Originally Posted by
uncle matt
I will offer this to those that are receptive.
We had a safety class. (not hunter safety it was work related for scissor lifts) The presenter was a good friend of mine who is retired Chicago FD. He made this excellent point and presented examples throughout the training to stress the point.
Accidents are usually avoidable and that accidents almost always result from 2 factors that are "not usually" present. Such as, I don't usually use that saw and I don't usually saw from a ladder.
So once even one thing you are doing or is happening is unusual, it is time to go into rethinking mode. Ask yourself the what could happen and what if questions.
What I put in bold is an excellent point! The guy I just helped last month on his archery elk hunt in Wyoming fell from just an 8 foot ladder this summer while caulking between joints on his log home. He broke his left wrist so bad that he had to buy a crossbow with a cocking device in order to hunt the first two weeks of September because there was no way he could use his compound bow. That fall was from only 8', so you can see why people are getting killed or paralyzed at the higher tree stand elevations we're talking about!