Can't express the importance enough
 

Guys and Gals,
For your sake and your families sake PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE wear a safety harness when you are in a tree stand. THANK GOD I had one on wednesday or I wouldn't have been able to type this to you. I was stepping from sticks onto the stand and I lost my footing and fell. Thank God again that I was wearing one and had attached it to the tree. I walked away with only a scratch. It was the first time I had ever fallen and I have climbed several hundred stands.We all think we are invincible and maybe even get a little too comfortableat timesbut it only takes that one time to never be able to do what we love to do. I want to see you all have a safe season and be able to tell us your stories and arrive home safely.
Have a great upcoming season and may it be prosperous for you in all of your endevours., Pat Ely

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Excellent advise, I still have friends that won't wear em, and I can't believe it. And one goes 30ft high. I think I read the statistics once that 30% of all advid stand hunters will fall out in thier life, and 8% of those 30% will have crippling injuries or possibly death. Talk about ending your season.

Glad to hear you ok.

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I am so glad to hear you are ok. Thanks for passing this on!

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Im glad to hear that your ok.

I believe that posts like this, although unfortunate that they happen are great reminders to all that safety first is the way to hunt.

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Alot of my freinds will not wear them either. They say it takes a wuss to wear one! Maybe so, but we'll see who the wuss is when they bounce off the ground. I can't stress enought how important it is to wear the harness.

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Glad to hear your ok. after many years of various injuries at home and work,I've learned how to work safer, so when I got my climber it came with a full body harness . I use it every time I go up it may make me a "woos" but this is one "woos" that is going to WALK home to my wife and kids not go to a hospital for a wheel chair or worse

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a guy I know's brother-in-law was just killed not too long ago cause he fell out of his stand..good post Pat


-Travis-

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Glad you're ok. Dont worry I wear mine all the time.

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Yea One ofmy friends at my school fell out of his deerstand last year andis paralyzed from the waist down. he laid out there for 4 hrs before someone came to check on him. but he's planning on coming back again this year.

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Pat,
Glad to hear your Okay. It's great advice!

My husband has a Lone Tree that snapped before he was strapped in! He got pretty bruised up and has damage to his left hand. [&:]

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That is why I hate Permanent stands. I would like to see a studied to see which stands have the most falls. From what I have read it is the move the from the sticks or pegs to the stand that gets most people

Ladders and a summit climber for me. I feel much safer but 30 feet is not happening...... I just started using a harness as well

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Pat,


Firstly I am so very glad you are okay!!! Secondly, Excellent post for many that think they do not need them, or are in to much of a hurry to harness up! IT IS A MUST DO FOR SAFETY FOLKS....WITH THE SEASON COMING UP, AND SCOUTING HAPPENING NOW...PLEASE SAFETY FIRST!!!!!!

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Yes, I am glad you are alright, and it is a good reminder for those
that climb. I had a friend that came down once using a climber.
It appeared to have loosened up on him and they both came
down. He was ok but quite soar for a couple of weeks. That was
along time ago now. But, isn't it sad how fast we all forget that
stuff if it didn't happen to us. Thanks for the reminder.

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Believe in safety belts! ... I had to learn the hard way..

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thanx for the reminder, i use them when hunting. but seem to NOT use them when hanging stands.

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I just responded to another thread like this and it is good to see more people, including myself, getting into the safety harness. Glad you are ok and I highly rec. the Huntersafetysystem. The one I have is second nature to me and not a nuisance that the "woosies" might call it. I plan on hunting witha future grandson and this helps to insure that.

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I usually hunt out of ladder stands without a harness. This year I am also going to hunt out of lock ons w/climbing sticks. Expecting first daughter in Jan and want to be around to enjoy her SO after putting it off for to long tonight I ordered a Tree Stalker Harness from Cabela's. Better safe then sorry and better lucky then not in deer hunting. Thanks for the advice and glad you are ok.:D

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I bought a deer stand a few years thinking it would give me some advantage to hunt out of after hunting on the ground all these many years.

But after hearing about a number of people I know first or second-hand who've fallen out of tree stands and broken femurs, pelvis, backs, arms, etc. some with permanent paralysis, and think what would I do even if I had a harness and slipped with a loaded firearm in my hand (e.g. try to unload it, drop it?) And how do I get back into a stand or get to the ground safely even if the harness catches me? I left the stand in my attic, in the box, where it'll probably stay. :eek:

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Yes everyone should wear one I never did until a couple of years ago when i fell out of a stand i was about 17 feet and fell out but i managed to not get hurt i just tuck and rolled and was fine... luckily

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I have been hunting for the past ten years never even thought a bout a harness. I hunted out of climbers and ladder stands. But I went out this week and purchased one made by Hunter Safety Systems. I love my family and friends too much. I am sure it will be more comfortable than a wheelchair!

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There was a piece in the local paper about a tree stand accident around here a few years ago. Hunter was about 15' up a tree with a climber. The part of climber he was holding with his hands broke off and he fell backwards. Problem was the part that his feet were stirruped onto was still attached to the tree just fine. He hung there upside down by his feet, if memory serves broken bones and brain damage or something equally severe, until something like midnight before he was found. Climbing trees really is dangerous, be carefull, especially if you hunt alone.

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I've been wearing a harness since I first started hunting out of tree stands (which hasn't been long). I feel wierd if I don't have it onbut I haven't had a close call yet (knock on wood). I have friends who will not wear one. These are the same friends that will hunt alone, don't wear their seatbelts because they think they do more harm than good and think the bigger the SUV, the safer it is...........when statistically they are not. Itry not to think about the day that I would have to talk to their families if something badhappens, especially if it's a car accident I walk away from and they don't.

