From: tradslinger
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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The dreaded fall from a tree stand, the one thing that we try so hard to avoid. Many end up being very terrible for the hunter but not always. I had a habit of making my entrances to my trails very hard to detect from the road to keep others from finding my stand etc. I was hunting a mature thick growth Pine plantation that was a complete mess to try to go thru. I had actually found a great area inside of it close to a small creek. The woods actually opened up some and there were even some older mature oaks. I called this spot the gym because there was so much buck sign in it. there were rubs everywhere and a lot of scrapes. So I had high hopes of harvesting a good buck in this spot. I usually park about a hundred yards from my entrance to keep people from finding my spots. So it is dark, no stars, no moon, it is dark. I had a couple of days before, used screw in steps to get my stand 18 feet up in this tree to put my hang on stand. Safety was just really being talked about and stressed so I had a safety harness on to secure when I was in the stand. I had attached everything to my pull rope and began climbing. I was fourteen feet high as I reached for the next step when I felt the step under me break. In the darkness, all I could think of was one of the steps ripping me open as I dropped. So I instantly pushed away from the tree as hard as I could. It is amazing how you can fall in slow motion and yet very fast and hard. I hit hard, flat on my back, my breath knocked out of me as I lay there. I couldn't move as I stared up into the darkness above me. I didn't know if I had broken my back or what, I just couldn't move. Now the thoughts of how anyone could even find me, it would be hell to try to walk these woods to search for me. This was way before cell phones and I was very happy that I had tied my rattling antlers to my pack and not over my shoulder. So I lay there, time took forever for the darkness to begin to turn to a light color and then finally daylight poking thru the trees around me. I had heard animals moving about but I didn't care. Finally, I was able to move my head a little and so I looked to my right of my head. Inches from my head was a pretty big rock. I thought "Whoa!" and then I looked to my left, inches from my head again was a big rock. I took in a deep breath and decided to see what still worked. Both of my hands worked okay so I moved each leg and foot, no problem. So I slowly got up and stood up against the tree as I looked at all of the rocks scattered everywhere around this tree. I had fallen on my back in the only spot that was rock free. After walking around for a bit, I gathered my stuff and slowly made my way back to the truck. I was very very sore but very blessed for that to be all. I had bruises everywhere on my backside. A few days later, I brought a ladder to unhook my hang on stand. No more screw in steps ever again for me. I had shown one of my hunting buddies some of my bruises and he had gone with me to recover my stand. He shook his head as he looked up at the broken step and then down to all of the rocks. He told me that he wouldn't know where to start to look for me if I had broken my back or died there. So, from that point on, always had a friend to know exactly where I was hunting. My friend thought that I was exaggerating about the rocks but then told me that I had to have had an angel watching over me as he looked at the rocks. I have know of several guys that didn't fare very well at all, two died, one broke his back and one that had broken a lot of bones. Safety, safety safety! I did hunt this spot one time and managed to have a saw briar deflect my arrow, never saw the briar and the 7 point buck didn't know what happened other than he didn't want to find out. So many things can happen, had one cable break on a hang on stand, it stayed together long enough for me to get off of it. Replaced all the cables in all of my hang ons.
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From: Clydebow
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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Bad luck and good luck at the same time.
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From: Babysaph
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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Yea no more hang on stands or tree steps for me. Gut hooks they are. And I am always tied in as soon as I leave the ground
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From: Bugle-up
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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Thanks for the story to serve as a reminder how quickly things can happen.
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From: Dry Bones
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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Sorry to read about the fall, glad you seemed to come out of it as good as possible. I have spent a lot of time in trees, and thankfully never had to know your situation. This is a stern reminder.
-Bones
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From: sir misalots
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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I gave up treestands cause I dont bounce anymore. Praise the LORD you are OK
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From: Yeller
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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Wow glad you made it. No more hang on for me also. Had a bad one 30 years ago come October 23. Be safe out there. Take a whistle with you
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From: B.T.
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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Trees are for the birds.
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From: Verdeburl
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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Thank goodness you’re ok. All of us need to know our physical limitations. If one climbs-take precautions. I mainly do ground hunts these days. Never sacrifice safety no matter how you hunt.
