I preach tree-stand safety. Any trad bowhunter that hunts with me has to wear one or they are "grounded". Up until this year I used the harness only, and was unhooked in the brief period that I step onto my stand.
I had just made 4 full length ropes with a prusset hitch on them for my hang-ons and put them on my 4 best stands. I got a south wind yesterday and headed to a "lesser" stand. It was hung last year and due to my laziness I had not checked it yet.
I climbed into the hang-on last evening and as I was putting my safety strap around a tree the stand broke, and I fell 18 feet. Lucky (or unlucky maybe) I grabbed a tree step and impaled my left hand. I fell anyway. 5 years of judo helped me because I rolled into the fall and slapped my right hand on the ground. Breaking my fall but also forcing a couple of bones though the skin of my right ring and middle finger. Other than the wind being knocked out of me nothing else happened. I got hit in high school by a middle linebacker from Tennessee while tring to run a little j-hook route in an all-star game that was about the same force. He went on to play at UT and the NFL, and I went to play for a small school where they didn't hit as hard. This hit told me 18 feet is too high, so I will play at a lesser school from now on. I had made an attempt to check the stand as I did not pull it last year. I think with the winds we had and the weather, perhaps the rachet strap was frayed and my 240 was too much for it.
I cut a tendon on my left hand and got surgery last night, and I have pins in the open fractures of my right hand during the same surgery. My shooting of trad equipment is over for a few months. I am lucky I know how to fall, and I am glad that God was there to keep me here with my fellow brothers of the bow and my wonderful family.
I am glad it was me that fell. My friend Jack Paluh loves this stand, and we have a hunt planned here for November. I will hang a new one for him, complete with a rope from stand to ground, with a prusset hitch. His hands are worth a million dollars. Mine aren't worth 10 cents a pound :)
So, please check your stands. Stay hooked in. Climbing rope and a small piece of nylon rope to tie the hitch is cheap. Search Powwow and you will find what you need on how to do this. Here are a few pics. Laugh at my hat, gag at the pics, but whatever you do wear your safety strap while using your climbers and stay tethered when you take that first step on the platform.
I will be here waiting for hunting stories and I will be living through Tradgang the rest of the fall. I am meat-rich with half an elk, a big bear, and a giant doe from this year in my freezer! Stay on the ground or stay hooked up my friends.
(http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/wapiti792/hospital3.jpg)
*step vs hand...no good.
(http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/wapiti792/hospital4.jpg)
*Judo fall at 27 feet per second not good for fingers.
(http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/wapiti792/hospital2.jpg)
*Off to surgery. Didn't have camo hats. Wonder if we can get Barry and Gene to market these in camo.
(http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/wapiti792/hospital1.jpg)
*Post-up...just before Albert's second homerun.
Wow...
It could always be worse.
U could be a Cubs fan.
;-p j/k
Seriously tho.. glad you aren't hurt worse or dead.
God bless brother, and Go Cardinals.
Michael, you have my prayers for a swift and complete recovery....Take care of yourself!!!!
PS This is a great reminder to all of us!
That's awful, Mike... prayers with you for a speedy recovery. Thank you for posting as a lesson for the rest of us, though. Get healed up soon!
Glad you will be hunting again next year.
As much as I hate my harness, I still wear it because f seeing and hearing such stories.
It doesn't matter how athletic you are, it may be caused by something other than balance.
WOW! that was a close call!!!
Hope you get those hands healed up quick!
Point taken. Very glad you are alive, hopefully many will think twice after seeing this. I am an 18 year martial arts guy myself, and have saved my butt more than once with the ground slap. So simple, but obviously a life saver. Heal up!
Your a lucky man,it could have been worse. I hope you get better fast.Nothing like a vivid reminder to refocus on safety issue. Get well.Tim
Glad you were not hurt any worse than you are.
Good reminder to check your stand every time you get in it.
Your typing is still purdy good. :p
Hey, but seriously, if you need me to come over a slay that big ole buck that is standing under your tree stand right now... just say the word. That is what buds are for.
Thank God that is all that happened. I hope you heal quickly!!
Glad it wasn't worse for you. Thanks for the heads up.
Heal quickly and hunt safely.
Sorry to hear about this, this stuff can happen to anyone of us climbing trees. Be positive, you got your whole life ahead of you!
Prayers for a speedy recovery.
Very glad you're able to tell us what happened. A good reminder for all. Hope you have a quick recovery.
Glad you didn't get hunt any worse.
We all have to be very careful
doug77
QuoteOriginally posted by USN_Sam1385:
Wow...
It could always be worse.
U could be a Cubs fan.
;-p j/k
Seriously tho.. glad you aren't hurt worse or dead.
