way. Some are lucky to be able to talk about it. A few are not. It's actually a wonder that there aren't more serious accidents!

         Every year, hunters are killed while hunting out of old tree stands. Eventually, they will all give way. How tragic and unnecessary!

         For some reason, hunters seem to use their safety straps, that is nylon webbing like vehicle seat belts, around their bodies and around the tree when up in portable, metal tree-stands, but not in homemade wooden stands!

         That's right. These same hunters forgo the safety straps in the wooden homemade stands. And that's crazy!

         The portables and climbers usually have a smaller space on which to stand. Often, the flooring is a metal grate or heavy gauge wire, while the wooden stands (called "perm-ies" are larger, giving us a false sense of security. We can't see through the plywood floor. We "feel" safer.

         A safety belt should be used at all times in all types of stands.

         Personally, I prefer the portables to the old homemade stands. I just feel better and more comfortable in something I put up a few weeks or days earlier.

         But some homemade built stands are fine, actual little cabins in the air, with heaters, chairs and even space for more than one hunter.

         Whatever your preference in stand, the key is Maintenance.

         However, just because a tree-stand is safe one year, it doesn't mean it's safe the next without a serious and through going-over.

         Built tree stands need to be checked for safety before the season.

     Climbing up into a stand for the first time at first light on Opening Day is an accident waiting to happen.

         A word of caution: Heavy winds snap spikes, driven into boards or 2x4s between tree trunks like toothpicks, especially on new stands which haven't stood the test of time. But sometimes the broken spikes or nails are tough to see.

         So just because a stand was built last year, or the year before, deer hunters shouldn't automatically take for granted that it's safe without a through inspection and test.

    And don't forget your safety belt or harness!