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From: TGbow
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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Sounds like the Lord had other plans for you..glad it wasn't worse. When I hunt out of any kind of stand I'm tied in..I'm not paranoid about it but it just makes sense to do what you can to help prevent a fall. Be safe.
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From: David McLendon
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Date: 18-Sep-22 |
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I blew a knee out the week before the 2007 season, I had to go to the ground, and have never climbed a tree since. I learned to still hunt and how to use a ghillie suit. I still take game every year albeit much closer, and I have a lot more fun. It's not for everybody, but I'm happier with it. Don't blow out an ACL like I did before you give it a try.
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From: Nrthernrebel05
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Date: 19-Sep-22 |
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In 2015 as soon as I stepped on to my stand, before I attached my safety harness to the tree, my hang on stand collapsed under me. I fell 18’ straight down. I hit heels first and then landed on my back. Luckily my pull up rope caught on the edge of the stand and raised my bow or I would have landed on it. Also carrying rattling antlers in my pack. Thank god I had the points facing out. I managed to find my glasses after it got light, and walk back to the truck.( about 1/4 mile) Drove 50 miles to a patient first. Found out I had fractured a vertebrae. Spent 5 months in a brace and lived in my recliner.
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From: Eric Krewson
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Date: 19-Sep-22 |
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I have posted this before;
This happened about 30 years ago while I waws putting up a lock- on. I was putting the stand in a cedar tree with a lot of limbs so I was unhooking my harness and passing the belt around the tree and rehooking as I passed a limb on my way up.
I was in a hurry, didn't look at my hook up, and leaned back against the climbing belt after I heard the safety catch snap. I leaned back about 12 feet up and my safety hook pulled loose, I think I pulled my shirttail in with hook and kept the safety snap open.
Out of the tree I went backwards. I saw the limbs going by as I fell and thought "this is going to hurt". I rolled backwards in flight and hit my shoulders and the back of my head; my back popped like a shotgun going off.
I knew it was going to hurt but wasn't prepared for the degree of pain I felt. It was so bad I passed out on the ground, then things got hazy, I would wake up looking at the sky, try to move, pass out again and come to with my face buried in the dirt. I also knew my wrist was broken.
I was finally able to get up to a standing fetal position. For some addled reason I thought I needed to take the lock on that was on the ground with me so I got back down on the ground, rolled into the straps and tried to walk out of the valley. No one knew where I was at, I was 45 miles from home and knew it was up to me to and me alone to get out.
I could only take 6" shuffling baby steps, my back felt like a bomb had exploded in it, then I started dry heaving. I knew I was going into shock, with each spasm from the dry heaving my pain doubled.
I finally got to my Ranger pick-up, got inside, belted myself in and pumped up the pneumatic lumbar support for my back. At this point I realized I hadn't locked my hubs in for 4-wheel drive and it was a rough road going out. I knew I couldn't go out and in again so I floored the gas and hopped for the best.
I made it out to the locked gate, staggered out of my truck, unlocked the gate, got back in and headed home driving with one hand. The pain was incredible.
I got home, honked the horn to get my wife's attention and told her I was in really bad shape and needed to get to the hospital. At the hospital I had all the tests and was sent to an orthopedic surgeon. He set my wrist, looked at my x-rays for about 2 seconds, said my back was OK and sent me home.
I was in bed and crawling to the bathroom for days, the pain was still out the roof. For the next year there was no way I could sit, stand or lay down for any length of time before the pain made me shift positions, then it got better and I recovered.
About 20 years later my back started bothering me again and I went to a chiropractor. He looked at my x-rays and said "when did you break your back"? There it was, a huge jagged break in my vertebrae that was actually offset to the side.
That dang Dr sent me home with a badly broken back, I haven't trusted Drs since.
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From: Wapiti - - M. S.
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Date: 19-Sep-22 |
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Sure glad you survived that fall,it could have been a lot worse.Think safety all the time things can go south in a blink of an eye.
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From: redquebec
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Date: 19-Sep-22 |
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It's Monday morning at my office before I start seeing patients. This weekend a good friend's father, whom I have met, fell out of an older "re-purposed" tree stand.
