A hang-on or climbing stand should hold a hunter at fifteen feet. When the cable crimp slips or the strap lets go, the fall is the lawsuit. Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm, Graham W. Syfert handles tree-stand product cases in Florida and Georgia.
Call 904-383-7448Reviewed by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., Florida Bar No. 39104, Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm. Last updated .
If a hunting tree stand collapsed and dropped you or a family member, you may have a Florida product-liability claim against the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer. In Florida the deadline is four years from the injury for a product-defect claim under section 95.11(3)(d), Florida Statutes, but only two years if the fall was fatal, under the wrongful-death statute, section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes. A twelve-year statute of repose, section 95.031(2)(b), can bar claims on stands delivered more than twelve years before the fall. If the fall happened in Georgia, the deadline is two years under OCGA section 9-3-33, with a ten-year repose under OCGA section 51-1-11. Do not throw the stand away. Preserve the stand, the cables, the straps, the harness, the packaging, and the receipt, photograph everything, and check whether the model was recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Graham W. Syfert, Esq., Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm, handles these cases. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Here is the prayer for relief first. If a hunting stand failed and dropped you, the manufacturer that built it may owe you money. The claim is product liability. The clock is the thing that kills these cases, so call a lawyer before you do anything else with the stand.
In Florida a product-defect injury claim runs four years from the fall under section 95.11(3)(d), Florida Statutes. If the hunter died, the claim is wrongful death and runs only two years under section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes. The shorter clock controls the worst cases. That is backwards and cruel, and it is the law, so we act fast.
The injured hunter is the person to root for here. The antagonist is a stand whose cable crimp slipped, whose J-hook released, or whose weld cracked, sold by a company that in several documented cases already knew the part could fail. Many of these stands were recalled. A recall is not the same as a lawsuit, but it is a paper trail, and a paper trail is evidence.
Most hunters set a stand between fifteen and thirty feet up. Medical studies of stand falls put the typical fall height around fifteen feet, which is more than enough to break a spine. A fall from that height can reach the ground in about a second.
Tree stand falls are the most common serious hunting injury in the United States. Published estimates put the lifetime risk that a stand hunter will fall as high as one in three. The injuries cluster in the spine and the lower limbs. Studies report that a large share of stand-fall patients suffer spinal fractures, and that up to a third of hunters with spinal injuries are left permanently paralyzed.
The harness is the difference between a scare and a funeral. A Georgia DNR game warden has said that none of the tree-stand accidents she has worked happened while the hunter was wearing a fall-arrest harness. The problem is that a harness only helps if the hunter is clipped in, and most falls happen during the climb up or the climb down, before the tether is set or after it is unclipped.
The specificity matters, because a recalled model number is the spine of a product case. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced recall after recall on hunting stands, and the failure that comes up again and again is the cable that holds the platform to the tree.
Below are the documented failures we verified from CPSC and manufacturer records. If you own one of these stands, or you fell from one, the model and serial number on the stand are the first facts we need.
In December 2021, Big Game Treestands and GSM Outdoors recalled the 2021 model-year "The Captain" hang-on stand, model BGM-FP0050, serial/batch number 2M-0121. The crimps on the plastic-coated cables that hold the standing platform to the rear frame can slip during use, letting the platform drop.
About 1,030 stands were recalled. GSM reported ten incidents of the cables releasing and two injuries. The remedy was replacement cables or a refund. A recalled stand that already dropped a hunter is the cleanest kind of defect case, because the manufacturer has admitted the part can fail.
In October 2015, Big Game recalled three 2014 climbing stands because the cable assembly could release: "The Outlook" (model CL050), "The Cobalt" (model CL100-A), and "The Fusion" (model CL500-AP). About 12,200 stands were involved, with one reported incident causing knee, wrist, and hip injuries.
On the same day, Global Manufacturing Company recalled the API Outdoors "Marksman" climbing stand, model GCL300-A, for the same cable-release defect. About 5,300 stands were involved. The single reported incident left a hunter with a broken vertebra, a fractured rib, and a sprained shoulder. The cable assembly is the recurring weak point across brands.
