Put the kids.on the bus, my wife said she was going to go back to bed not feeling well. So I decided what better way to prepare for Oct 1 but shooting from the stand. (75 yard from my back door across the creek) got my bow. Set up my target. Cliped my bow into my role. Ascended my climbing sticks. Got to the top 24 ft. And I heard a faint "snap". That was the bolt breaking of the top section. I fell backwards 24 ft to the ground. I remember thinking this is it. I hit hard gasped for air. I am a ff and a medic. I immediately made sure I wasn't paralyzed. I the crawled to the creek and called my wife. I ended up in an ambulance. Here I am 5 days later sore and a few bumps and bruises. I now have ordered multiple.lifelines. I have always warn a harness but not it will be all safety. I put my entire families safety as well as my own on the back burner. Well no more. Just thought i would share. Hopefully someone else finds this scary and takes safety more serious. I know I sure am
Glad you are relatively all right, but it wasn't luck, it was God! Safety first. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
I have fallen before but thank god I was ok in the end also. I know how you feel and I am glad that you are ok.
Your wife and kids were the lucky ones.... tie off when your feet leave the ground till you return back to terra firma.
You fell 24 feet backwards to the ground and didn't break anything? Almost unbelievable. Glad you're OK.
I didn't break a Thing. Trust me. Being in the medical field.it was unbelievable to me too. But God was there. I have responded to more that 1 tree stand accident and they didn't turn out well
I used to climb all the time and never owned a harness or lifeline. Had double shoulder surgery and had to crossbow it a few years and couldn't climb at all. Did not care for ground blind hunting. Got hooked on BHOD and decided now that I was back in a vertical bow and could climb again I was elevating. Right before buying the stand I watched an episode of BHOD and it was either Tyler or Dean (can't remember) that shot a buck and got emotional and dedicated it to his Dad who fell out of a tree and passed. I immediately went out and bought my stand with new harness and lifelines. Fast forward to Nov 2016 and I had a stand fail and the harness and lifeline saved me. Not to sound too cheesy but in a way there's no telling what that episode saved me from. At best some momentary pain, at worst leaving my wife and kids behind. Glad you're still around and stay safe!
Glad you're mostly unharmed. It took a bad treestand accident for me to finally start taking treestand safety more seriously, and BHOD played a big part, too. Be sure to always tell other hunters your story so they can hopefully learn from your accident. A harness and LifeLine are a hell of a lot less expensive than your funeral costs. If you don't have them already, you better get them before season.
I killed a buck in 1987 and climbed out of the stand to go get him. On the way down i grabbed a small branch which broke off in my hand. Fell about 12 feet backwards and landed on my right side. Still go to Chiro regularly,but was lucky. In 2004 my friend was hanging a stand without a safety belt. He fell at my feet and the stand missed my 13 year old son by about a foot. My friend ended up shattering his shoulder and having a pretty extensive surgery. I NEVER climb a tree without a harness any more. Trust me it is not worth it. To the OP glad you are ok. Be safe.
WHOA...........that could have been so much worse...and you know it. Hope you get to feeling "all better" soon, tie in...be safe...and best of luck from the stand.
Definitely a scary episode for you. thanks for sharing your story and I hope it inspires those who think it can never happen to them. Blessings.........Pastorjim
glad you are ok. was just thinking that we should have a thread or a poll where everyone that has a treestand equipment failure it can be posted. then maybe we can get an idea of what equipment is having the most problems. if I would continually see a certain brand on the list I would make sure I didn't buy that. just a thought.
First off, glad you're okay!! That's a hell of a fall to take and walk away from unscathed. Out of sheer curiosity since you work in the medical field, have seen numerous treestand accidents and obviously know that LifeLines exist - what was your reason for not using them?
Since we're on the subject, I thought I'd come clean. I climb trees for a living, been doing it for about 37 years now. I'm at 50' -100' up on a daily basis, so heights obviously don't bother me. When I'm in my stand at 20'-25' I feel like I'm still on the ground, so for many years I didn't use my harness. Just in the last couple of years though, I started using my Muddy harness because I realize that at age sixty, my ability to recover from a fall (if possible) would be greatly diminished. I'll use it every time now! USE YOUR HARNESS!!!
Im with ya friend. Im a contractor who spends his days on scaffolding and ladders all day. For me a 32footer is a joke, feels like Im on the ground. But when I hunt Im tied from the moment I touch the base of the tree till I return to the ground, every time.
Glad to hear you're ok. You're one lucky guy. Don't take it for granted next time and sounds like you've learned your lesson. Best of luck to you this season!
Complacency kills. One season I decided for whatever reason that I wouldn't use the harness on the actual climb and just hook up before I got onto the tree stand. Then I realized how stupid I was and that was the end of that. Glad you are still with us.
