MartinJaguarArcher

Got out to my stand today around 5pm and was feeling confident about my hunt. Attached my equipment to my pull up rope and began climbing with my stand. I got into position, pulled up my bow and my pack and got situated as quickly as possible. It must have been 10 mins later and i heard something hauling ass through the woods. Then a doe ran out right in front of me (about 20 yds.) and stopped. It appeared to be worried about something that was behind it because it stopped and looked back. It stopped for all of about 30 seconds and took off agian. I then heard something running after her and sure enough it was a couple of black lab pups. Boy was I upset! I finally got over it and sat in my stand for another hour or so and saw a very large bearded turkey come strutin right up the other side of the hill in the open field. I must have watche him for about 20 mins. Finally it was beginning to get dark and i decided to call it a hunt and start heading back down the tree. I lowered my eqiuipment, strapped my feet into my stirrups and started decending I got about 15 feet from the ground and all of the sudden my feed slid out of the stirrups and my bottom rack fell out from under me. Only when it feel it didn't catch the tree. Boy did i feel a panic coming on. Here i am sitting on my gun rail on the top part of my climbing stand with my bottom part of the stand hanging by the safety rope. Luckily I tied a good knot and pulled up the bottom peice and after allot of strain finally got it latched back onto the tree within reach. I got to tell you this is the first time this has ever happened to me and i was worried to death. Honestly, it was my faught for not tieing the top and bottom peices closer together and for not tieing them further towards the teeth that grab the tree. I know now that i am getting some metal stirrups and practicing better safety. As far as not the hunt it was very entertaining.

BowHuntingFool

Glad your OK, lesson learned, anything can happen at any time, I also started wearing my harness while ascending and descending!!!!! That is the most dangerous part!

mathews outback

i did the same thing,got drawn for a military refuge hunt ,got up that morning felt good,as soon as i got to my brother n laws house it hit me i got sick as hell.we drove down to the spot signed in and were driving back to our area and it was time to throw up again,i was so sick he offered to just drive me 1 hour back home and i said no,only because i didnt want to mess his hunt up,well it was bout an hour before daylight and he was headed back to the woods and he offered to carry my stand,i declined and told him i would wait a few minutes then go,i ended up passin out for about 20 minutes,when i awoke it was at that point in the morning you could barely see anything,i said hell with it got out of the truck grabbed my stand and headed a couple hundred yards down the road and went in i found a spot with in some tall grass infront of a huge thicket and got up a tree facing the thicket,by the time igot up there it was 7:05 figured i wouldnt see nothn and then i saw movement at bout 80 yards i saw a rack comn throuh the thick stuff it went of to the left and i couldnt see him any more,so i blew my grunt 3 times,never heard anything just happened to turn around and look behind me and at 25 yards broadside there he was,i pulled up the thunder stick BOOM DOWN HE WENT,I YELLED YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS BECAUSE EVERYTHING I HAD BEEN THROUGH THAT DAY,AS I WAS GETTN DOWN TO GET HIM I GOT N A HURRY[EXCITED AS HELL]AND THE BOTTOM PART OF MY STAND FELL AWAY FROM ME WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10 FEET UP,FORTUNATELY I COULD REACH AROUND THE SIDES OF THE TREE AND SHIMMER MY WAY DOWN AND I DID,YOU TALKN ABOUT AN EXCITED GUY,MY 8 POINTER WAS PERFECTLY SYMETRICAL WITH A CHOCLATE RACK,I WAS SO PLEASED!!!!!!!!!!!!BUT AFTER MY BROTHER N LAW SHOWED UP AND GOT MY TOP HALF OF THE STAND DOWN WE CUT MY TIE ROPE THAT HELD THE PLATFORMS TOGETHER AN D MADE THEM SHORT ENOUGH SO IT COULD NEVER FALL AWAY FROM ME AGAIN,MORAL TO THIS STORY CONTROLL YOUR EXCITEMENT TILL YOUR ON THE GROUND.I WOULD LIKE TO POST MY PICTURES ALSO BUT SOMEONE NEEDS TO TELL ME HOW TO GET THEM ON THE COMPUTER THAN ONTHE WEBSITE P.S. SORRY ABOUT THE LONG STORY BUT I GOT EXCITED

BowKnutt

Glad to hear your okay--The almost same thing happened to a hunting buddy once--He must have pinched his tether rope while climbing--Cause when he got up and losed his feet out of the stirrups his platform fell He said he heard the rope snap--he was about 30 feet up a tree at 2:30pm-so he hunted,by the time it got dark his feet and legs where asleep from hanging,when he didn't show up in campI went to find him--I told him he should have shot three times--Since we was bowhunting he didn't find that funny

Rhody Hunter

its scary i have had it happen too and then you are glad you put a rope on it . its when you are in a hurry that it happens. take the time to make sure it is bite on to the tree good. glad you are ok .

huntnma

it happened to me last year, i tied a rope to the bottom just in case it dropped i could pull it up, but the danged tree i was climbing was too big, it got stuck and i couldnt pull it up, i had to sit there for an hour, with a jammed gun and no platform, i was a crying mess, lol....i was sooooo mad.....ended up getting a nice doe the next day and i will never ever evvvvvvver climb a pine tree again.....never.....only took one time of trying it.....glad you are ok.....