He is undergoing an extensive back surgery for several fractures as I type this. By noon today I hope to get what is "good" news about his neurological future.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!
In full disclosure I am actually teary-eyed as I type this because his neurological prognosis is poor....
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From: tradslinger
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Date: 19-Sep-22 |
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Safety has come a long ways since I first started bow hunting. unfortunately, things can go south in a hurry before you even get to you stand in the tree. Last year, an elderly friend was using a "Modified " ladder stand that had an extra four feet added to the bottom. It was the fifth or sixth time that he used it and was coming down when the bottom collapse and his leg ended up between the collapsed rungs of the ladder. Lucky for him, he was on a lease and about twenty minutes later, someone drove by and could see him.
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From: Uncle Lijiah
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Date: 19-Sep-22 |
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Back in the day, when a strong limb was at the right height, I'd use it to save a tree step. I slipped and fell on wet bark one time. I was only standing about 8 feet up, but I landed on my back and it knocked the wind out of me. Another time, in winter I was screwing a step into a frozen tree and I actually bent the step. I'm not superman, so I no longer trusted those steps. Back then, a safety harness was just a strap around your waist that connected to a strap around the tree. You didn't attach it until you were on the stand. I now use steps made of USA steel and I don't use limbs as steps. I also have a climbing belt attached for my full-body harness. I just don't bounce as good as I used to.
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From: Popester
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Date: 19-Sep-22 |
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I'm with Sir Misalots. No more hang on stands for me. I tell people, "Ya just don't bounce as good in your 60's as you did in your 20's."
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From: tradslinger
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Date: 19-Sep-22 |
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bounce? I hit like a bag of feed! no bounce here, sometimes a little slide but not much of that. Getting back up to my feet is an act of congress
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From: HEXX
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Date: 19-Sep-22 |
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I never used hang-ons but I had a Loggy slip when I was 71, broke my back. Still not
the same but more safety conscious . Same as Babysaph, always tied in before I leave
the ground.
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From: 4FINGER
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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I always loved sitting tree stands but they can be and are dangerous...I'm glad your still around to tell the tale...age has taught me when to say "No" when tempted to climb up in a treestand regardless of how good the setup and wallows look hahaha...Be Safe Out there...4finger
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From: Sasquatch73
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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My old body does not work like like it did in my free climbing and rugby days. I use double ladders now when I go up. New straps every other year and inspected each year before season. I hunt mostly from ground now in blinds made up from dead branches and brush from shooting lanes(cut green, turn brown for hunting season and leaves stay on longer. My wife ordered those flexible hoses that reduce in size that you see on TV. After a while of dragging across concrete they leak. I recycle those now from anyone I can get them from (got 3 from wife's purchases). They wrap up like you would an extension cord and a couple fit nicely in a day pack. I can tie and untie from trees or brush, pull to extend/stretch tight, wrap to create a 3 sided blind by taking brush(hang upside down so branches hang/catch on hose) and weaving in between hose layers for breakup. Usually do in front of a tree I can attach my Lone Wolf seat to or use a tall 5 gallon bucket. Enjoy the woods stay safe this season. Good Luck!
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From: Tembo62
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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I'm 60 now and had a 2 day fight with a lock on trying to get it in a tree and after fighting it on the 3rd day it dawned on me that maybe it's been decided that the stand was never going in that tree and I unhooked it and threw it down. I took the stick down and hauled it all to the truck. On the way home I called a friend that has a 20 yo son that's hunting crazy and said if he would ck the stands out before his boy took them ,he could have all 3 of them. Done with lock ons, they are a young man's game. I got a ladder stand and had it up on the same tree in an hour total. I never leave the ground without being tied to the tree the whole time with either a life line that stays for the season or a pcs of 10mm static climbing rope tied to my climbing harness. The rope tied to the front of the harness is about 8' long and I wrap it around my waist when I'm not using it and I have a climb rated carabiner hooked at the same place on the harness to hook up to the life lines when I'm in a ladder stand. The rope is for use with a Summit climber I have.