God bless brother, and Go Cardinals.
..or a Red Sox fan ;-)
Heal up well, take lessons learned and get back out there!
Will do gents and thanks. Just called my lefty friend Jack. He's sending me a bow wronghanded :) We'll see!
Very sobering event,glad you weren't hurt worse,take care.
Good luck for a speedy recovery. I haven't been off the ground since '73. Hap
Dang Mike! Hope you heal quickly,sounds like you have the right attitude to get after it!
Damn Mike... heal up quick. Those White Co. deer will still be there....
Thanks for the great reminder. Things can happen so fast. Take care and all the best for a full recovery and return to shooting.
Man, Mike! I am really sorry to hear this, but glad you are well enough to be able to tell the tale!!!
If you end up needing a different bow, I have a 42# Howatt Hi-Speed Lefty that I'd be glad to loan to a fellow UBI member. It's a beater, but it is another option if Jack's doesn't work for some reason.
Hoping your recovery goes well,
Daryl
Mike,
Thank God you are alive to tell us about it and the damage wasn't worse...I know it can get frustrating not going out hunting right away but you seem to have the right spirit and determined to follow the therapy that you will need to heal...Thanks for reminding us and for the pics to show all including myself that just taking a second to put a safety harness on can be fatal..We all need to be careful each and every time we climb and stands need to be gone over each season...God Bless you in a speedy recovery! Keefers <><
May you heal fast. I'm glad you didn't suffer any major damage.
I thank God for your life and for 100% healing of your wounds.
It happens so fast that the only real time time do any thinking is before you ever put the 1st foot up to climb up into a questionable stand.
God bless,Mudd
Prays here for quick healing and thankful it was not worse.
get well soon, glad you were not hurt worse...
Heal up quick! Lucky I'm scared of heights so there's little chance of finding me up a tree anytime soon! Glad you're still with us!!
Gosh Mike, I am glad you will recover, it could have been so much worse. Good to see you are in fine spirits, are looking at the positives, and trying to help the rest of us!
I promised my family a long time ago I was not going to fall out of a tree. It has probably cost me some bucks, but I always have two lines with me so I am never NOT connected between the tree and my harness. No shortcuts and since I don't have any preset stands, it takes me a long time to get set up sometimes, but coming home is worth a lot more to me than any deer.
A speedy recovery to you my friend :thumbsup:
OMG! :scared: Just glad you can write about this... Could have been a lot worse...
... mike ...
Wow, not good Mike! I am so glad that you will be hunting and sharing your talent for story telling again, real soon. Obviously, things could've gone really bad, but thanks for turning your misfortune into a teachable moment for everybody. I wish you a fast recovery my friend...
Certainly glad that you lived to tell the tale Mike. I fell out of a tree near our old stomping grounds, near Murray State, while hunting LBL . . . back in the days before commercial safety belts had been invented and many of us still hadn't put 2 and 2 together for ourselves. Heal quickly buddy.
I have no way to practice from a tree stand so I'm on the ground, plus I have no one to look for me if I don't come home from a hunt. Your story makes me have no regrets about it.
I'm glad you weren't hurt worse, and Prayers for a full and speedy recovery.
glad your okay! i know what you mean about the judo fall, i took judo and Ju-jitsu for years. little things like that help.
i'll share your story with a friend of mine. he told me just today that he never wears a harness in our ladder stands, " i feel pretty safe" it only takes a second for some thing to happen.
hope you have a speedy recovery. i am an orthopaedic nurse , so i feel for ya.
Get well brother..... :(
Sorry to hear about your fall!
If you do a search, I started a thread about a week ago titled "6 years ago today".
I told my story of falling, and how I take measures now to prevent it.
My prayers to you for a quick recovery!
Wow, sure could have been worse! Thanks to the good Lord that you made it out okay!
Wow Mike, I got scared when I saw that the thread was started by you. Thank God you got away as lucky as you did! I'll be extra careful this season, I promise!
For those of you that don't know Mike.... mark my words, He'll be killin' something yet this fall regardless of handedness or if he uses his feet (and you should see those things)
I'll be prayin' for ya buddy!....Ryan
prayers sent for you. Glad you made it out. I am pretty conservative in mine...but I am starting to like the ground more and more anyway.
Your story makes me stop and think...
(I havent been usinfg the safety teather to climb)
Thank you for sharing
WOW. hope you get well soon!!
Mike, Glad your ok! Hope you heal fast and can still get in a little woods time.
Bill
Mike, that's pretty gruesome. I'm glad you have some training to think and react quickly enough to lessen the damages! What do you use to install those stands and ropes BEFORE the steps and stands are set? Stay positive, heal quickly, and THANKS for sharing the most pertinent information for us!
