moosehunter21

That would be scary

AP deer hunter

Man, glad he's okay. That has got to be scary!

VAhuntr

I agree with you about the cables...they are definately very strong. Myconcern is one of the welds coming loose on the V-Brace in the back of the stand. Just by looking at that design, it looks to me like if that breaks, down you go. I try tokeep an eye on thoseand make sure the welds appear to be in good shape. I feel safe in my stand and I feel the engineers at Summit have designed an excellent stand.

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ButchA

Yow.... I'm glad he's going to be okay. Man, what a thing to go through! [&:][] I ALWAYS have my cell phone with me when I'm hunting. I too have a Summit Viper climber and the Seat 'o the pants harness. I won't climb a tree with out it!

SuperRedHawk

but what if the stand broke and you were just left dangling with no platform to try and climb back on to?


Most people don't realize, unless you can cut yourself free, you would still be in serious trouble. It only takes a FEW MINUTES for the blood circulation in your legs to get cut off with a body harness. Being up there for as long as he was, besides the excrutiating pain, he would possibly lose his legs. There is even an accessory now, strapsthat come down from the harness to your feet for you to stand on. Takes the load off of your legsfor those extended mishaps. Good luck to the poor guy.

Chuck7

Most people don't realize, unless you can cut yourself free, you would still be in serious trouble. It only takes a FEW MINUTES for the blood circulation in your legs to get cut off with a body harness. Being up there for as long as he was, besides the excrutiating pain, he would possibly lose his legs. There is even an accessory now, strapsthat come down from the harness to your feet for you to stand on. Takes the load off of your legsfor those extended mishaps. Good luck to the poor guy.

Simple remedy...just stay seated in your seat. The platform won't break because your weight is in the seat. If the seat breaks you have the platform to get back on. I believe Summit has engineered their stuff to keep from being sued and to hav eless accidents. I don't ever recall one cable breaking anywhere in the US of A.

Born2Killdeer

one time i was in a hurry and forgot to tie the rope that connected the seat with the platform and i got up about 25-30ft and the platform fell. i didn't try to get down. i sat intill dark hoping to get a big one. then i had to hug the pine tree and ease my way down. it tore my chest and arms up.

CamoCop

born2kill, i've had to do the same thing, it's sucks...lol.

anyways, a few years back, a good friend of mine knew a guy that was an avid hunter. one day he decided to hunt alone and not tell anyone where he was going. he walked way back in the swamp and decided to climb a cyprus tree with his climbing treestand. the treestand slipped while he was approximately 40 feet up and dumped him out of it. when he fell out, his head hit a cyprus knee at the base of the tree he was in.

he layed there for three days until a search team found him. they immediately transported him to the nearest hospital where x-rays revealed he fractured his skull. he ended up recovering but he now has slight brain damage (from his brain swelling beyond the point of his skull). according to my friend who spoke to him, he said he was in so much pain that if he could have reached his hunting rifle, he would have finished himself off in the swamp. he said after waking up from being unconsious the pain was unbarable. he said he had feeling throughout his entire body but could not move.

he also told my friend that the florida skeeters eating on him for three days was almost as bad as the head trauma. he doesn't hunt anymore due to the brain damage sustained from the fall.

my question to everyone: if this happen to ya'll, could you "finish" yourself off if you were seriously injured and lost hope of survival?

my answer: hard to say unless you're in that situation. i like to think i would prior to this year BUT having my son being born this last october, i think i would try to hang on until the end in hopes of seeing him grow up.

Chuck7

That is horrible and another reason I try to choose long leaf pine in Florida instead of Cyprus. The trunk of a cyprus may start at 12 " at the base and at 12 ' it is now 8" Real tough tree to climb. However in most bayheads they are the only tree. I've climbed them... but 40 ' ???no way for me. Around the base of cyprus trees you have cyprus knees. Little clubs sticking straight up out of the ground. Florida is very dangerous to hunt in. I've hunted Missouri..Maryland..Virginia..and Pennsylvania and they are not even close to the difficulty of Florida. Yesterday the man at the local WMA said they had over 200 hunters and 0 game took. The game are in these miles and miles of bayheads. See picture below...Nasty hunting. Gators and moccassins everywhere. I never go out there with out quoting Bible verses to myself. You need full confidence.

Rickmur

This, a cell phone and or a 2 way is all you need