please wear a harness-i fell tonight

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Axis II

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I rushed to the farm from work and while walking in I could hear deer in the woods, changed a camera card and started up the tree to see a nice size deer get up from bedding and run away so without thinking I attached to my HSS lifeline and started up the tree. I needed to get 30ft to clear some branched and stay hidden so I purchased a rivers edge quick stick to go above my 20ft muddy sticks. I put my millennium stand on the tree and stepped onto the rivers edge stick and they gave way beneath me. My lifeline caught me for the most part and I climbed down, back up and got the quick stick down and my best guess is the loop on the strap slipped off the ram horn it slides on.

After about 20min of screwing around I climbed into the stand and began shaking very badly, seeing funny and was afraid to stand up. I climbed down and it appears when weight is put down on the stick and it cams to the tree the loop slips closer to the edge of the ram horn or when I put the stand in the tree and strapped it in the stand pushed on the cam buckle. I ended up going home and still a nervous wreck! I will be putting a ratchet strap on it tomorrow.

Please guys I know harnesses are expensive but how much is your life worth? I have had guys tell me I cant afford it! you cant put $100 on a credit card for a month or two to save your life? I will always wear my harness no matter what! I'm very glad I got a lifeline because if I didn't have good reflexes to grab a limb and sticks I would have went right back onto the ground!
 
Wow. Glad you are OK.
Not everyone gets a second chance. My friend slipped off a hickory tree with his climber. He is now paralyzed from waist down.

I have used a hot nail to poke a few holes and attach my favorite Buck knife scabbard to my nylon safety harness. I have also attached my revolver holster to the other side when I handgun hunt. It works really great, one of my favorite inventions.
I tell my boys that all the big bucks on the woods aren't worth getting hurt over, this aint war.
 
1. Glad you didn't get hurt.
2. 30ft?! What are you, a monkey?
3.Have you tried hunting from a 2 man ladder stand? Have all the room in the world. Expensive and can be tough to find the right tree ,but worth it.
4.I shall now be renaming Murphy's law to ohihunter2014's law.
5. Stay safe,good luck this season
 
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Bones741 said:
1. Glad you didn't get hurt.
2. 30ft?! What are you, a monkey?
3.Have you tried hunting from a 2 man ladder stand? Have all the room in the world. Expensive and can be tough to find the right tree ,but worth it.
4.I shall now be renaming Murphy's law to ohihunter2014's law.
5. Stay safe,good luck this season
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It was a hang on stand, I needed to get that high for cover and be able to see. Sat same spot last year in another tree but no cover and kept getting picked off. I use a millennium hang on and just leave 20ft sticks up cause people steal or use your stands when your not around. Ladder would be used or taken
 
Somewhere I read you have a 10% chance of dying from a 10' fall, 20% chance from a 20', 30% chance from 30', etc.
 
I'm glad you were smart enough not to be stupid.

I used to hunt out of a thing called a 'crotch stand'. It was a tiny platform with spike-like projections on each end. One of them was hinged and dug into the side of a tree's crotch when you put your weight on it. One day I was putting it in the crotch of a big oak about 20' up. When I stepped on it to seat it, down it went and me with it until my belt grabbed and slammed me into the trunk. I only fell about 2-3 ft but it scared the crap out of me. I haven't used a crotch stand since.

A rich lawyer member of our club always said that safety belts weren't necessary. He fell out of a tree and died.
 
Paul7 said:
Somewhere I read you have a 10% chance of dying from a 10' fall, 20% chance from a 20', 30% chance from 30', etc.
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I posted it before, but I will do it again. Arkansas Game and Fish sends a yearly report to all Hunter Safety Instructors. Last year we had 28 accidents reported and 16 were treestand related. One 80 year old man died after falling 30 feet. $60 will buy a nice harness that will last for years. Cheap insurance.
 
