Be careful out there.
 

OK a little background before I get to the real story. I teach part time at a local community college. I teach part of the EMS program. A couple weeks ago a young lady in my class asked me if I ware a fall harness when I deer hunt. And I said well I......I hunt......well......No. So we all know that we should. She proceeded to tell me about her friend that fell the night before. He laid on the ground for a little over a hour before he was conscious enough to call for help. He was airlifted to the hospital where they believed that he had a severed spinal cord. He's a young man with a new baby boy and a young wife. He is also a park ranger in the area. I ask that he and his family be in your prayers. I do not know him personally but I put that harness on if I'm off the ground now. And ask that we all do the same. I know that we all here this type of story every year but lets start showing our young hunters that going home at the end of a trip is more important than a trophy.

I second that.

Park Rangers, EMS staff not wearing a harness. I'm baffled over this. Kudos to you for your honesty.

Their really needs to be more awareness about wearing safety harnesses while in a tree stand. Getting in a tree stand without one is no less risky behavior than drinking and driving. People don't only impact themselves, but their loved ones as well.

I'm too scared not to wear one....

That's sad to hear. Prayers out for that family. I always wear one. I put it my signature line last year....It's that important to me. People that don't wear them think it will never happen to them.

I am working in my Hunter Safety Education Certification here in Il and we teach the Safety Harness portion quite thourghly. I as well teach through the training at my job to use a Prassic Knot to keep your self tied in ground to stand and then back to ground.
The only time you are not tied in is when you exchange over from one line to the other at the stand itself and then back, for only a microsecond. Saved me 3 years ago. I was only about 10 feet up but my boot slipped off the screw in step, (Muddy) and I fell. The knot stopped me as it is supposed to do.
Me and my family will keep this gentleman and his family in our prayers.

I'm baffled over this. Kudos to you for your honesty.

Not just for the safety factor, I also put mine on because I'm scared of heights. If my stand is any higher than 14 or 15 feet, I can't stand up without getting the "wobblies", so that harness makes me feel better. I've been hunting out of trees for 17 years, and I don't think I've EVER been in a stand for longer then 60 seconds without putting on a strap or harness.

I use it for safety 100% of the time but the harness also aides you in leaning out and around that obstruction you never expected when that deer shows up in the unlikely spot.

I just heard on my way home that a 40something man,
Fell out of his stand Sunday and wasn't found for four hours
Last I heard he's in stable condition. Lets all be safe out there!
I work for a phone company and I even need to wear one!

This is an article from today's local TV station here in WV. Man fell from his tree stand Bowhunting


JACKSON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A man from Milton was killed in a hunting accident in Jackson County, W.Va.

The accident happened about 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the woods near the Rock Castle area of the county.

Hoy Murphy with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources tells WSAZ.com Mark Alan Metz, 53, of Milton, was bow hunting when he stood up to leave and fell approximately 18 feet to the ground.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists Metz a forester with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Cross Lanes.

Metz was pronounced dead at the scene.

Murphy said fatal falls from tree stands outnumber accidental shooting deaths during the hunting seasons. The DNR recommends hunters wear a harness while in trees.

I used to be one of those that never wore a safety harness in the tree. Then I would wear one if I hunted a hang on or climber, but not in a ladder stand. Last year, a friend that I go to church with fell while hunting from a ladder stand. Spent the rest of the season in the hospital. I wear my Hunter Safety System every time I'm in the tree, regardless of the. Stand I'm using. By the way, for all you Hunter Education Instructors, HSS offers serious discounts on their systems for Hunter Ed Instructors. Check them out. When I'm teaching that segment of the class, tree stand safety, I use my vest in the instruction and I promote their system.

its simple no harness No Tree !!!!
its way to easy to fall, I have had many a close call and thanks to harness I didnt fall outa my tree personally your stupid if you dont wear one, not to be harsh

Why is it that it's against your states hunting regulations to go into the woods during hunting season without wearing hunter orange but it's ok for you to go 30-feet in the air without a safety harness??????

hunter orange is so others can see you. you can die from hanging in the air after a fall..mighta lived if ya just fell. 6 of one or a haf dozen of another, sometimes when your number is up, its up.
sometimes things that are designed to be safe can backfire and be anything but. its just part of life

Thanks. I will look into this.

I fell last yr, 61 yrs young. Broken heel. If I climb now its on. it's a long ways down a 16 ft ladder stand. Use a climber you can always be tied to the tree both up and down. Not so with a ladder stand. I was lucky. I am well and lived to see my kids again.

The odds of recovery from hanging "in the air" compared to hitting the ground from 15 plus feet in the air is significantly higher. Especially if one reads the directions i.e. if you do fall out and are hanging in the air, you are able to step back into the stand or use some other strategy to keep blood flowing.

No excuse for not wearing a harness.

Found out a couple weeks ago that a friend of a friend is now a comatose veg in the hospital after falling out of his stand. He is either dead now, or will be soon. Wife, kids, all distraught and grieving heavily. All over not wearing a harness. Sad, but also just plain irresponsible.

I posted this in another forum but bears repeating :
Ten years back I took a 19' fall out of a hang on and caught the tree stick peg in the the leg just below my right cheek and in gashed around to the side almost to my pants side seam line and then another peg caught my other knee and almost removed my knee cap. End result was 12 hrs in surgery, almost bled out, and around 400+ stitches to put me together. Not fun and since I hadnt worn a harness before, I purchased 3 to hunt with.
I was back out hunting in 3 weeks after but didnt climb a tree for a year. I feel it every time the weather changes and "I'm lucky to be alive" (surgens quote) and it has changed me forever. Please secure yourself before leaving the ground, someone wants you to come back home after the hunt!

I second Brookie's post...I am scared of heights, so I will not get in a tree without it. I use a climber, so the safety factor is doubled!! My brother-in-law refuses to wear one...I just don't get it....