In January 2015, Primal Vantage recalled the Ameristep Hyde Cliff Hanger (model 2RX1H008C) and Hyde Sky Walker (model 2RX1H009C) because the cast-aluminum platform could break. About 1,000 stands were involved, with six reports of breakage.
In late 2016, Summit recalled the Explorer SD closed-front climbing stand because a weld in the frame could break; about 270 stands were involved. Summit again recalled the Viper Level PRO SD climbing stand (models SU81140 and SU81141) for a tree cable that could dislodge. In 2015, Millennium Outdoors recalled about 1,400 of its 2015 model M-60 fixed-position stands because the seat could bend downward and drop the hunter.
The cruelest case is the hunter who did everything right and still fell because the safety harness failed. In April 2005, Hunter's View recalled about 500,000 fall-arrest harnesses (model 3333, 2004 model year) sold with tree stands, because the harness could fail and drop the hunter. The recall was expanded in 2007 to cover the 2004 and 2005 model years, roughly 200,000 more units.
Hunter's View is no longer in business, so no remedy was offered and consumers were told to discard the harnesses. A defective fall-arrest system is a textbook failure-to-warn and design case, because the entire purpose of the product is to catch a falling hunter.
Florida recognizes strict product liability. The Florida Supreme Court adopted it in West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., 336 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 1976), following section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. Under strict liability, the hunter does not have to prove the company was careless, only that the stand was defective when it left the maker and that the defect caused the fall.
A manufacturing defect means this particular stand left the factory wrong, like a cable crimp that was not pressed to spec. A design defect means the whole product line is unreasonably dangerous, like a cable-and-crimp design that slips under normal hunting load. A failure-to-warn claim means the company did not adequately warn of a danger it knew about, which is powerful when a recall shows the company learned of the failure and kept selling.
Negligence is a separate theory, and the deadline is different. After House Bill 837 took effect on March 24, 2023, ordinary negligence in Florida runs two years under section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes, while the design, manufacture, distribution, or sale of a defective product runs four years under section 95.11(3)(d). We plead the product theory to keep the longer clock and we plead negligence in the alternative.
Read this section twice. The deadline is what most often ends a good case before it starts. In Florida, a tree-stand product-defect injury claim must be filed within four years of the fall, section 95.11(3)(d), Florida Statutes. A fatal fall is a wrongful-death claim and must be filed within two years of the death, section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes. The death case has the shorter clock, so families have the least time and the most reason to call early.
Florida also has a twelve-year statute of repose for products, section 95.031(2)(b), Florida Statutes. The repose runs from delivery of the stand to its first purchaser, not from the fall. A stand bought fifteen years ago can be barred even if it broke yesterday, with narrow exceptions for concealed defects and longer warranted useful life. Older hand-me-down stands are exactly where this trap closes.
If the fall happened in Georgia, whitetail country, Georgia law applies. The personal-injury deadline is two years, OCGA section 9-3-33. Georgia strict product liability lives in OCGA section 51-1-11, which carries a ten-year statute of repose running from the first sale of the product as new. Georgia's clocks are shorter than Florida's, so a Georgia hunting trip changes the math.
The single most important thing a victim or family can do is keep the stand. Do not return it to the store. Do not send it back for the recall refund. Do not let anyone discard it. The failed cable, the slipped crimp, the cracked weld, the released J-hook, that broken part is the case, and an engineer needs to examine it.
Photograph the stand in place if it is safe, then photograph the failed components up close. Record the model number, the serial or batch number, and any date code stamped on the frame. Keep the box, the instructions, the warning labels, the harness, and the receipt or order confirmation. Write down where and when it was bought.
Check the model against CPSC recall notices and against the manufacturer's recall page. A matching recall is strong evidence. Spoliation, the loss or destruction of the stand, can sink an otherwise solid claim, so the rule is simple: keep everything and let your lawyer arrange the inspection.
A tree-stand case usually has more than one defendant. The manufacturer that designed and built the stand is the main target. Many stands are built overseas and sold under a domestic brand, so the importing brand and the distributor are also in the chain of distribution and can be liable in strict liability.
