Independence Twp.- A day spent hunting turned deadly for a 50-year-old Goodrich resident, who apparently fell about 30 feet from a tree stand.
When Robert Gann failed to return home from hunting on five acres of private land on the east side of M-15, south of Rattalee Lake Road in Independence Township, his wife Debra notified the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, said Lieutenant Dale LaBair.
According to police reports, Gann’s body was found beneath the stand, where he had told family he would be hunting.
‘He did the right thing in the first part, when he notified people where he was going to be,? said LaBair.
Though Gann had exercised caution by lowering his firearm on a rope instead of keeping it with him as he climbed down from the stand, reports showed he did not use a safety harness during his descent.
‘It would appear when he was getting ready to leave, he fell from the stand,? said LaBair.’It was the fall that killed him.We don’t know how this thing came about.?
‘It’s a tragic accident,? said LaBair.
According to www.michigan.gov/dnr, the website of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan firearm deer hunters joined archers in 1998 for the right to hunt from elevated platforms. The site warns that, if used incorrectly, such platforms pose serious safety risks.
The site recommends wearing a safety harness when climbing, hunting and descending from a tree stand.
LaBair said in his experience, such accidents are relatively uncommon in this area. Incidents involving accidental shootings, he said, are more typical during hunting season.
According to data on the Michigan DNR website, there were only three hunting related fatalities reported in 2005, with two of those occurring during deer season. Nineteen non-fatal hunting related injuries were reported last year, down from 33 in 2004.
However, Ann Wilson, acting press secretary for the Michigan DNR, said incidents involving tree stands ‘eight in 2005, including two fatalities? are not included in those statisics.
Wilson said hunting incident statistics are kept primarily to track the effectiveness of hunter safety programs overseen by the DNR. Classes that Wilson said typically do not include information about tree stand safety.
‘The DNR does not usually engage in that type of training. We will, at times, facilitate it,? said Wilson.
It’s a gap in safety statistics Jeff DeRegnaucourt, board member of the Treestand Manufacturer’s Association,, hopes to change.
‘You can’t manage what you can’t measure,? said DeRegnaucourt, who has requested a formal incident report be filed with every tree stand accident.
‘How are we going to make any meaningful changes if we don’t even know how the hell the accidents are happening in the first place?? asked DeRegnaucourt. ‘Let’s get some specific, credible data.?
Funeral services for Gann took place at 3 p.m. on Nov. 22 at Swartz Funeral Home in Flint.
For safety tips and additional information about tree stands, visit www.tmastands.com.