Please Wear A Safety Harness

joedjr · 10-23-2002, 03:26 PM

I was on my way up at about 18 feet this afternoon in a spot where my neighbor saw a 10 pointer late last night. My climbing stand slipped, I slipped and I was hanging with both feet under the bar I use to pull the stand up with hanging backwards with my harness on me but not around the tree. I managed to pull my self up a little hanging from the end of the stand furthest from the tree. I managed to get one boot out from under the bar but I couldn't get my other boot out it was in to far. My angle was killing me and after what seemed longer than about 5 minutes I had lost all my strength and now was real scared. I finally got the idea to attach my saftey harness around the end of the stand. I then with all my strength freed my left boot and fell down from the stand. The harness worked, thank God. I just wished I had it around the tree from the start.. I freed myself from the harness and fell to the ground. I'm ok but this could have been my last hunt...Please don't be stupid as I was, "wear your harness and put it around the tree before you go up"...

duckbuckkiller · 10-23-2002, 04:30 PM

Always, glad you're ok!!

Sooner_Hunter · 10-23-2002, 05:56 PM

sounds like that was a cheap lesson.

"Size isn't important, but it HELPS!!!"

BGfisher · 10-23-2002, 07:43 PM

Congratulations on living and learning a valuable lesson. One I've been preaching a long time now. And now it's your turn to lend a hand educating others. All the new, bows, best sights, best broadheads, carbon arrows, and most comfortable treestand, etc, etc doesn't mean a dmaned thing to a dead man hanging upside down in a tree or laying dead on the ground.
Full body harness goes on and used the whole way up and the whole way down.

c903 · 10-23-2002, 08:10 PM

joedjr

Glad to read you were not hurt. I know of some major and crippling injuries and deaths due to falling out of a stand or falling stands.

In one case in my locale, the hunter fell asleep in his stand and was not hooked up. He survived but just barely. Left him partially disabled.

This season already, a hunter using only the chain on his hanging stand, leaned to the side and had the stand kick away from the tree. He died in the field after telling a fellow-hunter what happened.