30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

How many of you have ever fallen out of your treestand? On my summit treestand instructional video Tom Miranda said that 30% of all hunters fall out of their treestand. That is 3 out of every 10 hunters, or about 1 out of 3 hunters. I climb on pine trees. Are these safe to climb on with my Viper XLS treestand?

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I have never fallen out of my stand.

Pines should be safe due to the fact that they are soft wood and your stand digs in a bit more.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Haven't fallen yet.

That # sounds a bit high but I guess if you think about the days w/ the ol' Baker stands and how many people fell from them - it may be right.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Haven't fallen yet, 'course if I ever actually got into one of the damned things, maybe my odds would go up.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

The next poster is do for a fall!;):D

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Yes, I have taken the firemans slide to the bottom before. Several factors were involved and I blame myself for it. I did a string of no-no's. I won't go into them here. What I will say is the stand performed as designed and crushed to absorb my weight. I still hunted that day with the stand. After that hunt the factory sent me a brand new replacement.

I don't like pines to climb because of the shedding properties of the bark and the mess. I realize down south it seems 9 out of 10 trees are pines so you can't always avoid them. I love populars because of their constant diameter up to 30'. The however are slick and become even slicker when wet. I guess my overall favorite would be hickory because of the consitent diameter and not to slick when wet.

The important thing to remember is to use your safety belt while in the tree. I know I should use it while climbing up but I feel it gets in the way and only use it as I feel it is needed (usually when wet). I always use it while sitting in the stand. You never know when you will loose you balance standing up, shooting,falling a sleep or taking a pee (right Benhuntin). Coming back down I do the intentional fireman's slide to the bottom.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I havent fallen out of my stand yet, but I took about an 7 foot fall climbing up into my stand. Never trust tree branches.

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RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Its been over 6 yrs since I have climbed anything but a pine. My summit has never slipped in the 3 yrs I have used them, nor has any other stand.

I have never fallen out of a stand

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I've fallen.

The 1/3 is a valid number according to NBEF.

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RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Thank God that I've never fallen but I have had my stand to slip down a few inches but it locked back on the tree before I took the plunge.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

i hunt the new jersey pine barrens. nothing but pines and all i can say is i never had a slip or even a scary moment with my tree lounge. ;)

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

No falls here.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

30 percent!! [:-] Do you realize what actual numbers that computes to? If that many hunters were falling out of treestands, I do believe that would be front-page news, right along with smoking causes cancer.

The medical and life insurance companies would probably not cover treestand related injuries or death.

Seems high.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

It seems high but you must consider that 3 out of 10 people will fall out of thier stand in their whole life. They have 60+ years to fall out.;)

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I think you will find that most of the 30% is really getting into and out of your stand and the occasional "benhunting" issue. That's what I remember about the dangers of tree stand hunting.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Never fallen in my years of hunting. Don't wear a safety belt (please dont scold me I can't stand them) and probably never will. You use your head climbing up and you use your head climbing down. Never had a remotely close call yet and don't see one coming in the near future.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I've never fallen out,never even came close.Of course,common sense comes into play,which brings this thought to mind.First off,I think 30% is high,especially if you are talking about bowhunters.Have you ever noticed that you will hear about the hunters falling out of treestands,getting shot,and just the typical stupid stuff during the gun season?Alot of those guys are your "once a year wonders"...Bob

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I have never fallen out of my stand, but I am young and can stetch alot and move quick. I hope this doesnt get to be a problem when I get older and cant move as fast or cant stretch as far.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

The one time I got in a treestand, the flippin' tree fell over. Does that count?[&:]

Actually, that's a true story, which is why I've never gotten into another treestand. Treestandophobia, I guess.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

:D:D

Once had a tree blow over that I had considered using, but declined because the tree appeared to be rotting from inside out.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I haven't fallen out yet, but give me some time. I've only been hunting for 12 years. :D

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Count me in the 30%, had a step break while I was coming down, always figured as long as I have 3 out of 4 contact points I would be able to grab on. Nope, hit the ground before I knew what happened, step was about 10 feet up. Luckily stand was next to a stream and I landed in nice soft leaves/dirt. Tore up my right arm and fingers on my left hand pretty good.

Use nothing but the strongest steps I can find now, don't care what they cost.

Also have a fear of stepping off the platform after a shot or getting ready for a shot due to the brain concentrating on something else.

Most falls are stepping on/off the stand, I know I am nervous during this.

--Bob

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I have a lot of treestands and do the majority of my whitetail hunting useing them and in all my years I have never fell, but I have jumped. I do have a friend down in Fla. that cracked a vertabra as he went to place his pack under his seat and he did a summersault. After that accident, his been hunting in ground blinds. I know it should be a wake up call in using a saftey harness but I must confese like NYBH, I don't like using them either, most of my stands would be kinda hard to fall out of anyway as many times I can take a quik napp with no problem.;) Bobby

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I've never fallen out of my treestand, but I've had steps pull out of trees a time out two. Luckily, I was close enough to the ground that it didn't matter.

I've rarely, if ever used a pine tree for a stand. I use oaks, hickory's, wild cherry, and some others, but always look for good cover at my stand height. That's why I almost always use a hand-on type stand instead of my ol' man climber.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

i fell out of a permanent stand, i was crawling out and the top step broke in two, down i fell, it was an older stand

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Never took a plunge.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Never got a scratch, Slim. It was a slow ride and the limbs held the trunk of the tree up and kept it from squishing me. But I took it as a sign that I was not meant to hunt from above. The friend who owned and set up the stand did weigh about half what I do and I guess it wasn't the sturdiest tree in the woods. He was a little bent outta shape that I felled his favorite tree. ;)

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

ROFLMAO:D

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

Been bowhunting since 1966, no falls yet. The treestand people say it's not "will" you fall but "when" you will fall. I began using safety straps a couple of years ago but I guess I'm ready to try using the full harness now. I still feel that I can get out of trouble if I find myself there but I suddenly realize that it's pretty stupid to chance not being able to hunt any more just to be macho.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I fell out of one we I was a teen. Not hunting but taking it down after the season. Fell about ten feet flat on my back. OUCH! knocked the breath out of me is all it did. I landed right next to a log and a stob. Thank God I didn't land on one those.

I sure wear my safety belt these days. I have a brother that I constantly have to tell him to wear his, but he won't do it. He has a Summit and thinks there is no way he can fall out. He will not listen. I hope it doesn't cost him.

RE: 30% of hunters fall out of their treestands
 

I fell on the way down while climbing down from a fixed position stand once about 4 years ago. Since then I've been using the ascender and rope assembly on all of my fixed position stands.

To each his own but I cringe every time I hear someone say they don't use a harness. I'm pretty resiliant, but I found out the day that I fell that I don't bounce well when I hit the ground.

Thud.

ooooooooh.:D