Glad to hear you are alive and will recover. I had similar injuries a few years ago. dance with a radial arm saw, and the worst part is zipping your fly and wiping your butt, good luck and keep smiling.
Like everyone else here, I say thank goodness you can tell us about it yourself! I sincerely wish you a full and speedy recovery.
In a week or more I'll be leaving for the only hunt I use a treestand for nowadays... white tails... and I'll be thinking about you.
From years of setting up tree stands for hunters, I've been told that I seem to be very much at ease climbing and working up there... and I agree... I'm most likely too confident and too comfortable at any height.
I'll be making a conscious effort to be a little more wary.
Ukemi waza is a good thing to practice. You probably would have been hurt a lot worse if you didn't know how to protect the vital parts of your body. good luck with your recovery from a fellow Judoka
I am speechless my friend, I have started to type a response 3 times today and just don't have the words. I was really worried when I got the text and thank you for taking the time to call me back.
After talking to you I feel much better and I know it won't be long and you will be right back out there. Sorry for your injury's and we will be praying for a fast recovery buddy.
I will talk to you soon :wavey:
Tracy
Glad you are as well off as you are bud ! Could have been much worse. Get well soon and prayers sent for your speedy recovery from TN. :pray:
Hope you heal quick.It will make the rest of us pay a little more attention.As i get older i think about falling more often, so at the beginning of the year i retired my old harness and bought a rescue one.Last year i was climbing in my stand and heard a pop i looked down and one of the cables broke :scared: Then we checked other stands and more broken cables we all need to check our equipment more often.
Glad your injuries are of the nature that will heal. you mentioned you impaled your hand on a tree step. I'll assume that was the srew-in variety? I quit using those years ago, they are so dangerous if you fall. There have een guys eviscerated by them when they fall. I switched over to the strap on climbing sticks for hang on stands, and lately all I use is my climber, and ladder stands. You can get plenty high enough with those, and no steps or platforms to break.
Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Man oh man Mike,I am sure sorry to hear this. I am on my way home from AZ and available to help any way I can. Please let me know if you need anything.
I have no intentions of hijacking this thread so best wishes for a speedy recovery Mike. I wanted to mention you don't just have to worry about treestand safety. I took a bad tumble this morning on the way into stand before light. I was sneaking in the long way which caused me to cross a dry creekbed. The banks are really steep and maybe 30' from top to bottom. When I need to negotiate a steep angle and there are trees or brush to hold onto a lot of times I'll
face the bank and back down digging in my toes. There wasn't anything to grasp so I decided to sit on my butt and dig my heels in gradually sliding a little at a time. When I squatted to start my descent the bank went out from under my feet and I went head over heels twice and then rolled the rest of the way to the bottom. I really lucked out. I had my backpack on with camera gear, etc., two arm straps and a belt buckled, and somehow it still came off. I ended up chipping a bottom front tooth, cutting my hand, breaking my reading glasses in my shirt pocket, breaking my beautiful snakeskin bowquiver and severely smashing the muscle in my left thigh. I assume I rolled over the bow breaking the quiver (which is scarey); my flashlight somehow got turned off too. The bow landed 20 feet away. I crawled over to my pack and got my spare light out and found everything. I limped the rest of the way into my stand, set the camera up, etc. About fifteen minutes after pink light I heard something coming. Went to stand up to get ready and found I couldn't stand up because the muscle in my leg apparently seized up. I pulled myself up via a nearby limb, packed up and headed home. I couldn't make it up the steep bank so walked the dry creekbed 1/4 mile until I found a gradual incline. It took me over two hours to walk out. Everything is fine now except my leg and I'm sure I'll be pretty sore in the AM. Likely will have to take a couple days off from hunting to heal. This is a pretty good commercial for my Tall Tines recurve. So far this year I've thrown it in the face of two charging hogs and tossed it off a 30' cliff with nothing but "character" marks. Good job Brian! Ha. The whole point of this post is we need to think ahead. I WAS being careful, the bank gave way. My wife is back east visiting her sister, Gene is 100 miles away and I doubt my cell phone would have worked down in the hole. I leave a note with what stand I'm hunting on my desk, plus Gene and I make it a point to call or email each other each night. But it could make for a long day if you get hurt before light in the morning. Be careful out there guys. Best of luck to all. BW
I don't know anything to say that hasn't already been said.
Just take care and praying for a speedy and full recovery.
Well I can send a prayer your way for sure. Take it easy and follow doctor's orders. I hope you and Barry both get healed up soon.
The two things I like the least in a tree stand set-up are straps on stands and screw in steps. I like chains and stick ladders.
I appreciate you posting your story here and I'm sure quite a few can learn from it.
