Every year we read here and in other places about hunters falling from tree stands. Well, I had a different experience and fortunately I wasn't there when it happened.
I set up a nice tree stand over a bear bait on my property. It's a Lone Wolf Alpha Male and I used the climbing sticks. The stand was set in a hemlock and there were two nice maples next to the hemlock making for a nice set up. About 15 yards away was another maple that I really did not pay much heed to.
Now, my property is river bottom land and the ground is very wet. Trees fall all the time…sometimes they are uprooted in wind storms and other times they die and just fall down.
Last Monday I had to go in and clean up the bait site as the baiting season was done. When I got there this is what I found.
To see how close it came to the stand you can see the bow hanger and my bow rope on two of the branches that got sheared off.
From the stand you can see the tree that did the damage and how it broke.
We had no wind that weekend so I assume that it's time to fall had come. Fortunately I had my pruning saw with me so I cleaned up the fallen branches. Looks like some chain saw work is needed to make it safe to use that trail. From now on I will carefully check surrounding trees for their viability and hope that if this ever happens again I am not in the tree. If I had been I could have lost my bow or you could be reading an obituary.
As for the bear, I hunted a different stand two afternoons ago hunting for deer near some oaks. At 5 PM the bear walked right by me at about 6 yards on the right side of my stand where I couldn't shoot. He stayed in all the shooting lanes that I didn't cut and I watched him eating acorns for probably 45 minutes. He was, however, out of range most of the time. I hunted a different stand last night hoping I had his trail figured out. That didn't work so I'll be back near the oaks hoping he shows up. I have until Sunday to kill him. I think we all know what will happen on Monday….an easy kill shot that I can't take.
Sometimes the kill isn't what makes the hunt memorable. It's close encounters of many different kinds we will remember. This year, so far, has been memorable although there is still no new meat in the freezer. Hope you all have good luck, stay safe and shoot straight.
Oh, one last thought, the shooting lane you wonder if you should clear out, just do it!
Topic: It's dangerous out there! (Read 465 times)
