For all of you that think you will hold onto the tree etc. forget about it, you will be on the ground before you realize you even fell.
Though I have never fell, I most definetely believe that statement.
This is the first year, my partner and I are using an ascender for getting into and out of the tree and we both have made the comment "why haven't we used this all along". With it, I am protected; all the way up the tree, getting into a portable, hunting from the portable, getting out and climbing down". For the extra $60 (you can get them much, much cheaper), and the rope, it is well worth it.