Could be your last Bow.. IF YA DON'T

[Roy from Pa]

WEAR A SAFETY HARNESS.

I know this is not the place for this thread. I have another safety harness thread in Pow Wow. But  just this morning, I read of another hunter in Illinois that died from a fall from a tree stand. That brings the total to three hunters I know of who have died from falls from tree stands just this past week. The other two were here in Pa. So I just wanted to bring this to the attention of my fellow bow builder in here.

[Dmaxshawn]

Thanks Roy.   Sorry to hear about the loss of your friends.  I wear mine and so does my 11 year old.

[Roy from Pa]

I didn't know these men, just read about them.

[D]

Thanks to all you guys on tradgang I have started wearing mine from the ground to the top when i climb.  I never used to wear one because they are "aggrivating".  After reading the stories on tradgang it is well worth the "aggrivation".  After getting used to it i hardly even notice its there.  I was talking to a 14 year old hunter that I know and I was wearing my harness and he was looking at it and says do you wear that a lot.  I said every time.  He said they aggrivate the crap out of me.  i asked him how aggrivating did he think a wheelchair would be?  He looked at me and said thats a good point.  I told him to WEAR IT.  So thanks to everyone on here that put up their stories about falling and their harness saving them and even the horror stories where they wasn't wearing them.

[Eric Krewson]

I fell about 20 years ago, broke my back and wrist, fortunately I didn't end up in a wheel chair.

I had a full body harness on but was careless in it's use(didn't double check my hook-up which wasn't secure).

I have had one stand fall out from under me since, my harness saved me.

[George Tsoukalas]

Good reminder, Roy. I gave up climbing trees years ago though Now I hide behind them. Jawge

[Roy from Pa]

I fell 12 feet off a roof about 6 years ago. Landed on my feet, my legs buckled and down on my butt I went. Broken lower back and broken left heel bone. Wheelchair for 2 months, walker for a month, then crutches for another month, off work 4 1/2 months. Just imagine falling 20 feet from a tree? I use a full body harness and the climbing rope system now.

[rmorris]

Thanks for the reminder Roy! Just because we don't use tree stands nearly as much out west doesn't mean we can ignore this message. Be safe and have fun!
 

[Cuban Missile]

Roy are you sure you don't still need that walker...          

But seriously buckle up! My dad fell and was dangling 20ft. off the ground.  I was lucky enough to see it happen and after just about messing my pants with terror, I almost peed them laughing!

[scrub-buster]

I fell 15' while putting up a ladder stand 2 weeks ago.  I was lucky and didn't do any serious damage, just a sore back and leg.  The Dr. thought I had a blood clot in my leg and sent me for an emergency ultrasound.  Thankfully it was negative.  Everything has pretty much healed up.  For some reason my blood pressure has been crazy high since I fell.  It was normal before.  I'm now on medication for it.

[red hill]

Last year one of my neighbors was hunting near his dad during our primitive firearms season.  The dad shot a deer from a ladder stand. My neighbow went to his dad's stand after hearing the shot.  As the dad directed his son where the deer had stood and the direction in which it had run, my neighbor began walking away to look for the deer.  He heard a noise from where his dad was and turned to find his dad laying on the ground.  
His dad fell from the ladder stand and died in my neighbor's arms.  There was nothing he could do to help his dad.
So, Roy, my friend, this is a very valid and appropriate warning.
Good luck to all and be safe.

[Roy from Pa]

Damn that would be tough.

[psychmonky]

A couple of years ago my 75 year old grandpa was bowhunting out of a stand that had been hanging for almost a decade. We had all been lax in our inspection of our semi-permanent stands, and the strap had badly deteriorated. When it broke, he fell about 14' and landed with his feet out in front of him, sort of in a sitting position. He broke his pelvis and 2 vertebra, which they ended up having to fuse.

The awful thing is that this was entirely preventable. It was apathy that caused the fall. Had one of us performed a bit of preventative maintenance/inspection, and had he worn a harness, there would have been no accident.

Before all of this happened, he had always been spry. The man was a work horse. Now he can barely walk through the woods. Needless to say we are a LOT more diligent in our safety procedures now.  This stuff is not to be taken lightly guys.

[Roy from Pa]

Roy are you sure you don't still need that walker...  
 

Dear Mr. Diaz--- This is to inform you, that you Sir have made your way to the TOP of the Thumpen List, son:)

[Dan Landis]

Good reminder Roy, I fell in January of 04, broke my back 2 places and fractured my pelvis 2 places also.  Spent 10 days in ICU and wore a body brace for 6 weeks.  All is well now.  I also wore a harness, but unhooked it to get to my steps when I fell.  Moral of the story, wear a harness until your feet are on the ground...Be safe!!!!Dan

[Roy from Pa]

I hear ya Dan. I use the seat o pants harness and climbing rope system now. The climbing rope system works so slick and easy. Once I reach my stand, I attach my harness tether to the tree before unhooking my climbing rope tether, then do the reverse when coming down. That way I am connected 100% of the time. I use to wear just a safety belt around my waist, well not no more. One night when I was about to get down, my rope to lower my bow got twisted around a branch from the wind. As I leaned out to try and get it free, my seat ripped. I fell 3 feet and the belt stopped me from getting killed as I was up 25 feet, but it also broke a rib when it stopped me. End of bow season for me that year and the rut was just kicking in. I have learned the hard way as many of us have. I only wish we could reach out to all the hunters hunting from trees using nothing to protect them from deadly or paralyzing falls.

[Dan Landis]

Roy, I consider myself to be very luck, when I think of how things could have turned out.  I use a climber most of the time and attach to my tether before leaving the ground and push it up ahead of me.  I also hunt from the ground more now.....Dan

[Roy from Pa]

Another thing Dan, you might want to carry a couple screw in tree steps and an extra tether with you when using your climber. If for some reason the climber breaks and falls to the ground half way up the tree, you could screw in a step or two, attach the other tether to one of them or the tree and work your way back down that way.

Can you tell I am big on tree stand safety? I have been there done that fall stuff and have read so many times of Hunters falling to their death. Three just this past week falling and dieing is just three too many for me. And there will be more this year. Sad.

[red hill]

This has turned into a scary thread!
A coaching friend of mine worked at a small rural district in the most southern portion of Arkansas the first couple of years we were out of college. He said there was a 10th grade student on his baseball team that bragged about the large bucks he'd been seeing and killing in a local WMA. When asked what his "secret" was, the young man said he used a climbing stand to get 40'or higher up a pine tree. He said the deer never knew he was in the world. This student came to school after being absent several days with both legs in casts. He fell from 35-40' when the lower portion of his stand fell from under him and he followed it down!
Lesson learned?

[Dan Landis]

I'm right there with you Roy, you can't be too safe.  

Red, If he fell 35 to 40' and only had legs in casts, he was quite lucky.  Hopefully he learned that lesson.