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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Ray Johnson on December 16, 2014, 10:16:00 AM
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This is a first and I hope only for me.I fell out of my deer stand yesterday.Thank God that I was wearing my harness.I was going for a mid day hunt and didn't even get in the tree until 1030 am.It was about 100pm(my nap time)and I dozed off while sitting down.I thought to myself that I need to stand up and the next thing I know is that I'm falling.I tried to grab onto anything but there was nothing to grab.I didn't fall far because my harness was tight and I fell on the same side as my climbing sticks.My chest was about even with my platform.The only thing that was hurt was a little pain in my left shoulder but other than that I'm fine.I climbed back up and started hunting again.Crazy...
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WOW! Glad you are o.k. and were wearing your harness.
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Wearing your harness and committing to safety may have just saved your life! Glad it turned out ok!!
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My Nap time is around 1300 also....
Funny how your brain gets used to it, and at that time it wants to nap....
Glad ya had your harness on and all is well..
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I'm very glad it worked out for you and you weren't hurt. I'm a fulltime paramedic in our rural county and have been on a couple treestand falls just this year. One was a 16 yo who ended up with spinal injuries and will never walk again. I can't believe in this day and age there are people who still don't wear a harness.
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Thank God you wear a safety harness!
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The harness did its job!
Glad it was not worse!
Bisch
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Glad you're ok. What's a Nap BTW... :D
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I sometimes take a nap after a morning hunt and get sleepy that time of day.My body is just used to it.I've been bowhunting for 25 years and this is a first for me.I've dozed off before but will usually stand up when I do.I guess that I just shut my eyes again and leaned to my right.I don't know why I didn't wake up when I first began to lean over.It is just crazy to me.
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DK, a NAP is different from a CRAP, although both can be wonderful things when really needed. It is possible to do both,but hopefully you nap while you. . . and not the other way around. Kinda takes the fun out of things.
Ray, I am glad you are safe AND I am glad that you took the time to tell us how it went down.
I hate hearing about folks that got hurt. An acquaintance of mine is in a body cast right now, why ???? no safety harness, no wings. He is so lucky I can't even believe it.
We HAVE the technology, please use it, and learn how to use it as rightly as you are able.
CHuckC
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Thank goodness u had on the harness...glad ur ok!! I wouldnt climb a tree without one!
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I'm glad you're ok.
I'm not sure but I believe harnesses are designed for only one fall. You might want to replace it or at least take a good look at it. Might not hurt to contact the manufacturer to be safe.
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Thankful for you. Good testimony of the need for a harness. Tighten it up higher and your waist won't get past the seat.
I nap often as I have it tight quite high. I simply put my arm/shoulder through the strap- it holds me in a seated but upright position. I can sleep in perfect safety.
Dan in KS
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Listen up all "I'm to macho to need a safety system" guys, gravity kills.
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:thumbsup: :thumbsup: for the safety harness!
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Glad you are ok. Some of the harnesses and fall-restraint devices are meant for one fall. I hope yours is still sound?
I tighten mine so that I can feel it "pull" when I'm sitting.
In 45 years I have never fallen asleep on stand. I've wanted too and I knew a few times if I shut my eyes I would, so I didn't.
I still think back on all the decades I didn't wear a harness. I dodged those "bullets" then but I'm done taking those chances.
Of course now that I've written this,--- next time out .....!?
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Fell out of my stand this year while in a hurry to move it, wind was wrong for a ridge stand I've had success in a lot before. I was in to damn of a hurry, stand was a ladder stand, I unstrapped top ratchet strap and stand popped out away from tree. There I stood in no mans land for about thirty seconds until.....you know it, over backwards still holding on to stand. I crawled about 400 yds to my vehicle, then spent about 3 hrs in the ER, had xrays, MRI and a c-scan. Nothing hurt except my pride and the 3 herniated discs in my lower back which give me syatica down both legs. Gotta really think when up in a tree, usually have 2 guys to move ladder stands, but I was in too much of a hurry..............oh ya, my feet were at about 15-17 feet, ground is unusually hard when you hit from that high....I'll use a prussic when entering and leaving from now on
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Props to you wearing a harness!! Been trying to convince a few friends to wear them for years, they say " I'm not that high" I don't like how they feel" excuses excuses it's only a matter of time before something bad happens I feel. Glad you're ok everyone should learn from this.
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Thanks from your loved ones for using a harness. Just a tip to everyone, I was looking at some of the safety prussic ropes at the store the other day. They were about $30.00 for a 30 foot length but was only rated for 400 lbs. I'm afraid that is not enough if you fall. I would and do buy some of the better rescue rope.
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Glad your ok, it can happen to anybody.
