gottohunt2

wear a safety harness it will let you hunt for years to come.I wear one that's like a vest easy on easy off and i wear under my coat so it's not in the way i near fall was enough for me.soooooooo wear one good luck hunting.
gottohunt2

gulfcoasthunter

I use a seat of the pants harness and it was the best investment I ever made. I fell 4 years ago wearing a safty belt. I would never climb a tree without my SOP now. I walked away with a few bruises but a friend fell 15 ft three weeks ago and now has a broken ankle, blown out knee, broken hip, but atleast still has his life.

muzzyman88

I gotta admit to everyone, I used to wear just a simple belt. It was better than nothing at all, and I never had a close call. Well, this year, I bought a Summit stand and it came with a seat o the pants harness system. I never really liked the looks of the harness, it looked too uncomfortable and a pain in the @ss to use, though I never tried one.

I ended up giving it a try this year with the Summit and now, I won't leave home without it. I put it on under my clothes while dressing and I dont ever notice its there. Plus the peace of mind I have 20 ft up a tree is worth its weight in gold.

Wear a harness, your family will thank you for it.

TWC

I darn near fell out when I put an arrow into my buck this year. I was shaking so bad I had to make myself sit down.

DaveH

A few years ago, a guy hunting the same ground I was on shot a deer on opening day of the season (I was hunting nearby). He wasn't wearing any belt or harness and, in his excitement somehow fell off of his stand following the shot. He caught his nose on the platform on the way down and ripped it from his face. The responding ambulance crew had a tremendously difficult time getting to him and getting him out because of the very steep terrain. He's one of the lucky ones who is alive and can still move about.

thundermug

You mean you were dumber at one time?

nbadger23

I have fallen once - coming down from a permanent stand and one of the 2x4's that made up the steps of gave way from the tree and I fell backwards about 6 feet. It only knocked the wind out of me but it did scare the heck out of me. My dad fixed the stand but when I came back to hunt it a week later I could not get myself to climb up in it. I got up about 3 steps and got a very strange feeling and just decided it wasn't worth it.

I have a seat-o-pants climbing harness that I use with my climbing stand and when I'm up in a stand that I have to climb a ladder to but I haven't figure out a good way to use it when actually climbing the ladders. This frightens me quite a bit because I want to be safe from the time my feet leave the ground. Can anyone give me some help on this?

To those who don't wear a harness for one reason or the other - a deer is simply not worth your life or permanent injury. I relate it to wearing a seatbelt in your car- sure, it can be a tad bit uncomfortable (although I don't find the SOP to do this at all) and such but after a while you get used to it and the benefits so outweigh the drawbacks it's not even close.

orthobowhunter

I sure don't want to sound like anyone's mother, but over the past five years of residency, we have put four or five "deer-divers" into wheelchairs. Talk about sad. Some guy just wants a nice day in the woods and maybe a chance at a deer and winds up having to stick his finger in his butt for the rest of his life to go to the bathroom. Wear the stinking harness, every time.

Huntm Up

i wear a belt, but i don't wear it when i am climbing up my stand. How do you guys do that? do you put it around the tree than climb and than take it off and put it back on? Just carious on how that is done so i can be safer in the woods. THe belts i wear i keep them in my stand i put it on when i get up there and take it off when i get out leaving the belt and stuff there. I have five stands hanging and all of them are like that.

Ric004Ellis

When i was young i fell 15 ft hanging a stand. It knock me out cold and if it were not for my brother helping me there is no telling what could have happened. ALWAYS WERE A SAFTEY HARNESS