Personally I use a climbing stand and pack it in so I don't know much about steps and never thought much about the dangers of them. Plus I can't really use them on trees here in PA legally on game lands and wouldn't install them on the private land that I hunt.
But having read your post I will probably not use them, you may have saved me and others some pain and injury.
I wish you a speedy recovery and many years of hunting. When considering a fall like this one must thank god and good reflexes for escaping serious injury. I knew a fellow who fell from his motorcycle moving it in the driveway and suffered a serious brain injury on the pavement from just a few feet up.
Buddy, I am so glad things were not worse. I had the breath knocked out when you sent the text. Your in my prayers for a speedy recovery. I think the hat looks good ;) Take care Bud!!
Again fellas thanks so much for the kind words. Barry hi-jack my thread any day. You have more experience than any I know, and your commentary is always welcome...besides those talltines are pretty tough. Mine survived too :) I am glad you are ok. We need you around, so stop picking fights with hogs and stay outa steep ditches!
Tonight I watched baseball with my son and helped my daughter sort out her "snails" she got from the creek. I told my wife she was the best for putting up with this thing we love. It was a full day, and I was glad to have it. I see my surgeon on Wednesday. Can you think of the first question I am gonna ask...so when can I shoot? :campfire:
mike,
hate to hear that this happened. glad to know that you will make it. let me know if you need anything.
noah
Wish I read this sooner.I have been ground hunting for a few years.Sunday I got busted by a four point that right when he was broadside of me made a sharp turn an headed straight for me.Twenty ft.from me he makes me and makes a quick exit.
Tired of getting busted on the ground,I stopped on the way home and bought a tree stand.I will be thinking of your pain every step up.Enjoy time at home and wish you a full recovery.
Oh man brother. Very sorry to hear this. I was expecting the next pic we saw of you over a big buck not like this. Prayers are with you and come back quick.
First thing when I saw it was "Oh Lord". My wife always says that the Lord does it for a reason. He saved you and taught us again. Hopefully many of us will listen. I broke both wrists a long time ago, I had casts on both of them yours looks similar. YOU are going to be great friends for a while with your spouse....especially when the need to sit the "throne" comes along. :pray: take care out there
Mike,
hate it that it was at your expense, but this something I needed to see. I didn't want to wear mine Saturday but I did so anyway. Your misfortune will keep me from thinking twice about it. Your hurt may save others lives.
Heal fast and well.
Jeff
Prayers for quick healing!! Thank you for sharing your painful story. You likely just saved someone else a similar or worse fall. Hope you can get back at it soon.
Glad you are basically ok. Like many have said he could have been a whole lot worse. Thank you for posting since i was doingthe same as you. I have the lifelines at my best stands but have a few lesser stands without them which I am going to correct.
OMG Prayers for a fast and great recovery Mike. What a way to post for Tree stand safety. You know, do the Therapy. God Bless.
Second fall I have heard of regarding nylon straps. Think I may start surfing certain auction sites in search of a few older stands with the chains.
Glad to know you were not seriously injured, till I read this I admit to having dome the same thing, being unhooked for a brief amount of time right after stepping onto the platform. Won't do that anymore!!!
Get well soon Mike!
Your story made me wince. I too have taken a bad fall from an unchecked ladder stand and the trip down was a mutha!
There is a laundry list of injuries that you could have incurred and I'm very happy that you got off as lightly as you did. God speed on recovery and a return to this sport we all love so much.
Mike, Can't add much to what has already been said. I'm just glad you are still here with us! Take your time, do what the doc says and get healed up.
Dave
Ouch! Trust me, you find out just how much your hands are worth when you can't wipe! Get well brother!
Wishing a speedy and full recovery!!! Prayers w/ you brother!
That is why I switched over to ladder stands plus I'm 64
Sorry about your bad luck and hope you have a quick recovery. Careful people have accidents but we must always remember other peoples accidents and how to avoid them. You have given me an idea.
Dang-it Mike :(
I'm not sure what to say :confused: Get well soon buddy, we still haven't shared a camp together and I can't have you check'en out before we've done that a few times. :campfire:
I'll be watching for your recovery post.
Barry,
I hope your recovery goes smooth too. I like the system that you and Gene have setup. Good planning. This has got me thinking. I've been using the Prussic knot for a few years but I usually don't inform my wife as to where I'm going on our farm. I know she has no clue where all the tree stands are.
Kinslow knows where they all are, but if there are rerun episodes of Hee-Haw showing I can forget about him coming to look for me. :pray:
:pray:
Here's to a speedy recovery. Been there, done that. Hopefully you'll be none the worse for wear in the long run.
Glad your sensi beat that into you. Speedy recovery!
