Screenshot: WTAJ News

Posted by Travis Smola

22 hours ago

This treestand could be revolutionary for getting disabled hunters afield.

Here in the United States, one of the biggest problems facing hunting is people dropping out of the sport. People do this for many reasons, but one of the bigger ones is simply because they are aging out or their health simply doesn’t allow it anymore.

One Pennsylvania hunter was facing the possibility of the latter and found it unacceptable, so he invented a new mechanical lift treestand that could help others.

WTAJ News reported Shawn Booth defeated Stage 4 Hodgins Lymphoma over 20 years ago. While he won one battle, his health has suffered in the years since. In the last year, he started showing signs of Lou Gehrig’s disease. Booth, a life-long hunter was scared that season would be his last afield.

“In December toward the closing season for me hunting, I was barely able to climb into a tree stand,” Booth told the news station. “I started losing strength and was worried about what I was going to do for the coming years. How would I continue to do something that I enjoy?”

Many hunters have faced this same conundrum and have simply given up. However, necessity is the mother of invention. Booth soon had a brilliant brainstorm of a motorized mechanical lift tree stand. This stand is called the Tree Runner. This thing reminds us of those stair lift devices that can be installed in homes for mobility issues. Only this is made for use in the field.

A small rail system is strapped to the tree and a motor raises the hunter into position without the need for physical strength. A switch allows the hunter to adjust the height up or down to an appropriate height. The stand also keeps the hunter strapped in during the entire ascent, which should be good for safety purposes.

“Not only can we limit the risk of people falling out of tree stands with slipping on ice or not being anchored when they’re climbing ladders…from the time you step in the stand, you’re anchored and safe,” Booth told the news organization.

It’s certainly an interesting concept and a way to potentially keep some hunters from dropping out of the game. Something that is needed now more than ever in the face of declining hunter numbers.

The Tree Runner can be purchased from Booth’s website and includes accessory shooting rails and holders for rifles and bows. Booth is donating some of the proceeds from sales to cancer and Lou Gehrig’s disease research.

He also plans to help wounded warriors by donating one of the treestand setups to a veteran in need for every 250 Tree Runners sold.

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