Hello all, I havent posted in a while, I have a story I want to share. I had not hunted in 12 or so years for various reasons, and I had never bow hunted for that matter, although I had always wanted to try it. I met an older gentleman through my father in law about 5 years ago. He has been an avid hunter for some 40 years and his greatest love is the bow. We have many things in common and ended up playing cards together once a month in a league. I went out with him to some property that he owns to pick up some game cameras he had put out a while back, this was all before the season came in. As we were walking through the woods I told him I had always wanted to learn how to bow hunt, he told me that he would teach me if I wanted to learn. I jumped right in. This was early before the season started, so I began buying equipment, including my bow. My friend told me not to buy anything else as he had everything I would need. I bought my bow, a Mission UX2 by Matthews, my arrows and several other things I thought I would need. I practiced daily and my buddy showed my everything he knows about archery/bow hunting. He told me he had 1 rule that I would have to adhere to and if I did not, I could not hunt his land or with him.....his rule was you must wear a safety harness when hunting from a tree stand, at this point he gave me a new one that was still in the bag. He told me I could buy one of the fancier ones next season if I thought I was gonna like it, but this one was very safe. As time advanced and we got closer to bow season, I helped him hang stands and scout out his favorite spots. He did a week long hunt in Illinois last year (we live in VA) and learned of a new safety system that he really likes. It is real simple, basically it is a 30' peice of rope with a prussics knot, or some people call it a hitch, attached to the main 30' peice. This knot will slide up and down the 30' peice as you climb, up or down. If you were to fall the prussics knot is loaded with your weight and will not slide anymore, you will stop right there. Your line from the back of your safety harness is locked into the prussics know with a climbing carribeaner. He spent quite a few of his own dollars making a bunch of these ropes for all of the stands. His total land is somewhere around 600 acres, not all his but he has access to the land and full rights to be on the land that is not his. I would say he has 40 or so stands hanging in various locations, his goal was to get these safety ropes up on all stands. I got a call from my father in law one evening about two weeks before the season came in, my buddy had fallen about 23 feet from the stand. I could not beleive what i was hearing, he was alive, but in bad shape. I am a career Firefighter and I know what these kinds of falls do to people. Technically by the book 20' is terminal. I got bits and peices of information all through the night, critical but alive. Starting from his head; puncture in his tounge, chipped tooth, various scratches and bruises to his face, blood around lungs, 11 of the 12 ribs on the right side broke, bruised spleen, bruised kidneys, right arm shattered from the elbow down, right leg broke, puncture wound in left leg, puncture wound in his left foot, various bruises and cuts but I think that is all. When he stepped off of the climbing sticks onto the stand it came out of the tree, with him, thank god he was not alone. So far, no one knows what happend to the stand. It is a lone wolf hang on and was put in the tree by a close friend of his. They are thinking the stand became loose somehow, one theory is someone was trying to steal it and got spooked, leaving it hanging but loose. He was going up the stand to hang the safety line, he wanted everyone tied in from the time they left the ground to the time they returned to the ground. Ironic, he really is a safe guy, he has been climbing trees for 35-40 years and really pushes safety. He is kicking hiself for taking the shortcut that day, he says he never does that, I beleive him. My friend has a long road to go but he is doing very well. Not dead, not paralized, amazingly. He is in a wheel chair for a few more months and will miss this season but he is lucky to be alive. Actually, we live in the country and deer are plentiful. So when I tell you he will miss this season that is not exactly true. He sent me a picture tonight of his blind on his front porch, crazy old guy is hunting with a crossbow (he says they are for handicap and P******) and right now he is handicap, his son is with him to track the deer when he gets one, I am sure he will. I attended the VA Hunter Education course a week later after his fall, I had enrolled in june of this year. I did not have to as I had a license years ago, but I thought it would be a good idea. They were teaching the same prussics hitch, 30' rope safety system, great easy system. Anyway, I am a very safe guy myself. I was wondering what harness everyone thought was the safest. I am going to keep the one my good friend gave me as a back up and purchase another system. Right now I am looking at the HSS and the Muddy, leaning toward the Muddy. I have been in the woods 8 or so times this season with my new bow and my new love, or addiction. I cannot beleive I waited until I was 38 years old to try bow hunting, I absolutely love it, it is all I think about. I enjoy reading all of the information on this great site, I now would like to start posting and contribute. I am new to the bow hunting scene but I really love it and I have limited knowledge, but I am learning every day. Please pass on the safety harness lesson that my friend learned. He is lucky to be alive. So guys sorry for the long story, maybe I should have posted it sooner. Please wear some kind of harness when hunting from a tree, a lot of times the outcome is different than my friends. What do you guys recomend on the harness, I look forward to reading your posts. Scott
As far as the safest, anything that is recently designed would be fine. From there it is a matter of which you prefer for various reasons such as too hot or to heavy not enough pockets etc. Muddy and HSS are the most popular and I can speak from personal experience HSS customer service is second to none. Go try some on and spend the money. It's worth it right?