I'm 52 and fell on ice a couple years ago and learned I don't bounce near as well as I used to. My back and forearms hit at the same instant and, after two minutes when I could breathe again, no lasting harm except my pride.
By coincidence my stand is at 18 feet, but I am in a multi-trunked red maple that has a dozen arm to leg sized branches (as well as six screw-in-steps) so I have lots of grab-holds. But I can see a ladder stand in my future for sure.
Glad you werent hurt worse...
An example such as this is a good warning for us all that it can happen to anyone/anytime.
Take care and heal fast.
Mike so sorry to see this post, on the other hand, I thank you for the lesson. (No pun intended)
I do not hunt from elevated stands, at my age, I won't heal as fast as you youngsters, if at all.
God's speed on your recovery, you are in my prayers.
Man that is a bummer. Glad it was not worse and hope for a speedy recovery.
Wow Mike, sure sorry to see you had to be the bad example for everyone else! But glad to hear that you will be ok and back in the game next year.
I added ropes and prusic knots on all of my stands 4 or 5 years ago, including all of my ladder stands. I think it ran me about $30 per stand to get them all set up. Cheap insurance to try to prevent what you went through!
Get well soon bud!
Get hooked up with an Occupational Therapist, preferably a Certified Hand Therapist like myself and follow their instructions. Tendon lacerations are nothing to play with, or blow off. Glad you're no more seriously injured.
Just finished up my third hunter's ed class yesterday and showed everyone how to tie a prussic knot and climb into a stand.
God Bless!
Manolito
I am glad you were able to walk out of there Mike. Get well soon buddy and thanks for sharing your story so we can all keep the most important things in mind while afield.
God's speed on your recovery! listen to the docs words, (dont be foolish like me - long story) and I hope your shootin ASAP!
Do not know your area but there will be something to chase?
J
I understand you did everything right but the stand itself failed? Did you tie you climbing rope to the set?
Mike, I am sorry to hear about your accident, and hope you make a full recovery. It is unfortunate, because most accidents are preventable, I guess we get over confident, in a hurry or don't think it will happen to us.
I gave up climbing trees as a kid after several accidents, but would like to hear what you can do to avoid an accident while using any tree stand. Hope you will give it some thought, and maybe start a new thread. Your story might save a brother from an accident. Take care.
Godspeed on your recovery! Glad that's all that was hurt!
Nathan
Ouch. Glad it was only your hands.
Mike, Thank god you are around to tell this story. 18 feet!!! Wow
Hate to see this post, even 30 days late!
Any updates? You shooting yet?
I am glad you are ok. A young friend of mine fell from a stand a couple of weeks ago. All he suffered was a severe concussion. His fall too could have been much worse. Strap on his stand failed. He wasn't wearing a harness. I hope everyone can learn from your experience. Stands left in a tree for extended periods need careful inspection before use. Most falls occur getting into and out of stands. Tie off and be safe.
Thanks again fellas! I am not shooting yet right-handed but my pins are out as of yesterday, and I have feeling to my fingertips. That was a bit of a suprise to my doc. I have been shooting lefty with limited success. I have a goal: to be hunting with my longbow by Christmas! We shall see. Stay buckled up boys. 27ft/sec is too fast :)
man, that sucks, thank god you are ok. get better soon
Fin
Thank God you wasn't hurt worse I pray you heal quickly
Thanks for sharing and proving to everyone safety first! Congrats on gettin back on the horse!
The big guy is back in the saddle!! Way to go Mike! :thumbsup:
Hope you get well soon! :pray:
I was searching for info on replacing my ladder stand ratchet tie down that I broke last year while tightening down my stand when I saw this one.
Ten years old but just as timely as ever.
Be careful out there this year guys. Check out you gear in advance before heading to the woods. Just because it was all fine last season doesn't mean it is now.
Brother I'm glad you're ok and you're turning something could be real negative into a positive by relaying your story. Hope someone responds appropriately so they make it home every night. Feel better quick
Its a good thing it did not turn out much worse than it did.
Good heads up for everybody about checking and double checking your stands.Bolts,cables,straps.Everything.
One thing about stands that have been kept up for awhile with straps or ropes is that sometimes animals can chew on those straps and weaken them considerably.
I do like chain on stands to avoid that.
Good luck with rehab!!!
I spent alot of time in S. Illinois while at school thier and majoring in Deer,turkey,waterfowl hunting and a good bit of Bass fishing.:)
Glad you're alright sir
I post this every time a fall topic comes up, just a heads up on how quickly things can go bad if you are careless for a few seconds.
The fall
30 years ago while putting up a lock-on. I was putting the stand in a cedar tree with a lot of limbs so I was unhooking my harness and passing the belt around the tree and rehooking as I passed a limb on my way up.
