badshotbob

I posted this in Deer Hunting, I'll post this here as well.

I've been hunting for nearly 30 years now and have climbed in and out of a tree hundreds of times and have never had a close call - until last night. There's been numerous threads on this subject, but I thought I'd post this out here to possibly help others. A member of this board, VC1111, posted a thread on tree stand safety a couple years ago in which I followed his advice. Last night it paid off.

Rather than climbing in and out of a tree untethered and attaching a safety harness once in the stand, I switched to a system that is inexpensive yet extremely effective. The system is a long large diameter rope (1") attached to the base of the tree running up the tree and attached above the stand. Before climbing the tree you attach your harness to this ascending/descending rope via either a smaller diameter rope with a prusik knot or a more expensive climbing device called a climbing ascender. I chose the prusik knot for economy.

Prusik knot:
http://www.survivaltopics.com/surviv...a-prusik-knot/

This knot easily slides along the rope but once pressure is applied, it grabs the larger rope. By keeping the prusik knot above your head at all times during ascending/descending, if a fall occurs, it grabs you promptly.

Yesterday afternoon we had a snow storm which dumped a bunch of wet heavy snow. I hunted last night in this mess which left the steps rather slippery. I was on my way down the tree when my right foot slipped off the peg. At the time my left hand was reaching for the next peg down. I tried to hold on with my right hand but it also slipped off the peg. Gravity promptly took over and I was on my down. The prusik knot (kept above my head) instantly grabbed and I was held securely as I got myself back onto the steps. This occurred at about 15 feet up. Falling from that height would not have been cool.

So, for just a few bucks, you can easily make your hunting experience far more secure by always being attached rather than ascending/descending without being attached to a safety system.

NY Bowhunter

Glad you're ok bob. Be carefull out there buddy. You're no spring chicken anymore.[8D]

mofireman

Congrats on practicing treestand safety! I wish more on here would read your story with understanding ears, and make the change. It's time for the treestand falling deaths to diminish. Quit being cheap and lazy people!

MoFire

BobCo19-65

Here is a link in which vc describes what badshotbob is talking about.

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1307404&mpage=1

442deer

I agree 100%. We have had two serious falls in our area this year and oddly enough, both guys were linemen. The guys that climb stuff for a living!!

badshotbob

Yeah, no doubt. Getting older and crankier.

BTW, did you start wearing a harness?

badshotbob

That's it! Thanks. That was a very eye-opening thread for me, one I'm glad I came across. Had I not implemented this simple system, chances are I wouldn't be sitting here in good health typing this.

Thanks!

BobCo19-65

Glad you did Bob. We use this system on all of our stands. It costs a little, but I'm sure you can attest that it is worth every penney.

badshotbob

What's ironic about that statement is how much hunters spend on their set ups - bows, arrows, guns, ammo, stands, clothes, etc... up to THOUSANDS are spent to pursue the game we love - yet many overlook safety that by comparison costs very little. What's another $20 or $30 in a couple of pieces of rope? Or better yet, even some rope and the cost of a climbing ascender ($50 maybe?)?

I was talking about this topic with a co-worker. He told me about an article they read about a guy that was killed in MI falling out of his stand. It seems that every year at least one death occurs from falling out of a tree stand and many more sustain injuries.

Be smart, be safe.

WV Hunter

Glad to hear you are ok badshot...you are right, it only takes one slip to ruin your day big time.

Hey BobCo....I remember this thread. Good stuff. Didn't you have somewhere that sold the prussic knot setups also?