Summit Treestands Recalls Crush Treestand Series

© By Othmar Vohringer

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Summit Treestands, LLC, announced today a voluntary recall of the following consumer product.

Name of Product:

Crush Treestand Series Models: Perch, Stoop and Ledge hang-on model treestands.

Units affected from this recall: About 2,900

Hazard: The treestand’s hanging strap assembly could dislodge from the treestand or fail to restrain or hold properly on the tree, posing a fall hazard. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Description: The recalled treestands have the following names and item numbers:

Crush Series Perch, number 82069.

Crush Series Stoop, number 82070.

Crush Series Ledge number 82071.

The treestands include the main stand platform and seat with a green cinch strap and a tan tree stand hanging strap assembly, which consists of one nylon strap with a hook and an adjustment portion with a metal buckle and a matching nylon tab and a hook. This hanging strap assembly has the recalled item numbers printed on the safety label attached near the buckle.

The recalled products are old at: Hunting stores and in catalogs such as Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s and others across the U.S.A. and canada from July 2012 through August 2012 for between $70 to $100.

WARNING: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled treestands and contact Summit Treestands to receive a free replacement hanging strap assembly.

Consumer Contact: Summit Treestands, LLC, toll free at (855) 373-9808, anytime or website www.summitstands.com click on the Recall icon for more information.

(Image courtesy of Summit Treestands)

Bowhunting Is still One Of The Most Popular Hunting Methods

© By Othmar Vohringer

According to an article, published on the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Website, bowhunting is a popular pastime for millions of Americans.

The National Sporting Goods Association reports that more than five million Americans hunted with bow and arrow in the year 2010. This was roughly the same as the number of people who went water skiing that year. With the inclusion of crossbows into the archery season in many U.S. states the number of bowhunters is likely to increase in the coming years.

Deer Hunting In Your Backyard

© By Othmar Vohringer

How would you like to bowhunt deer in your own backyard? Well, if you’re a resident of Smithfield, North Carolina you can do that. According to an article in The Herald Smithfield's town council has voted to allow residents to hunt in their own yards this hunting season. The decision has been made in an effort to reduce the deer populations in town. In previous years the police had been paid to take care of problem deer, which has been an expensive endeavour for the taxpayers. Letting hunters do the same job in their own backyard, or others with written permission form the landowners, doesn’t cost the taxpayers a single dollar.

Hunting permits will be issued for archery only, during deer hunting season, and those participating must follow the hunting rules plus a few additional rules. Hunting is only permitted from treestands, at 8 ft off the ground, and must be 150 feet from a dwelling. These are some of the lighter restrictions for in town hunting in North Carolina. One councilman tried to allow hunters to be able to hunt from the ground to make it easier for seniors who might have problems climbing into a tree stand, but that proposal was dismissed as being unsafe. Shooting from an elevated position in areas where people live close by makes sense to me. An arrow shot from a treestand will go into the ground, versus travelling horizontally and could end up harming a person or pet.

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Virginia bowhunters win

© By Othmar Vohringer

My good friend Peter Gussie of Midwest Cimmarron Archery in Richmond, Illinois, and board of directors member of the Archery Trade Association (ATA) sent me good news for bowhunters in Virginia that likely sets a nationwide precedence.

In mid-July the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a lower courts ruling that bowhunting is a safe science based wildlife management tool and that local communities cannot outlaw bowhunting programs that comply with directives from the wildlife agencies.

The Supreme Court, in choosing not to hear an appeal by the Reston Homeowners Association, also upheld a lower state court’s decision to allow the Archery Trade Association to recover all legal fees. After being alerted to the situation by the Suburban Bowhunters of Northern Virginia, the ATA brought legal action against the Reston Homeowners Association in January 2007. The ATA won the lawsuit in December 2007, and continued the fight after the homeowners’ association appealed to the Supreme Court in May of this year.

Due to the result of this court ruling bowhunters are able to return to the Roston’s woodlots this coming fall. Jay McAninch ATA President/CEO said.

“This is a huge victory for bowhunting, not only in Virginia, but quite likely nationwide. The Virginia Supreme Court reinforces four critical points that form the foundation of bowhunting in America.