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From: Babysaph
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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I am with you Tembo
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From: Monte
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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I became a committed tree stand user after I read Roger Rothhaar's books and talked with him on the phone many years ago. I remember him stating that "he believed it was not possible to take really large mature bucks from the ground with a stick bow". And then I read about Steve's (yeller) fall and back injury. Then, saw the bucks he has taken from the ground and realized I did not need to be in the trees. Many thanks to all of you who have shared your experiences with tree stands.
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From: tradslinger
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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There is this thing that I call "The Worth Factor" , sometimes a guy has to stop and really thing it over, it it really worth it? I did that about six years ago and gave all of my hang on stands and their single pole ladders to my son-n-law and his two boys. This was seven of them. I had struggled so hard to get a stand hung that I knew their time with me was over. Now it was ladder stands and ground blinds. I have taken numerous deer off the ground over the years. There was just a little bit more of a feeling safe 17 to 22 feet high when you see a mountain lion or see the sign of. And yes, I know very well that they can climb trees but I have had them walk under me and never know that I was there. With hogs, I had always located a tree to climb it I had to. Today, there is no tree climbing. Truthfully, my ladder stands are no higher than 8 feet now, several are closer to 5'.
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From: dnovo
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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i'm 66 and still using hang on stands. I spent my life in construction and am fortunate to still be able to climb and get around good. Right now I've got 4 ladder stands and 2 hang ons out in the woods. I'm going on an out os state hunt in a few weeks and I'll bu using a hang on with my rapid rail steps. I'll also have my ghillie suit with me. all my stands are set with a lifeline that I hook to before leaving the ground.
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From: Zbone
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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I have a story about a treestand fall when a chance to tell it... Happened November 5, 2015 and my body still isn't right since...
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From: Babysaph
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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Are all of these falls while wearing a safety harness and being tied in from the time you leave the ground?
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From: TGbow
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Date: 20-Sep-22 |
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I know it's possible to fall even tied in while climbing but from all the stories I've read thru the years of about treestand falls, the vast majority resulted because the individual wasn't tied in the whole time.
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From: Eric Krewson
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Date: 21-Sep-22 |
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I had the food section of a tree stand fall out from under me once, I did have it tied to the seat portion but my rope was a little too long and I couldn't reach it.
This was a terribly cold snowy day and I had already gotten very cold myself. I was hanging in my safety harness (which was very uncomfortable) and needed to pull myself up on the seat portion to pull the bottom part back up.
I was a gym rat at the time and could probably do 30 pull ups. I fell with my flintlock rifle in my hands and my first order of business was to push it through the seat support so I could free both arms to pull myself back up.
I found out when you are very cold and wearing multiple layers of wool and coveralls with heavy boots doing one pull up was almost more than I could handle. I finally got back up on the stand but strained all the muscles in my lower arms, they were sore for weeks.
I got the foot portion back in place, settled in and here came the biggest buck I had ever seen in the wood chasing a doe, I put the sight on him at 30 yards when he stopped, I pulled the trigger and my gun klatched from being covered with snow, I cocked it again and pulled the trigger. It went off this time but had a long hang fire, I flintched and completely missed the buck.
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From: tradslinger
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Date: 21-Sep-22 |
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When I had my fall, safety was not stressed or even really thought of. No safety harnesses that I knew of back then. I always used a strap from a boat winch that I tied myself to the tree with. This was in the early 80's. Even later, I wore a harness but never attached to anything until in the tree.
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From: Desperado
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Date: 21-Sep-22 |
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71 years young & I love my Lone Wolf sit & climb....I f ell years ago from a Baker stand but still choose up in the air over on the ground !!!! Des
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From: Babysaph
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Date: 21-Sep-22 |
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I now hunt by myself so I use a descender that not only catches me but allows me to get to the ground so I do not have to try to get back up on the stand. And if the stand breaks there is no stand to return to.
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From: pondscum2
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Date: 26-Sep-22 |
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never fallen from a stand, in spite of being too casual about a harness when younger. i DID fall while hanging one once, after going to a different spot than the one i told my brother i was headed to. got lucky and was not injured. if i had been, i was not where they would have looked for me. i hunt alone now, since his death, and dang near always on the ground.
