Yeah - that's right...

This weekend I scurried up my perch with PLENTY of darkness left. It was a good 20 minutes before legal shooting, just like I like it - enough time to let the woods 'settle down'.

My stand is 17' up an Oak in a steep ravine overlooking 4 trails that criss-cross directly in front of me - any critter leaving a specific part of the nighttime feeding ground & headed for a daytime bed passes within a 22yard poke. This is an excellent funnel.

I've never worn a safety belt. Ever. I've considered it but that 50 or 60 bucks for a decent one always goes to a new stand or targets or ? instead of in a belt.

I'm not certain of the time but I'm certain it was about 30 or 35 minutes before sunup - not quite 'legal' (never mind ethical) shooting and still real dark. I heard noises behind & below me & was peering around the tree I was sitting in, leaning way over & down, straining to make out a figure from the noise below & behind, when all of the sudden I heard a severe 'whooooossshhhh' at the same time a gust of wind hit me.

It was less than a heartbeat later that I felt the tremdous WHACK to the back of my head & my boonie hat went flying off. The pain wasn't severe but it was solid. I suppose it didn't hurt as much because I was now teetering off my stand about to fall head first some 19 feet to the earth below me. Luckily the Y of the Oak was in front of me & as I went over I grabbed the tree & caught myself.

Below me at a steep angle was the tail-end of some type of bird. It nearly hit the ground when it pulled up & lit in a branch some 40 feet from me. It sat there looking at me as I re-gained my composure. A second later it screamed & I knew it was a hawk. Another second later it was gone.

Today I'm shopping on-line for a 'fall restraint system'.

Money is no object.

I realized this weekend that it need not be 'your fault' that you fall out of a tree - if it weren't for the big Y in the oak I would have gone @$$ over tea-kettle & probably would have broken my neck.

Anyone have a safety harness suggestion?





Aim small miss small