• First, bowhunting in urban areas can be done safely without putting people or property at risk.
• Second, individual property owners can use bowhunting to address deer-damage and nuisance problems.
• Third, wildlife is a public resource that’s held in trust and managed by states — in this case, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries — for the public’s benefit.
• And four, individuals or a homeowners’ associations cannot usurp state authority, or use the courts to shut down or interfere with a legitimate bowhunting program. When people or groups violate these historical, well-established lines of authority and take actions based on personal opinions, it’s going to cost them.”

The Supreme Court ruling has put an end to a long legal dispute that began in 2004 when Reston Homeowner’s Association adopted a covenant to shut down the suburban bowhunting program. The bowhunters of Northern Virginia and two local residents alerted the ATA in 2006 about the bowhunting ban. The ATA filed complaint in January of 2007. Arguing that the covenant violated, among other things, Virginia’s Constitution regarding wildlife management. Virginia’s attorney general refused to enter the case to enforce the agency’s wildlife management authority. Upon which the ATA subpoenaed testimony from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

In December the local court ruled in favor of bowhuting and that the Homeowners Association did not have the authority to ban bowhunting. This ruling was uphels by the Virginia Supreme Court.

McAninch said.

“We’re extremely gratified to win a ruling of such high stature. This should set a strong precedent in Virginia and elsewhere. Virginia’s long-standing approach to urban deer depredation problems is to use bowhunting whenever possible. Bowhunters in Reston were part of that solution and had a proven track record. Unfortunately, the homeowners association went ahead and created their covenant even after they were advised they were exceeding their authority. The facts were against them from the start. Maybe now they’ve learned they can’t make laws just because they don’t like bowhunting. Just as importantly, when local groups force bowhunters to go to the courts to restore our rights, it’s going to cost them.”

I am extremely pleased with this outcome because it shows that we hunters do not have to put up with those that want to deny us our rights and freedoms. Hunting is not, as often falsely interpreted, a privilege. It is a right! One of the reasons why I like our North American hunting tradition is because, unlike anywhere else in the world, we have the right to hunt regardless of social, financial, racial or religious background. This is very unique and we need to protect that right so future generations can go hunting too. Hunters, as shown in this case, are not alone. There are many good organizations, such as the ATA, that will assist us in defending our rights from those that want to take it away from us.

Tags: Archery Trade Association, Bowhunting, Virginia Supreme Court, TEXT, Suburban Bowhunters

Good News for Bowhunters in the Midwest

Several Midwestern towns are implementing bowhunting as a safe and effective way to control skyrocketing deer herds.

On Oct. 3, the Granville, Ohio Village Council unanimously approved an ordinance to allow bowhunting in the community. As of Nov. 2, hunting will be permitted on private property with written permission. The chief of police, with approval of the village manager and following a review of the village council, will establish rules and regulations for the hunt.

Anti’s resisted the new ordinance, instead suggesting deer birth control, which has been proven to be ineffective.

In the Des Moines, Iowa suburb of Urbandale, bowhunting will now be permitted in four city parks to safely control deer numbers. The Polk County Deer Task Force recommends there be 30 deer per square mile, and surveys show the new hunting areas have several times that many animals. Private property has also been included in the hunting area this year.

Sportsmen may take antlerless deer from a tree stand. Hunting and is not permitted within 100 feet of a road, trail or right of way, or within 200 feet of a home or building. The bowhunt will run through Jan. 27.

In Portage, Indiana, the John Merle Coulter Nature Preserve has opened its woods to bowhunting. On Oct. 2, the Shirley Heinze Land Trust received Portage City Council permission to allow bowhunting on the property to control a booming deer herd that is causing extensive property damage and threatening endangered plants.

Hunters must have a valid hunting license and are to have completed a hunter education course. The hunt will coincide with the state’s bowhunting season, from now until Dec. 2 and from Dec. 8 through Jan. 6.

The Bowhunter Rights Coalition will continue to monitor the progress of these new deer control measures and with the help of sportsmen, will draw attention of their success to other communities that could integrate bowhunting into deer population control.

Source: U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance

Tags: Bowhunting, Whitetail Deer, Deer Hunting In The Suburbs