I was in a hurry, didn't look at my hook up, and leaned back against the climbing belt after I heard the safety catch snap. I leaned back about 12 feet up and my safety hook pulled loose, I think I pulled my shirttail in with hook and kept the safety snap open.
Out of the tree I went, backwards. I saw the limbs going by as I fell and thought "this is going to hurt". I rolled backwards in flight and hit on my shoulders and the back of my head, my back popped like a shotgun going off.
I knew it was going to hurt but wasn't prepared for the degree of pain I felt. It was so bad I passed out on the ground, then things got hazy, I would wake up looking at the sky, try to move, pass out again and come to with my face buried in the dirt. I also knew my wrist was broken.
I was finally able to get up to a standing fetal position. For some addled reason I thought I needed to take the lock on that was on the ground with me so I got back down on the ground, rolled into the straps and tried to walk out of the valley. No one knew where I was at, I was 45 miles from home and knew it was up to me to and me alone to get out.
I could only take 6" shuffling baby steps, my back felt like a bomb had exploded in it, then I started dry heaving. I knew I was going into shock, with each spasm from the dry heaving my pain doubled.
I finally got to my Ranger pick-up, got inside, belted myself in and pumped up the pneumatic lumbar support for my back. At this point I realized I hadn't locked my hubs in for 4 wheel drive and it was a rough road going out. I knew I couldn't out and in again so I floored the gas and hopped for the best.
I made it out to the locked gate, staggered out of my truck unlocked the gate, got back in and headed home driving with one hand. The pain was incredible.
I got home, honked the horn to get my wife's attention and told her I was in really bad shape and needed to get to the hospital.
At the hospital I had all the tests and was sent to an orthopedic surgeon. He set my wrist, looked at my xrays for about 2 seconds, said my back was OK and sent me home.
I was in bed and crawling to the bathroom for days, the pain was still out the roof. For the next year there was no way I could sit, stand or lay down for any length of time before the pain made me shift positions, then it got better and I recovered.
About 20 years later my back started bothering me again and I went to a chiropractor. He looked at my xrays and said "when did you break your back"? There it was, a huge jagged break in my vertebrae that was actually offset to the side.
That dang Dr I saw sent me home with a badly broken back, I haven't trusted doctors since.
I rode a Baker suicide stand down twice. The worst time I stepped too close to the tree and the seat climber and bottom part took off down the tree. The both parts fell but the climber caught about 10 feet down. The platform was still going and I was stripped through the climber. When the platform stopped I was at the base of the tree with my feet still in the straps. I was pitched backward violently with my head striking the ground. If the platform had stopped a foot higher the backward motion would have snapped my back like a twig because my head couldn't have touched the ground.
I lay there on the ground with my arms completely paralyzed from going through the seat climber wondering what I was going to do next. As I lay on the ground I could feel a little tingling in my fingertips after about a half hour, the feeling gradually came back in my arms and I went home.
My arms were as black as coal on the inside from my armpit to my wrists.
I went home, got out my 15# sledge, beat that stand into pieces and threw it is a dumpster. I wanted to make sure no one could retrieve it from the dumpster and get killed or injured using it.
Dangit Mike!!!!! Sorry to hear this but glad you will be OK!
Heal up, brother!!!
Bisch
As bad as this is, you are at least able to share your experience with us. Hopefully, it will convince some body who is not usually very safety concious to pay a lot more attention to climbing safety. Hope you get well soon! Thanks for sharing, but I wish it wasn't necessary.
Just a footnote; after hearing about all the cable failures on lock-ons I have changed all of my lock-ons cables out with chains. I also use the ratchet strap that comes with the stand and add another that is twice as thick.
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I used these rails last time I hunted out of lock on, they won't support you if you fall but they do help you keep your balance, give you a place to rest your bow or gun as well as your arms to make siting in a loc-on almost comfortable.
I bought several of them but health issues got in the way and I may not put up my loc-ons this year.
Hunters like tree stands... I get it! Some even refuse to hunt any other way. :readit:
Ever wonder why squirrels don't fall out of trees??? But people do!!
In 1977, I fell 22 feet out of a wooden stand that I built myself that same year.
I got banged up pretty good, but at 17 years old healed quickly :pray:
With a handfull of exceptions over the last 40 some years (maybe 10 times)
Old woodchucker has been firmly planted on the ground.... :archer:
Thanks for sharing, we all take unnecessary steps and this reenforces the facts that everyone will run out of luck eventually - so play it safe. You do have a lot to be thankful for...
Ouch. Hope you heal well and heal soon. Makes me glad I decided to ground hunt when I turned 62. Hoping others listen and learn the importance of ground-to stand-to ground safety ropes.
