Hikchick

Part of what we teach in Bowhunter's education is treestand safety. Some years the state sends us statistics on injuries and fatalities and some years they don't. What I'm looking for here is some stories (both good and bad) that I can share with our class about treestand safety. Feel free to share. And Thanks!!!

Icedragon

Here is a story about a friend of mine.

My buddy david bow hunts from a treestand. So one day he climbs up and gets situated in his stand a while later he falls asleep, he falls out of the treestand and is hanging there by the harness. He was stuck in that position for 30 minutes until someone came by and helped him down

Lesson: Dont fall asleep in a treestand

recurver67

I fell 15ft 22 years ago, that was before all the climbing stick and steps.A saftey harness was unheard of then.I had to climb up from the back and go around the tree to get in the stand. The branch I used for getting around broke and straight down at mach10 to a thud followed by a loud crack!!! I landed on the back of my neck and when my legs caught up my knees hit me in the face.All this happened before day light. After laying there for a minute or two I climbed back up and hunted till 9:00 am. When I got home my Dad asked what the hell happened, he said I looked like a monkey. My face stuck out 2", and was covered in blood. Saftey belt,climding stick or screw in steps could have prevented all this . Needless to say I feel lucky no serious damage was done.

big ol bucks

I have a pemanent tree stand which is 30 ft. up in the air and i left the tree pegs in there the whole year. well on my way up i noticed that the last peg was slanted up. i didnt think much of it but when i stepped on it it flew out and i caught myself and was hanging by my hands off of the platform boards. Let me tell you that was scary.

jtenute

Once when i was younger about 12 years old hunting with my dad. Both were in same tree with one stand. He was on the stand i was standing on a limb.. not safe but i was comfortable. Decent 8 point comes to about 20 yards so my dad gets a full draw on him and right when he is getting ready to release his wooden platform brakes on him and he falls to the ground. He threw the bow in front of him and he was fine. I was just standing on a limb laughing. Then i quickly wispered for him to climb back up because the deer didnt go far. But then the deer just kept going.

good chuckle to see pops fallin (and i did wait to laugh until i knew he was ok)


Oh, one other time when i was 11 or 12 i was hunting in wisconsin with him. He always carried me up the tree about 25 feet and put me in a separate stand just a little bit higher than him. Well on the way down it was really dark and he was hanging me down by my arm to the next lowest limb. WELLLL i thought i was ALMOST at the bottom so i said to just let go and i will drop.... YUP he let me go alright and i droped... it was about 6 to 8 feet drop and scared the heck out of me at the time. Not a big drop but it was very unexpected.

I can keep going on with good tree stories but i dont want to keep typing. I also dont wear a harness and probably never will until i am old. I think i would rather fall from a tree than hang. I'm sure someone will comment but i'm happy learning the hard way.

mdbllung

Had a principal in jr high fall during hunting from a stand.Paralyzed from the neck down.Told me never go up without a safety strap if you enjoy walking and hunting.

throwingStarr

I've read so many times where people are using branches to climb up into their stands,,yeah, branches??, how in the world are they able to do that wearing a saftey harness ,in order to get around the branches you would have to unhook your harness at one time or another to get into your stand, this to me just invites disaster.

GSPsnFORDs

99% of the time I hunt from a climber. Back in High School I used to NEVER wear a safety harness, mostly b/c I was naive and thought I was invensable (sp???). I have been using an API Bowhunter stand since junior year in H.S. which came with a belt type of harness that went around only the chest. Well, once I started college I became "wiser" so I stared wearing the shoulder harness that I was "given" to me with a cheap lock on stand I bought. I started using that with my climber b/c I liked it a lot. Now, I'm experienced with my climber and know the types of trees I climb. BUT, let me say this......I don't climb up the tree with my strap connected (which is plain stupid!!!). So anyways, this year (I'm 21 at the time (old enough to know the respect and love that family and friends have for me), I get to the height that I want to be....25-30ft...and the base of my stand slips! I immediately grab the tree with my arms.....a little scary to say the least!!! But, I got lucky and repositioned my base and everything was fine. Same thing happened to me about two weeks later! Well, guess what?! I bought a full body harness with the climbing belt! My advice is to spend the extra money and buy a GOOD harness! Trust me, it will be worth it in the long run......especially if your family means anything to ya....which I'm sure it does!!! Hope this helps!

throwingStarr

Well you have to be plain stupid in my opinion because if you watched the videos such as supplied to me by Summit Stands they show otherwise the proper way of climbing.

GSPsnFORDs

Alright, first of all I will admit that I do take offense to you calling me stupid....and I don't usually take offense to things being posted online b/c posts can come out negative when you really don't intend them to be. But, YES I am plenty experienced with climbers and other stands in general and I used my judgement (which is really good by the way). And BTW, I was never supplied a video showing "the proper" use of my climber......I'd used several others before hand. But, at the same time, SH*T happens. That's how hunting is. And by the way, I honestly thought I was secure......I mostly climb ash trees which usually give a good seating (b/c they have pretty soft and stable bark) for the base and the upper part of the stand, but it just so happened that this tree was a little odd shaped and I misjudged it. It just shows that you can NEVER be too careful, even IF you think you know what you're doing! That's just my $0.02........but hey, what do I know.....I'm just a "young'n!!!"