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From: Jarhead
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Date: 26-Sep-22 |
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This reminded me of an old Major I used to work with. He was jump/dive qual'ed. "When the OpsO come up with an insert method that's anything other than 'get out of the truck and walk to the objective' - I send him back to try again.
I shoot short bows... from short/quiet chairs... while wearing a ghillie suit... while snipped it tight to brush. I'm too big/old to fall.
Jar
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From: groundhunter50
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Date: 26-Sep-22 |
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At 73, when I stop and think of all the crap stands I hung and trees I climbed, and using only a waist belt, man I was pure lucky. I had a ez folder step break on me, came down about 5 feet, no damage. Last time I used a screw in, as they are all junk....
Went to a climber... However up I went, with an API, and yes I know heights, I was all of 25 feet. bottom fell down, and tether did not hold. so there I sat..... However I was tied in with a safety harness, but still had to get out and down......
I was lucky I carried in my reachable pack, another rope and carabiner, and was trained as a fire fighter on rope use etc. I was able to rig up another rope, get out of the sit section, let that fall down the tree, and use my ropes to get me down, and still had bark burn..... even for me, that was scary..............
Nothing is fool proof. Last year I knew a guy, that fell 16 feet off a ladder stand, while putting up the safety line,,,,,,,,,
glad your okay,,,,,,, I like my tree seat by Millenium now,,,,, and my Summit Climber
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From: Eric Krewson
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Date: 26-Sep-22 |
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Back before harnesses, you got a one strap el-chepo waist belt with a new tree stand to use as a safety belt.
I bought several stands and had a few extra belts.
Back in the day people would weld up these death trap homemade stands at work, they would take a motorcycle chain, weld spike teeth on it and a couple of steel handles on the ends. To climb they would put the chain around the tree, set the teeth, hold on to the handles and do pull-ups while they would lift the stand with their feet in straps.
A guy I worked with made just this type of stand and climber, he never wore a safety belt, few people did back then, this was in the early 80s
I told him he should be wearing a safety belt just in case, he agreed, I sold him one of my extra belts for a couple of bucks.
The NEXT DAY he was 30ft up a straight pine tree, he had just put on the safety belt when one of the welds in his stand broke, it plummeted to the ground leaving him hanging in the belt.
He was still in a fix but was able to get turned around and bear hug the tree while he loosened the belt. He ended up sliding down the tree while bear hugging the trunk. He lost the skin on his arms and chest but survived.
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From: garnet65
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Date: 26-Sep-22 |
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Ground hunting only for me. Sat in a tree stand once as a "guest" of my bowhunter safety teaching partner on a piece of private land he has access to. I was scared "poop-less" the entire time, and never got a shot, nor saw a deer. Most, if not all, bowhunting injuries/accidents are tree stand related, so that's all the convincing I need.
Be really safe out there. Be well. Shoot 'em straight. >>>--->
WMM
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From: Archer22
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Date: 26-Sep-22 |
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I've known two people who have fallen from a tree/treestand. My uncle fell from a 2x4 nailed to the fork of a tree, about 15' up while hunting. He suffered a concussion and severe brain bleed. He's lucky he survived.
The second was a guy I worked with. He retired in the summer and a few weeks prior to deer season he went out to trim trees around his stands and for new sets. Apparently he fell a good 20' out of a tree. Emergency personnel who found him said he landed in a way that he likely died on impact. He hadn't been retired 3 months and left behind his wife, kids and several grandkids.
I am a safety guy by profession and I know much better, but have been guilty of hunting often without fall protection. I was strapped to a tree, probably, less than 25% of my sets last year. This season I bought a saddle and rock climbing harness and I'm making a concerted effort, regardless of stand type I use, to stay strapped in. I've got self rescue gear and I always send a GPS pin to my wife with my stand location. I've done all I can do, now I can only try not to fall.
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From: TGbow
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Date: 26-Sep-22 |
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Things can happen quick. I can't prove this by statistics but I bet the vast majority of falls would have been prevented if the individual was tied in. I know that's not always the case but from a lot of accounts I read about that seems to be the case.
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From: Stickmark
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Date: 26-Sep-22 |
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My girlfriend, hearing my plan to haul a ladder stand miles up the mountain: "Hunt off the ground, no girlfriend to be found."
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