Number one cause of injuries and death during deer season is falling out of tree stands. The stand they fell from was likely an old nailed to the tree stand and probably abandoned. I haven’t used stands like that since my youth, they’re dangerous. I have 5 metal ladder stands with shooting rails in my backyard since we lost our deer lease, property sold.
I am guessing that the stand was not rated for more than 1 drunk redneck at a time...
When I was at the Hunter Safety Instructors Academy in the late 80s we learned the same thing. Also they were losing more hunters to drowning than to gun accidents so we took a course on water safety.
Go to http://www.unclehenrys.com/ if you want to sell them.
I was coming up the hill in a light rain and there in front of me were three deer lying under the tree stand. What a sight. LOL Wish I had my camera.