WMA question about "Full Body Harness" when elevated.

I have been doing some research lately about full body harnesses, I have always heard that if you fall and cannot get back to the stand you will die from low blood circulation pretty fast, some say as fast as 5-30 minutes. I will be switching to a rock climbing harness this year, so if in the event I fell I could atleast hang around until help arrived since I hunt in an area with very little cell phone signal. My question is that I hunt WMA's and on the permit it states that you should be in a "Full Body Harness" if hunting from a elevated stand. With that being said will they ticket a person for wearing a rock climbing harness instead of a full body harness and if so I would rather take the ticket than loose my life if in the event of a fall and suspension trauma from a full body system. I know that the goal is NOT to fall but accidents do happen, I have been climbing for about 15 years now and have never had a accident and started climbing with zero harness but now I won't climb without one. Let me know what you think about the WMA's rule on the full body system since it is a death trap in my opinion. Sorry for the long post.

Great question. I've wondered same.

I'd bet my bottom dollar they wouldn't ever write a ticket for that

I doubt they would ticket for that. Maybe if you didn't have one at all, or made your own. I'm also switching to a rock climbing harness for safety sake.

I don't climb into a stand without a harness.

That being said I don't see how you can forced to wear one. However it is recommended that you do. I will look at the WMA papers tomorrow and see if it is required.

If it says "should" wear one, then it's not mandatory, but recommended.

Ive hardly ever hunted out of treestands but Im thinkin bout gettin a couple ladderstands, I will be usin a rock climbing harness if I do.
Most people that went to a RC harness dont ever go back to a full body harness.
Guess its personal preference but I like the idea of being able to climb back into the stand.

I'm pretty sure it's required on WMA.

I was reading the regs last week and I read that a harness is required

IT SHALL BE UNLAWFUL:

24.To hunt from an elevated stand or platform without attaching themselves to the tree or platform with a full body safety harness capable of supporting their weight.

This is copied off the WMA permits.

The way that reads, I guess they could write a ticket even if you had a RC harness on because its not a full body harness?

There you go. Big difference between "should" and "shall". I always do anyway, so I don't give it a 2nd thought.

Define a full body harness. A harness that supports the entire/full body?

Guess its one of those situations it depends how bad they want to write a ticket

I'll take my chances. Self rescue with a rock climbing harness is much, much easier, and the chance of suspension trauma is much less. If they want to write me a ticket for wearing a harness that isn't a full body harness, so be it. I would hope that the authority that I encountered was an open minded fella.

I agree. If I start back to usin a treestand I will be usin a RC harness.
Dont see why it should matter if safety is the issue

I once had a greenhorn GW write me a ticket for my reversible blaze orange basball cap. The bill of the cap is camo. He was waiting at my truck whe I came back from my stand and he asked me if I was wearing one hat or two. I said one and he told me my hat was illegal. I guess if I had a stocking cap over my baseball cap I would have been legal. Idiot.

I think GW was correct if the brim wasn't orange. A baseball cap barely meets the 144 square inches. The is an exception for an small emblem on the front. Yes if you had an orange stocking on top of you cap that was 144 sq. inches then yes it would have. Unless you have a huge noggin!

verbal warning should of sufficed. I'd of never written that ticket, there's better use of a GWs time.

You'd have lost it. Dad got a ticket for it on oakmulgee

He got a ticket for not having a harness at all or a Rock Climbing harness?

No harness

Guess I didn't lose it then......... The op asked, since a rock climbing harness only straps your waist and legs. It's technically not a full body harness. No game warden on earth is gonna right you a ticket for that unless you royally piss him off.

I have a hard time believing that most decent full body harnesses on the market today would cut off circulation to the point of the person dying IF the harness is properly adjusted. I have one of the HSS harnesses and barely notice that I'm wearing it.

Have you left your stand at a low elevation to check your HSS harness and tried to figure out how you would get back into your stand?

I can clear this one up. If you have any wma map/rules from about ten years ago it always said "a harness or a rope capable of supporting your weight". They changed it to read "full body harness" because lots of old stands came with a chest type harness, and a some brands made a belt-only harness. Its written to outlaw these types. so your rock climbing harness is good to go, if it goes over your shoulder, around your mid, and between your legs (5 point).

i'll also clear this up- if you caught climbing in a wma without a harness, you will never ever get just a warning.

A rock climbing harness does not go around the shoulders. They still aren't gonna write you a ticket for that