I have first hand knowledge of 3 falls. One was a fall from a ladder type stand. The guys was going up. He was carrying his firearm and had a day pack across his shoulders. The day was marked by icey rain and sleet. About 11-12 feet up the ladder, he slipped in an icey step and fell out backwards. The ladder was set on a steep hillside. He ended up fall ing about 20'feet and tumbling anotehr 15-20 feet. Shattered T-3 but did not sever his spine. Though not paralyzed, he never fully recovered strength in his upper body. He used an FRS radio to get help from his hunting buddies and was rushed to the hosital where one of the top neuro/soine guys just happened to be on site. Second was out of a Summit Viper. The hunter had set the stand a few days before. He went in in the dark. Once he reached his desired height he settled in. As day began to break, he discovered a rather large limb had fallen partially down the tree and was blocking a shooting lane he had cleared months back. He was standing and in the process of trying to remove the limb when he lost his balance and fell backwards. His feet remained hung in the stirrups. He hung upside down for aobut an hour before freeing himself to fall under as controlled as possible under the circumstances. Had double compoud fracture of one ankle, complete separation of the other, broken ribs, punctured lung and a whack on the head. Was able to carwl to his ATV and drive to an area where he had cell service. He will forever walk with a limp. A third guy "lost" the lower section of his climber because it was not attached to the upper and had simply slipped to the bottom of the tree. He was seated some 25' up. He was able to "coon" his way down but ended up with severely scratched up arms and a totally ruptured bicep in his left arm. He can no longer use a bow. The last was a guy who stepped off his stick ladder on to a lock-on that had been set the afternoon before. He had connected himself to the tree before stepping off. He was seated in the stand, pulling up his bow, when the strap snapped. He was up 20+ feet. He suffered no injuries other than a sudden increase in heart rate.
The first three were not using any type of fall restraint system. The third was wearing a HSS brand fall restraint. The first three are flat lucky to be here. The first of those two is my brother. The last guy is about my best friend in the world. He may have been lucky, but he was also smart.
I cannot stress enough that value of wearing a quality fall restraint. In the whole scope of what most of us spend on hunting gear, the cost of a good one is minimal and the benefit can be beyond price.
One improvement by buddy and I have made is that every ladder and every lock-on is double strapped to the tree and every one now has a safety rope installed to which we hook our safety utilizing a Prussic knot.