The retailer that sold the stand can be a defendant under strict product liability, which reaches every member of the distribution chain. That matters when the actual maker is a foreign company that is hard to serve or has no assets in the United States. The seller stays in the case.
There can also be a premises overlay. If the fall happened on hunting land owned or controlled by someone else, and a dangerous condition or a defective fixed ladder stand contributed, a premises-liability claim under Florida law may run alongside the product claim. Comparative fault under section 768.81, Florida Statutes, then divides responsibility, and after House Bill 837 a hunter found more than fifty percent at fault for the fall recovers nothing.
I treat the stand the way a homicide detective treats a weapon. It does not get cleaned, returned, or repaired. It gets bagged, logged, and inspected. The crimp on a cable, examined under magnification, often tells the whole story of why a hunter is now in a wheelchair.
The recall record is the gift. When a company has already told the government that a cable can slip or a weld can crack, the argument that the danger was unknowable falls apart. I read every CPSC notice for the exact model and date code, because the date code on the frame either puts the stand inside the recalled batch or it does not.
I will not promise you a number. I am Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm, and I am a Florida lawyer, not a board-certified specialist in this niche. What I can promise is that we will find out who built the stand, whether the part was recalled, and whether the deadline still leaves the courthouse door open. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
If a tree stand dropped you or someone in your family, the first hours and days protect the case. Do these things in order.
Possibly. Big Game and GSM Outdoors recalled the 2021 'The Captain' hang-on stand, model BGM-FP0050, serial 2M-0121, because the cable crimps can slip and drop the platform. A recall showing the maker knew of the defect is strong evidence. Keep the stand and the cable, check your serial number, and talk to a lawyer about the four-year Florida deadline.
A product-defect injury claim runs four years from the fall under section 95.11(3)(d), Florida Statutes. If the hunter died, it is a wrongful-death claim that runs only two years under section 95.11(5)(e). A separate twelve-year statute of repose, section 95.031(2)(b), can bar claims on stands delivered to the first purchaser more than twelve years ago.
Two years from the date of death, under the wrongful-death statute, section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes. The death case has a shorter clock than an injury case, so families have the least time. Preserve the stand and call a lawyer quickly so the failed part can be inspected before the deadline.
Yes. In October 2015, Global Manufacturing Company recalled the API Outdoors 'Marksman' climbing stand, model GCL300-A, batch numbers 9G-0114 and 9G-0614, because the cable assembly could release. About 5,300 stands were recalled, and one reported failure left a hunter with a broken vertebra. If you fell from this model, keep it and check the batch number.
Returning a stand for a recall refund is not the same as filing an injury claim, and missing the refund window does not automatically end an injury case. But if you took the refund and sent the stand back, you may have lost the evidence. Do not return a stand that injured you. Keep it and call a lawyer.
Georgia law generally applies to a Georgia fall. The personal-injury deadline is two years under OCGA section 9-3-33, and Georgia strict product liability under OCGA section 51-1-11 carries a ten-year statute of repose from the first sale of the stand as new. Georgia's clocks are shorter than Florida's, so act quickly.
A failed fall-arrest harness is its own product case, because catching a falling hunter is the harness's entire purpose. Hunter's View recalled roughly 700,000 harnesses across 2005 and 2007 because they could fail. Keep the harness, the tether, and the buckle, photograph the failure point, and have it inspected before anyone touches it.
Often the manufacturer, the brand or importer, and the retailer, because Florida strict product liability reaches the whole distribution chain. If the fall happened on someone else's hunting land with a dangerous fixed stand or condition, a premises-liability claim may run alongside the product claim, with fault divided under section 768.81, Florida Statutes.
Not necessarily. Florida uses modified comparative fault under section 768.81, Florida Statutes. Your damages can be reduced by your share of fault, and after House Bill 837 you recover nothing only if you are found more than fifty percent at fault. Whether a missing harness even caused this fall is a fact question, since many falls happen during the climb when the tether is not yet set.
There is no honest number to give in advance. Value depends on the injury, the strength of the defect proof, the recall record for the exact model, the available defendants, and comparative fault. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The first step is preserving the stand so an engineer can determine why it failed.
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Call: 904-383-7448