Near Tragedy
11-26-2008, 09:08 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
Near Tragedy
Those of you that have read my posts in reply to questions about safety harnesses .... here I go again.
I just received a call from the wife of one of my best friends. This guy is like a brother to me. Not good news. John fell from his climbing stand Monday afternoon while setting it up for a future hunt. He had found a good area and was de-limbing thetree as he went up. He was sawing off the last and a rather largelimb so that he could have a clear shooting lane. The limb snapped loose before he was expecting it to. The butt rotated towards his face andslapped him in the forehead. Thisknocked him backwards enough that he lost his balance. Initially, he was able to prevent tumbling out by jammiung his legs into the frame of the upper section of the stand.However this came at the at the cost of a double compound, multiplefracture to both bones in his lower left leg and torn ligaments in his righ knee.Dangling upside down, though strong as a bull (I mean this guy is a major gym rat, health nut) hewasunable to pull himself upright. He remained there until he passed out cold. He is guessing that it was about then thathefell to the ground. He was about 15' up at the time of the accident. He regained conciousness well after dark:30. Fortunately, and I attribute this to his great conditioning and his mental toughness,hewas able to crawl to his ATV some 150 yards away, drag himself up on it, drive to an area where he had service ... and call for help. I am so thankful that his injuries are not anymore severe than they are.While being struck in the face might not have been avoidable in this case, the fall was.From that height, I could easily be postingabout a fatality.
You guessed it .... he was not wearing a safety harness. I'm telling you guys, especially you skeptics, these harnesses are worth their weight in gold. In my book, there is no acceptable reason not to wear one.
I just received a call from the wife of one of my best friends. This guy is like a brother to me. Not good news. John fell from his climbing stand Monday afternoon while setting it up for a future hunt. He had found a good area and was de-limbing thetree as he went up. He was sawing off the last and a rather largelimb so that he could have a clear shooting lane. The limb snapped loose before he was expecting it to. The butt rotated towards his face andslapped him in the forehead. Thisknocked him backwards enough that he lost his balance. Initially, he was able to prevent tumbling out by jammiung his legs into the frame of the upper section of the stand.However this came at the at the cost of a double compound, multiplefracture to both bones in his lower left leg and torn ligaments in his righ knee.Dangling upside down, though strong as a bull (I mean this guy is a major gym rat, health nut) hewasunable to pull himself upright. He remained there until he passed out cold. He is guessing that it was about then thathefell to the ground. He was about 15' up at the time of the accident. He regained conciousness well after dark:30. Fortunately, and I attribute this to his great conditioning and his mental toughness,hewas able to crawl to his ATV some 150 yards away, drag himself up on it, drive to an area where he had service ... and call for help. I am so thankful that his injuries are not anymore severe than they are.While being struck in the face might not have been avoidable in this case, the fall was.From that height, I could easily be postingabout a fatality.
You guessed it .... he was not wearing a safety harness. I'm telling you guys, especially you skeptics, these harnesses are worth their weight in gold. In my book, there is no acceptable reason not to wear one.
11-26-2008, 08:17 PM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: PA.
Posts: 5,195
RE: Near Tragedy
we had 2 deaths this month, both were not using their harness.
1 was found upside down in crouch of tree.
i use only ladder stand now.
it took me over 3 hrs to put it up on sunday.
i take my time and check everything over.
it is up 20 ft.
trust me,there is no way to use a harness when you go up to tighten the top strap on ladderstand.
you have to be careful and take it a step at time.
i like trees with a lot of limbs all way up.
i dont cut any off, its illegal anyhow but hunters do it,
they are way to grab onto something, if you slip or ladder moves.
once a LADDERSTAND IS SECURED AT TOP, ITS one stable stand.
i got away from climbing stands,too many chances of falling.
i do like the LOCK ON STANDS AND NEW LADDER LOCK ON STEP SYSTEM.only problem is hunters steal your ladder lock on steps and they are expensive.
once i am in my ladderstand, i use a waist harness, yes, its not as safe as body one but i had it for 20 years and ilike it and trust it to hold me on seat.
wet/cold trees are one nasty thing to deal with in winter.
you would not believe the number of hunters that have slipped down the tree with a climbing stand in winter.
they just dont grab the tree like they do in warm months.
about 6 years ago i heard a hunter slide down a tree.
he said later at parking lot that he was ready to come down and it took off,he went all way to ground from 12 ft.
hew hurt his tail bone and is scared to use one now.
he was 63 years young..
he is same guy that ran down the pipeline ahead of me to get tospot .
he did not know that i had my ladderstand up 2 weeks before
1 was found upside down in crouch of tree.
i use only ladder stand now.
it took me over 3 hrs to put it up on sunday.
i take my time and check everything over.
it is up 20 ft.
trust me,there is no way to use a harness when you go up to tighten the top strap on ladderstand.
you have to be careful and take it a step at time.
i like trees with a lot of limbs all way up.
i dont cut any off, its illegal anyhow but hunters do it,
they are way to grab onto something, if you slip or ladder moves.
once a LADDERSTAND IS SECURED AT TOP, ITS one stable stand.
i got away from climbing stands,too many chances of falling.
i do like the LOCK ON STANDS AND NEW LADDER LOCK ON STEP SYSTEM.only problem is hunters steal your ladder lock on steps and they are expensive.
once i am in my ladderstand, i use a waist harness, yes, its not as safe as body one but i had it for 20 years and ilike it and trust it to hold me on seat.
wet/cold trees are one nasty thing to deal with in winter.
you would not believe the number of hunters that have slipped down the tree with a climbing stand in winter.
they just dont grab the tree like they do in warm months.
about 6 years ago i heard a hunter slide down a tree.
he said later at parking lot that he was ready to come down and it took off,he went all way to ground from 12 ft.
hew hurt his tail bone and is scared to use one now.
he was 63 years young..
he is same guy that ran down the pipeline ahead of me to get tospot .
he did not know that i had my ladderstand up 2 weeks before
11-26-2008, 09:23 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Huntin' In Colorado
Posts: 2,910
RE: Near Tragedy
I sure hope he heals up quick and back to 100%. I don't hunt out of stands much anymore, but I'll bet I'll be wearing a harness if I do. I fell once when we were hanging our stands in Oklahoma. I was climbing down and grabbed a branch and it broke. I fell flat on my back and it knocked the breath out of me, but that was it. I was very lucky. I hope your bud is okay! Way to get the word out!!!!
11-27-2008, 08:45 AM
#7
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: PA.
Posts: 5,195
RE: Near Tragedy
being in a hurry and not using the harness is what i am seeing a lot.
HURRY part is no.1 from what i see even tho if they had their harness on, they would be fine, we hope.
you would not believe hunters that RUN to get ahead of me each year with their SUMMIT STANDS on their back.
out of all those hunters, i believe they got 2 deer in last 4 years.
guys with the ladderstands who had the up early in month, my book showed they got 7 deer in 4 years.
so, i believe these RUNNERSout of ahead of me,dont stay put and make noise while going up tree in dark.
thats all in takes to chase a deer away.
HURRY part is no.1 from what i see even tho if they had their harness on, they would be fine, we hope.
you would not believe hunters that RUN to get ahead of me each year with their SUMMIT STANDS on their back.
out of all those hunters, i believe they got 2 deer in last 4 years.
guys with the ladderstands who had the up early in month, my book showed they got 7 deer in 4 years.
so, i believe these RUNNERSout of ahead of me,dont stay put and make noise while going up tree in dark.
thats all in takes to chase a deer away.