Just read this. Sorry for your experience Mike, but thanks for posting this. Praying for your recovery, now. My dad fell out of a tree bow hunting and lived a sore back the rest of his life.
I learned about prusic knots fifty years ago in the Army, but have never used one while hunting. I am going to get on that.
Thanks very much,
Gary
Man, I hope Mike is doing better by now since it happened in 2011 !!!!!!
happy you are ok, hate to hear these, Mike
Hope you have a speedy recovery , feel your pain brother!! I was helping my friend hang a stand last Saturday. We found the perfect spot so we got everything ready except I had forgot my harness and line mans belt at home. Anyhow his contact fell out so he went back to the truck to fix it and I proceeded to start hanging the sticks. I was putting the third one up so I was up about 7/8 feet. The strap came disengaged when I yanked on it and there I went . My other hand slipped off and straight drown to the ground. I landed on my right leg and shattered the lower bone it went through my skin (compound fracture) he came back and I told him it was broken. He is a EMT he stabilized it ran back to the truck he helped into the bed and drove me out. I got a ride in a helicopter to the closest trauma hospital. I have three pins in my leg and get to go see a specialist on the 28th. Hopefully the swelling is down enough for surgery! I'm so thankful it wasn't worse! I will NEVER again hang a stand without being tied off. Please be safe out there fellas it only takes a few minutes to get set up with your safety gear. My season is over so I'm going to enjoy it through all of your stories. Hope y'all have a great and successful season.
Hopefully this isn't considered hijacking, but with all this talk about tree stand safety, maybe some of you can go through specifics on how you address hanging a stand and what you use while sitting. A lot of people talk about never hunting without tying off or harnessing up, but for new hunters or even seasoned hunters that haven't been very good about stand safety I think there can be a little mystery on ways to stay safe from the ground to the stand. I think some actual, step by step explanation along with actual products that are used could help save some lives.
Personally, I haven't been nearly as safety oriented as I should have been while hunting. Last season I started hunting from a trophyline tree saddle. With that stand there is a safety rope/linemans belt system that you hook around the tree as you start going up. You just keep lifting the rope up as you ascend. Once you are up at the height you want to be at, there is another rope that loops around the tree with a prussic knot on it that clips into your belt. Then you just hang from that rope. That way, you are always tied off from the ground to the stand. That's one of the reasons I started using a saddle because it forces me to be tied into the tree.
Steve, you should start a new post. With hunting season upon us this, I feel your post will go unread by many of your buddies in the trad community. Post some pictures too and most importantly rest and heal up. Hope your feeling better and let me know if you need anything.
Thanks Jim , I might do that latter on today.
These posts always give me the heedbee jeebees....... :scared:
As I said before, I'm scared shitless of tree stands!!! Some hunters believe that you can't kill a deer unless you are in a tree??? Others, are looking for every edge, to get that big buck they've been chasing?? Some, who have fallen, still insist on hunting from above.... Thinking "I'll be more careful next time" :pray:
For myself, it's as simple as this.....
If I hunt from the ground, I might not get that Big Buck I've been chasing....
OR
If I hunt from a tree, I just might end up dead.....
Bowhunting whitetails has meant being in the trees for me since 1970. I love the view and I feel nearly invisible to my quarry, and most other wildlife in the area. I remember a report in Bowhunter mag. many years ago that indicated 1/3 of bowhunters will fall out of trees and 10% of those will be killed or maimed for life. My guess is those numbers have improved with the emphasis on safety gear? I hope!
I believe I finally started wearing safety equipment (albeit sucky stuff) about then. I survived the Baker stand era, even replaced a board in one. I only had one incident with the Baker. It came off my feet as I was going down from about 20'. I shinnied down without the stand. I think I stopped using Baker-type (homemade replicas) stands around 1985. I'm surprised I've never fallen while hanging stands in the early days. One leg wrapped around a tree, the other cock-eyed, and trying to reach hooks, chains, cut limbs, etc. I even used my teeth to help with some of the equipment managing.
Last season was the first I ever spent on the ground hunting white-tails. I didn't do it for safety reasons, I wanted to try a different view. I enjoyed seeing so much so close at eye level. I do miss the view though. I'm not through hunting from trees, but I use the safety rope up and down the tree, and harness hooked up before I leave the rope. Same going down. Not too much trouble really.
I saw a 2008 DDH survey that indicated 3% of the 1/3 who fall will suffer serious injury or death.
Here are more recent statistics.
https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/big-game-hunting/whitetail-deer/statistics-say-falling-treestand
I don't believe the people wishing Mike a speedy recovery in 2021 realize he initially posted this topic in 2011.
It would be interesting to hear how he is doing today and if he has any lingering effects from his fall.
