Treestand safety reminder

[Tom Leemans]

It seems one of us hears about someone we know getting hurt each year. Well I found out last night that our buddy and long time camp cook Jerry was hunting alone several days ago. He fell asleep in the treestand, which has happened before mind you, and fell out. Yes, no safety harness. He landed on his side and cracked a few ribs and, get this, cracked his sternum in two! Picture if you will, your once slightly concave center portion of your chest now making a small pup tent out of your shirt! OUCH!!!!!
   

He regained consciousness, and was somehow able to make it to his truck. He was barely able to open the door or turn the steering wheel, let alone breathe. He said the pain was almost enough to make him pass out. He made it to a house and was able to tell the people that he was in big trouble and needed help. He is recovering slowly and painfully. Any heart patient can tell you what it's like to have your chest cracked. All this because he didn't have a harness on. C'mon folks, they give these things away with every stand now!

Have a great time hunting, but come home safe!

[Whip]

As I age I get more and more paranoid about treestands every year.  I still love to hunt from them, but stories like this terrify me.  The scary part is that your buddy was actually very lucky - it could just as easily been far worse.

I've been wearing a full body harness for a number of years now, and this year I have added the safety ropes to every one of my stands so that I am now clipped in from the moment I leave the ground until I step back down on dirt.  It feels so much safer, and is incredibly easy to use.  Sure, there was a fair sized investment in quality rope ( I have 12 stands up right now) but how much would your buddy be willing to pay right now to not have to go through what he is?  I look at it as a very cheap insurance policy.

[bbassi]

Amen guys.

[Tom Leemans]

Yes, maybe after he's recovered fully, I'll asked him how much the medical bills were, let alone the cost of nearly losing his ability to walk, or his life!!!
Compare that to the cost of a harness!

I hunt primarily on the ground but I noticed my brother hasn't been using a harness in his portable tree stand. I had a talk with him this morning. I'll show him how to do a safety line as well.

[Stone Knife]

wear your harness please. A lady i know who is a nurse just was telling me about one of her patients that is 46 years old fell out of a tree stand. He is now a quadriplegic, with little or no hope of recovery.

[non-typical]

Tom I probably have a half dozen extra full body harnesses still in the packages from treestands that I have bought. If someone wants a free one send me a pm and let me know and I will gladly sent one to you.

[hunt it]

Several years back I found a guy under his stand at the base of a tree. He'd been there for 18 HOURS WITH A BROKEN PELVIS. He was 73 yrs old and not real brite!!! NO SAFETY HARNESS.

I never sit in any tree stand without a harness.
It is hard to understand folks that don't, if you don't care about your family then go for it. Otherwise brighten up and be safe!! I DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT YOU HERE OR IN THE OBITUARIES!

There is NO excuse for not wearing a safety harness.  

[Tom Leemans]

Just found out that it was not Jerry the camp cook but another Jerry who also hunted with us. Hurts just as much and message is the same though!

[eagle24]

He is very lucky it was not worse.  Here is a recommendation for those like myself, who hate and are not smart enough to put on a full harness in the dark.  Spend the bucks and get a Hunters Safety System vest.  I bought one this summer and love it compared to a harness.  I bought the mesh vest and once I got it adjusted it is a piece of cake to put on and does'nt bother me at all while in a stand or shooting.

[Fallguy]

I second the safety ropes. I have them on all my stands but, I have not been able to get my hunting parner to use them. He did get a full body harness a few years back. Just last week I of the guys I work with was checking his stand for the up coming gun season. He climded up the permenent stand sat down and looked around for 10 minutes then started to climb down when he was on the second step from the top, when the step he was holding on to gave way. He fell 16' and broke his L2 vertabret and 2 ribs. He can move his legs and stuff no damage to the spinal cord. But he is going to be off work for the next 6 months.

[JBiorn]

non-typical------you are indeed "non-typical". That is a heck of a gesture.

 I know a better solution----hunt from the ground!

[DeerSpotter]

I purchased the hunter safety system, I purchased the ProSeries $129.00, I have confidence with that system can't expandability to the lifeline that somebody mentioned on here.  You can get an insurance policy that cheap !  Mine has a deer drag on it, and also linemen belt connection.  It's worth the cost.  They also have another one is only $59.99, we think nothing of spending hundreds of dollars for that third or fourth bow, but when it comes to stuff like this we hesitate.

Don't


Carl

[countrygirl]

I use one of these and it works well.

 http://tinyurl.com/27husl

[John McCreary]

Yep,
 Every year I see people in my CT-Scanner coming through the ER with spinal, rib, pelvic, limb and skull fractures. Ruptured spleens, punctured lungs... Convinced me. Wear your harness PEOPLE!!!

John McCreary RTR

[twosheds]

I almost made the statistics the other day. Walked all the way to my tree before light, when I got there I realized I had forgot my grunt tube, bino's,tab and safety belt in the truck. I kind of shook it off and figured I could just shoot bare finger and I didn't need a safety harness, I was only going to be about sixteen or seventeen feet up. I hooked my climber on and about fifteen feet up the tree, the bottom part of the stand slipped off the tree and went to the ground. I hung there hoping the top part would stay attached. I was finally able to get my legs around the tree and scooch my way down the tree. This was all while it was still dark. I just grabbed my bow and went home. I've never been scared of heights but I had to reconsider this fright. It scared the crap out of me. Next time I go and forget my safety harness, I think I will just sit on the ground. It seems like a little thing like wearing your seat belt until you need it.

[Rich LaBombard]

how are you guys doing the "safety rope"?
Tie it above your stand, then it just hangs, and you can tie into it with a prussic (sp?) knot?

[Dan Worden]

Rich,

I have one of these on every tree, but you can make them to.

If you look into it though, once you pay for quality rope you have the cost of one of these covered. That's why I bought mine.

 http://www.geocities.com/safetreehunt/index.html

[BobCo 1965]

I know this is a link to another site, but there is a good system that will protect you from the moment your feet leave the ground (climbing,hunting from stand, descending). I use it all the time.

And I use a waist strap, from hanging the initial rope.

I won't go up a tree without being 100% protected.

 http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1309286&mpage=1

[Rich LaBombard]

Thanks guys, is this the best sight or what?!

This year, I switched to climbing sticks, and I'm realizing that the lineman's sling around the tree isn't going to be that great if I did fall, (unless it caught on a step on the way down) and I like this idea better, but didn't know the details.  Now I do.
Thanks again!

[Tom Leemans]

Whenever possible, hang your stand and safety gear with a buddy to help. I know I kept my brother from taking several "chances" while he was setting up his portable stand. He's not reckless, he just didn't notice what he was doing may have been unsafe. I did, and stopped him before he went further. Don't take chances and don't trust all equipment to be foolproof. The first rule in the maintenance technician's handbook is "Anything can break...ANYTHING."