I gotta get a safety harness.
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I don't go up without it anymore. Too old and scared. I use a climber all the time. It is part of my equipment.
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Yes,I do want to encourage all of you who never wear a harness to get one now.I have been bowhunting for 25 years and this is my first fall.Thank God that I had my harness on.It worked just like it is supposed to.I looked at it carefully and feel confident that it could easily withstand another fall.
I never wore a harness my first few years of bowhunting until a coworker went to sleep in his stand and fell.He is now in a wheelchair.It is serious business.I am still in disbelief over the whole episode.It almost seems like a dream.I actually fell from my stand.That is just insane to me.I hunt fairly high too.I was 23' up with five Lone Wolf climbing sticks and a Lone Wolf Assault stand.I use a linemans belt when hanging the sticks and stand.I do un hookj though to climb up to hang the next stick and when getting into my stand.I guess I need to get a line to connect above me when I unhook the linemans belt and when climbing into the stand.I was a half mile in the woods after a mile or so boat ride so if I would have hit the ground,it probably would have been bad.
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Glad you were not seriously hurt. I have never fallen but have come close a couple of times. I really believe in using the safety harness.
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It's nice to hear the good stories once in a while! I'm glad this one worked out because you took the precaution to wear your harness.
Like I always tell my students who are opposed to wearing a harness when they hunt, no one ever PLANNED on falling out of a tree; in fact, I'm pretty certain EVERYONE plans on NOT falling out!
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good lord. glad youre ok man!
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Many years ago before good harnesses, I fell asleep and woke up in the air. I managed to grab the front of my stand just before it was out of reach. I have hunted the ground since then. I work the midnight shift, it is much better for napping on the ground. Some times I wake up with deer around me. :knothead:
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wow glad you are ok! safety is always a huge part of hunting and im glad you take that seriously. i had a family member who thought he had taken all the steps with his young son however when climbing down they had unhooked and did not have a tie off for climbing up and down and his son fell during a misscomunication on who was decending the two man first..thank god his son only had the wind knocked out of him and was uninjured....
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Glad your ok. People should learn from your story. My son fell two times when he was younger but I had him in a safety system. Never go out with out it!
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Glad you are well.... It seems that for many years I knew too many folks getting hurt, it becomes less each year, but so are the number of friends and the amount of hrs they hunt....
I keep worrying if I am next....
But as a husband and father of 3 children who count on me... I can slow down and try to stack the odds in my favor as much as I can...
I use lone wolf sticks as well as an Assault stand....
I did however buy a summit rope with Prussia knot to tie into as I unhook from the line mans belt before climbing in the stand....
I work a rotating schedule and hunt alone most of the time...
I must say the good Lord looks after fools and small children... And What hair I have left seems to be turning grader by the day....
But know if it ever happens it will be a bad day...
The fact I haven't fallen out of a stand is that if I know I am that tired.... I mostly hunt from the ground....and sleep to my hearts content
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Good post .. we all need the reminder to be safe
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Glad you are ok. I too am a statistic for falling. About 12 years ago I was hunting out of a gametamer stand but had a single pole type ladder for access. Wearing rubber boots in the rain, I stepped from the ladder onto the stand but being wet, my foot slipped and down I went. 15 feet of free-fall to the ground flat on my back with a back quiver full of arrows and broadheads, while banging off the ladder as I decended. I can only give thanks to God for sparing me significant injury (except my pride), as the only thing was a minor sprain to my ankle. I immediately climbed back up and into the stand but much more aware of the slick boots.
Since I only hunt private land now, I have gone to a ladder type stand and enter my gametamer from a more secure platform.
Stay safe out there.
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Good for you for wearing that harness!
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Glad for the harness, and that you're OK. Despite the advantages, I rarely hunt from tree stands anymore.
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You are supposed to buy a new one if you fall, I believe. They are rated for 1 fall. Glad you had it on!
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I'm a certified hunter ed instructor and not only preach wearing a 4- point harness, but also using a climbing system with a prussic knot. 75% of falls occur while climbing, not when on the platform or seat. So tying off once you're up is not enough protection.
The new safety concept is suspension trauma. Harnesses now are being made with suspension relief straps. Y'all should Google this one.
Not trying to hijack your thread. ... Just wanted to chime in on this VERY important topic.
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I'm a certified hunter ed instructor and not only preach wearing a 4- point harness, but also using a climbing system with a prussic knot. 75% of falls occur while climbing, not when on the platform or seat. So tying off once you're up is not enough protection.
The new safety concept is suspension trauma. Harnesses now are being made with suspension relief straps. Y'all should Google this one.
Not trying to hijack your thread. ... Just wanted to chime in on this VERY important topic.