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rule of my truck... your in it... wear it or your walkin! I've seen some videos of test roles where dummies where thrown around a cab like a tissue wad! remember guys... your body IS a deadly projectile when launched.

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"Safety first!" -Grandma

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Luckily you had your vest on. I know a guy who will never walk again, because he was to much of a man to wear a safety vest. Don't be that guy. It takes a real man to realize that you aren't invincible. I always try remember whenever I go out into the woods that I would really like to see my family again.

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I fell out of a tree once my first year hunting, I was only about 6-7 feet up, just standing on a limb and a good gust of wind combined with alittle ice/snow knocked me right out of the tree. Scared me to death and I wouldn't hunt in a tree for the next few years. Now that I use tree STANDS, lol, I use a harness everytime.

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I have yet to experience a fall from a stand, but have a couple of close friends that have.

My (brother), not blood but many years of kindship, fell from his stand wearing a safety belt; while hanging upside-down, he felt the blood pooling in his skull and found the presence to grab something and pull himself into an upright position long enough to get back into his stand. The belt slipped to his waist while he was hanging upside-down. From then on, neither of us uses a strap but now prefer a full body harness.

Another survived over three hours with his leg pinned between limbs that prevented him falling to the ground. He did not lose his leg or his life, but the two close calls stated above reinforce my belief that you never enter a tree stand without a safety harness.

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I ALWAYS wear one and make a point to attach it to the tree after first setting foot onto my climber. However, last week I got 25 feet in the air and realized that although I had it on, I had forgottn to teather myself to the tree. I'm very, very comfortable in my climber but suddenly got really nervous until I got strapped in. Didn't like that feeling one bit.
Makes me think back to the days before we really knew much about safety systems and climbed trees all day long without really thinking about it. My how things have changed.
I personally don't know anyone who has fallen yet...and hope I never do.

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safety gear should be #1 when hunting. know a person who is wheel chair bound because he fell out of tree in nj wooden stand.

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where did that happen at and when.

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I am willing to bet that the majority of the hunters on here that wear safety belts do not wear them while they are going up and down the tree. I know it seems like a hassle to move the belt up or down and then move the stand and repeat the process until you are up in the tree or on the ground. Climbing is when most of the accidents happen. It may seem like a pain to do this, but you will not regret it.

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There was a guy during gun season that fell out of his stand and had to undergo alot of surgerys. He fell out of his stand which was 40ft in a tree!!!!! I didnt wear one at first but started to when i almost had a little ride of my own.
IM GLAD TO HEAR YOUR OK!!!!!! GOOD LUCK

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Had the unfortunate experience of falling not once but twice! 1st time I hugged the tree but crashed and burned all the way down. Dislocated my AC joint in the shoulder and fractured the humeral head of my arm, not to mention the contusions, lacerations and splinters.......but I was lucky that time. The 2nd was a full fledged fall from a permanent stand after one of the side "joists" sheared off as I was reaching for the uphaul rope to get my bow. I must have grabbed at the board because I was spun and fell in a supine (horizontal) position. I caught the root ball at the base of the tree with my ribcage on my left side and shattered 4 of them, puncturing my lung in the process. The milk crate I sit on fell 4 seconds later, blasted me in the back of the head and smashed my face into the dirt adding insult to injury. I crawled out of the woods over the next 2 hours and managed to get myself to the hospital where they proceeded to CUT all my hunting clothes off because I could not bear the pain in taking my own clothes off. Jeez, I could hardly breate spittin blood and all. Sometimes Ihunt with a climbing stand -be it rarely and trust me, fully harnessed, but I am scared to death the entire time I'm up there.
Heed the advice and hunt safe people........

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I'm with you guys everyone should wear one. We spend alot of money on bows,arrows,sights,stands and everything else. And skimp on the important things like a fall restraint. The new vest are great and every one should have one. Just my .o2 cents.

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Glad your ok! I wear a hunter's safety system and love it. They really have a great product and it's comfertable to wear. I don't go in the stand without it.

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Pat,
That's appropriate advice considering I fell out of a tree for the first time ever hunting with Dave Wilson out in Franklin the first weekend of December. Climbing up the sticks, don't know why but I stepped on a tree limb to get into the stand instead of continuing up the sticks. Crack, bam, I fell about 10-12 feet straight down and landed on my hip. Good thing it was about 5 degrees outside and I was wearing all my insulated clothes and kindof hit a cedar tree on the way down that helped break my fall.I walked away sore but no broken bones and still alive. Scared the heck out of all of us.
Looking forward to seeing you in Iowa December 28th!
I am new to the forum, Dave gave me the webpage.
Marty

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Similar story, I have a second cousin who fell out of his tree stand last year. He landed on his head and got pretty banged up, but was able to walk to a house and knock on the door before he passed out. He almost bled to death, had a severe concussion, and I'm pretty sure he's blind in one eye now.

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I COULDN'T AGREE MORE IN WEARING A HARNESS, I'VE LOST A FRIEND / CO-WORKER FROM A FALL. THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED 4 1/2 YEARS AGO. THE FIRST DAY OF ARCHERY SEASON 10/05/02.

NOW WE SPONSER A GUN RAFFLE FOR HIS KIDS COLLEGE EDUCATION THE END OF APRIL OR BEGINNING OF MAY (5/5/07)

CHRIS