As long as I stay in shape the place where I broke my back doesn't bother me at all, if I get out of shape the area starts throbbing.
Very good read Roy.
I was surprised at how many young hunters don't use safety gear when up in the air even though they have it.
https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/big-game-hunting/whitetail-deer/statistics-say-falling-treestand
Quote from: Eric Krewson on September 25, 2021, 09:31:07 AM
I don't believe the people wishing Mike a speedy recovery in 2021 realize he initially posted this topic in 2011.
It would be interesting to hear how he is doing today and if he has any lingering effects from his fall.
As long as I stay in shape the place where I broke my back doesn't bother me at all, if I get out of shape the area starts throbbing.
I got sucked into the old thread!!!! :laughing:
I saw Mike at the IBO World shoot at Twin Oaks and he appeared just fine. I know he's headed on a moose hunt in the next few days, and mtn goat after that, so I'll bet he's doing just fine.
Bisch
Good luck
I checked out Bob's link..... It was a very interesting read. :readit:
It appears, that there are 2 classes of tree stand hunters.
1) Those who have fallen.
2) Those who will.
Please be careful :pray:
Thanks for the reminder,hope healing is quick.
Yep Mike took fall back in 2011, the sad and terrible truth is there are some every year, and it is totally avoidable. I have even had a "Dad" come up to
me after a hunter ed class and ask if I really "wear those things". Some people just have to touch the stove.
I am a certified arborist and climb trees for a living.
The one tree stand I set up and accessed was WAY more of a dangerous activity than what I do every day, with a chainsaw, sometimes 100 feet up, rigging down 500 pound chunks of tree or limbs.
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If you do not have a secure anchor point that is above you its a crap shoot getting into a stand. Of course using spurs and a lanyard is not exactly great for tree health either and nobody carries decent safe lanyards into the woods anyway IMO.
As a professional climber its shocking what passes for "safety" gear and safe practice in the tree stand world.
Just sayin
that is why I hunt from a ground stand. If I fall it's because I fell asleep and fell out of my chair.
This thread needs to go up every fall as a reminder. I had a stand break about 5 years ago and it wasn't nice. Check everything! :banghead:
Quote from: jhg on October 05, 2021, 11:22:31 PM
I am a certified arborist and climb trees for a living.
The one tree stand I set up and accessed was WAY more of a dangerous activity than what I do every day, with a chainsaw, sometimes 100 feet up, rigging down 500 pound chunks of tree or limbs.
If you do not have a secure anchor point that is above you its a crap shoot getting into a stand. Of course using spurs and a lanyard is not exactly great for tree health either and nobody carries decent safe lanyards into the woods anyway IMO.
As a professional climber its shocking what passes for "safety" gear and safe practice in the tree stand world.
Just sayin
[attachment=1,msg2977849]
Great advice jhg.
The last time I slipped from my stand was the last time I sat in a tree stand. Stay safe everyone, for me my butt on the ground is fine
I fell 3 feet when my seat broke with a safety belt around my waist, which is the wrong place to wear a safety belt in the first place.
It saved my life as I was 25 feet up, but it also broke a rib from a 3 foot fall and I was done hunting for that year.
The following week, I read where 2 other hunters fell in my area, one broke his back and the other man died.
After that I wore a body harness and used the climbing rope system.
Happens every year and we can preach tree stand safety till we are blue in the face, but there are those who still do not listen.
But we still need to try and convey the dangers of tree stand hunting.
Roy X2!
If a thread like this every year and shouting it out or preaching it form the highest mountain saves just one life it is worth it. I feel the same way about seatbelt usage in a vehicle. I didn't always feel this way about tree stand safety or seat belts but experiencing tragedy first hand has a way of changing your mind.
Every time I read a thread like this, I remember just how stupidly we approached elevated stands back in the day. I recall how it was common to take a notched plank and wedge into the fork of a tree. Voila! instant tree stand. No climbing harness or safety belts. Man, How did I ever survive? Afrer reading about so many bad accidents, some which involved people I knew (I had a few close calls myself), I finally got a little smatret and purchased quality stands and began to use safety harness regularly. I detest the fact that this thread is even necessary, but I sure am glad so many people do read and pay attention.
I don't hunt out of a treestand a lot and when I do I use a Lonewolf climber two years ago I found a spring about a mile in off and ATV trail so I was in a bit of a hurry to get up the tree and I left the tether line to the bottom long because I wanted to use all of my height to get up the tree faster. I was using my fall restrain harness but when the bottom of my climber fell and I had to pull it back up by hand I felt like a dumb a$$ I could of got hurt and what made fell real bad is I promised my wife I would not do and stupide stuff when I am out hunting alone. Just slow down make sure.