I have seen this stuff first hand unfortunately...My dad, 41 years old at the time, fell from a tree in central MO on Oct 29 2001. He was 36 feet up (no, i don't know why he was that high). He had worked 7 straight days, 12 hour shifts and got off that morning at 7 am. After making the 2 hour drive from STL to his hunting spot, he decided to hunt instead of sleeping. He was wearing a strap (not a harness), but took it off when a buck walked in range. My dad didn't take a shot but after the buck walked out of range and out of sight, he sat back down forgetting to put his strap back on. Shortly after he fell asleep and subsequently fell out of the tree. When he woke up, it was dark and he could barely see the silhouette of his treestand against the moon. He couldn't move the left side of his body or lift his head. Everything was still up in the tree-his phone, his keys, his safety whistle, compass, flashlight, etc...He made the crawl out of the woods, 10 hours and some 2 miles through some of the thickest stuff I have seen, and popped out of the woods within some 50 yards from his vehicle. A conservation agent patrolling the gravel roads in this area pulled up on my father and called a helicopter. He was taken to the Boone County Regional Medical Center in Columbia, MO and there they saved his life. He had landed on his head and crushed his C-4 and C-5 vertebrae, broke two more vertebrae in his back, and broke 4 ribs. When he hit the ground the neck vertebrae shifted and twisted resulting in him not being able to use the left side of his body. He stayed in intensive care for 7 days. They used bone from his hip to rebuild his vertebrae in his neck. 6 months of physical therapy later he was still not able to turn left without turning his shoulders (still like that to this day). His left arm could not curl 10 lbs. (it is stronger now but still weak in comparison to his right). He still hunts-mainly with his bow-but can not draw but 3-5 times to practice with it (he used a crossbow for the first 3-4 seasons after his accident)
I have also had another incident, my grandfather (dads dad) fell while at full draw on an 8 pointer on Dec 31st, 2005. This time however a safety harness was used. My gpa(67 at the time), is 6'10" and 340 lbs. the safety harness he used was only weighted for 300 lbs and was a year past its date of warranty. He stood up and leaned away from the tree to shoot at a buck walking in range when he heard the strap rip (a sound that still gives him nightmares to this day). He spun and tried to release his arrow so he didn't fall on it (ended up shooting it within 5 ft of where he landed) and he hit the ground on both feet. He snapped his right femur, tore ligaments in both knees, shattered his right ankle into many pieces, broke his right knee cap and lower leg. He laid at the base of his tree for nearly 2 hours until it was dark, yelling for help the whole time. He was hunting with a buddy who went looking for him after dark when he didn't show up. He too was helicoptered out to the local hospital this time in South Central MO (Rolla area) where he was told he would never walk again. 1 year later, after 8 hours of therapy nearly every day, my grandpa made the walk to the end of his driveway (approx 1/4 of a mile). Now he can walk decently but doesn't have much extension and flexion in either leg.
Both my grandfather and father still bowhunt from trees.
I meant to post this picture earlier by the way, this is my dad with the giant 8 point he arrowed on 11/10 of this year. His biggest buck with a bow shot at the same conservation area he fell at.
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Hunter dies after fall from tree