I fell out of a tree two years ago. I had a harness on (HSS), didn't "fall " at all when my climber stand slipped down the tree under me and still ended up with 11 stitches from slamming my face into the tree. If I had fallen 18 feet it would have been MUCH WORSE.

Wear a harness! Seconded!
 
Doc7 said:
I had a harness on (HSS), didn't "fall " at all when my climber stand slipped down the tree under me
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I had a climber and the bark under it slip about 2 feet years ago. It was on a cedar tree. Never use a climbing stand on a cedar or cypress tree. If the bark slips, you will be slipping with it. I also use climbing stands that 'bite' into the tree. No smooth cables for me.
 
Patocazador said:
I had a climber and the bark under it slip about 2 feet years ago. It was on a cedar tree. Never use a climbing stand on a cedar or cypress tree. If the bark slips, you will be slipping with it. I also use climbing stands that 'bite' into the tree. No smooth cables for me.
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The same with shagbark hickory.also trees that are too small diameter to bite properly.
 
CraigC said:
Starting to think you might should take up knitting.
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all the hunting issues are fine now. I pulled out of the one farm cause of the idiots trying to police it. The guy who put a stand and camera up week before season I left the note for is okay, we met and all is well now. My huntings been fine so far other then the fall last night.
 
When I first started this at age 15 I was working under the table mowing, etc and got a bow, at 16yo I got a real job and purchased a $100 field and stream climber that a year later the arm the cotter pin went in bent from the weight so I broke down and purchased the best money could buy. summit goliath and paired it with a HSS harness. I used to do business at a gandermountain and always had to buy one thing at a time cause I was 16 and the bow tech told me he fell and broke his back and ditch the harness that comes with the stand. what was a wakeup call for me was the field and stream platform not biting the tree and falling and leaving me sitting on the shooting rail screaming for help from my buddy. I then threw the stand away and purchased the summit with the HSS. Next purchase will be a treestand wingman.
 
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MCgunner said:
Glad you're okay. My ladder stand actually came with a harness.
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Most ladder stands come with a harness, but you need to be a mechanical engineer to put one on. There are several good ones on the market that aren't complicated. I have a Hunter's Safety System that is as easy as putting on a pair of pants. I gave all of the spares (4) away as prizes when we were teaching archery to VET's. We shot a 3D course and the high score got a harness. Served two purposes. It might save a life, plus, it cleaned out my garage.
 
Glad you're ok.
My story is a little different. Years ago I hunted with a safety belt with a rope the attached to the tree after I was in it. One night the snow turned to freezing rain and sleet. Iced everything up in minutes. I slipped ant was hanging on the wrong side of a limb. I couldn't get up and over it to get back on my tree steps. I cut my safety line and tried to keep hold on my tree steps with one hand. I fell 16' compression fxr L1 2 broken ribs and a couple chipped teeth. Had to walk 1/2 mile rough ground in snow and sleet to get to my truck. No cell signal and no fun.
I wear a good harness and use lifelines. My feet don't leave the ground without a point of attachment and a backup or secondary system.
Some lessons are painful.
 
Portable tree stands are a lot better, and safer than they first started out. The first climbing ones (anyone else have an original "Baker" still?) we called "death traps", cause they were flimsily built and had no secondary means of keeping them to the tree, other than the cam action of the grab bars. First safety harnesses weren't much better. Lots of good stuff out there, one just needs to use it along with common sense. Most dangerous time using a tree stand is getting into and outta it when using steps/ladder. This is also the time when most remove their harness. For the most part, I've yet to find the scenario where one needs to get more than 12-15 feet off the ground, especially when using a bow. Knowing the wind and keeping still works much better than getting higher up and creating a severe shooting angle. There's times on steep hillsides, when I've found I do not need to get more than 6' off the ground. Years ago Minnesota had a law against being higher than 6' in any platform. Still, the use of a good harness is a good choice and a wise investment. Glad to hear you were wearing yours.
 
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