This is a copy and paste of a post by someone named Swamper on another site. I brought it over here as I knew we had lots of Canadians hanging and lurking. Bad deal.

QUOTEOr should I say Paste)

Anyone posting on this board from the interior of British Columbia you probably have run into Bill and Dawna Barton from Quesnel. Bill and Dawna are both in their mid 60' s and are very avid bow hunters. This past year they won the bowhunter of the year in the mens and ladies division. Bill shot a mule deer, a 7 foot black bear and a lynx. Dawna shot a mule deer and a black bear. Not only are they avid hunters, they love to 3-D shoot. 10 days ago Bill and Dawna were out in the wood building a tree stand for the upcoming season and Bill fell out of the tree. He broke his shoulder and severed his spine. He was flown to Vancouver for surgery and is now recovering in Vancouver General Hospital. The good news is that he is still alive. The bad news is that he will never walk again. There is going to be a benefit dance held for Bill to raise money to help offset some of the added expenses that an accident like this incurs. Everyone in the Quesnel area is asked to come out and support this very worthy cause. I for one am going to miss having Bill mobile. He is always one of the first to offer help when there is a club function going on. He and his wife are wonderful people and I am sure that your prayers will go out to them. I have no doubt that Bill will find a way to build a wheelchair friendly treestand and will be back in the deer woods in no time. He might not get a bear this spring, but mulies beware this fall.

That sucks! I' ll say a prayer for Bill & Dawna.
It really makes you stop and think about what your doing out there in the woods. Everyone seems to think it wont happen to me. Wear a safety harness always!

sorry to hear that,I will hold him in my thoughts.
be very careful when out there in woods or not!

I hate to hear that but the way I look at it, there is no excuse for not buying a safety harness and more importantly, using it. I know my life and or limb is worth the $70.00 I spent for my Seat O the Pants harness. I never get into the tree without it. If you don' t have $70.00 to spend then get one of the less expensive ones, I think some of them run around $30.00. Sacrifice buying that new pack of broadheads and buy the harness instead.

They will both be in my prayers.

Mike, the gentleman didn' t fall out of his tree stand he fell while building a platform for a 3-D course to simulate a tree stand.

Still he was up in a tree where the potential to fall was there. IMO he should have been wearing a harness. I am truly sorry for what happened to him but if he had been wearing some kind of fall protection, he wouldn' t be in the situation he is in now.