Why Deer Hunting Is Oklahoma’s Riskiest Season

If you haven’t seen it on TikTok yet, you're about to. There's a short video of a guy taking a fall out of his treestand. Now, I can't prove that it is or isn't AI, but it’s one of those moments that makes you laugh and then not. Then you start to think, yeah, that could’ve been me.

We've all seen Interstellar enough to know gravity always wins.

@redneck_bowhunter Mans fall out of tree stand while hunting #treestand #deerhunting #fyp #goviral #besafe ♬ original sound - Redneck_Bowhunter

Yeah, I still can't tell if it's AI or not...

Deer season officially started on October 1st in Oklahoma, and as the weather cools off and more people get outdoors, this will probably be a common tale you'll hear from other hunters... You know how it works, I heard from a guy who heard from a guy...

Deer season is the most dangerous hunting season of the year.

If you hunt, you probably just rolled your eyes. Deer hunting, dangerous? It's just you and the woods. Maybe a buddy you split the lease with, but how dangerous is that?

I know I always hear about how upland bird hunting is infinitely more dangerous, but I don't buy into that.

Example: We were hunting a standing cornfield one November a decade or so ago. It was my first time pheasant hunting - I'm a quail guy - so why not? I wasn't the only first-timer on the field that day.

The best method to flush pheasant, according to them at that moment, is to convince a friend or two to go to the other end of the field, then you all walk towards each other. The #1 rule was - just like hunting over dogs - you only shoot birds in the air.

It went exactly where you think this is going... Our buddy Jason took a shotgun blast to the face... at distance. He was totally fine, had his safety glasses on. It was the pride of the shooter that really got hurt, though Jason was bravely playing off the fact that he'd gotten peppered with precious metals.

Still, deer season is Oklahoma's most dangerous time for outdoorsmen. Every fall, hospitals see a spike in injuries from treestands. Lots of broken bones, the occasional paralyzed status, and even death.

Gear Checks Every Hunter Should Do

Before you roll your eyes again, I get it. Nobody wants to hear about safety. We all think we’ve done this long enough to know better, but hunters make new mistakes all the time. It only takes a muddy boot or a loose strap to make someone TikTok famous.

Like my dad always said, don't be dumb. Check and double-check your gear. Don't let your excitement make you forget rule #1, safety. Also, don't forget rule #2, always have the camera out when your buddy is climbing up the tree.