A ladder stand is definitely less dangerous than changing light bulbs at the house.
If I'm more than 5ft off the ground, I'm taking some kind of precaution. I've got 8 screws, 2 rods and a plate in my neck. I've also got 4 screws and a bracket that looks like an H in my lower back. All of this because of a broken neck and a torn L5/S1 disc caused by a 15' fall from a ladder stand. You can be as careful as you want, but $hit will and can happen at some point that you can't control.
