Sorry to hear about that, but glad that's all it was and you'll be alright. Crazy, but over the years I have had several minor injuries right around or during hunting season. In 2014 my tree stand broke and I broke my back in 2 places. Right in the end of October. I managed to go out on November 6th and shoot a decent 9 point. I paid the price heavily for it though. Ever try dragging a 200 pound deer with a broken back? Its something I suggest you don't ever do. I did heal up mid January and got out a few more times and put a couple does down.
Goodness I am glad you're okay. Not very much fun at all. Sent from my SM-G955U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Good luck if you are this morning. I won’t be back out until Monday morning. Really hoping the buck I almost killed last night stays locked on to the doe he was with for the next couple days. I was in a 75 acre river bottom bordered by private to south and west. The WMA is archery only but gun season started on the private land this morning. Unfortunately, it is less than 400 yards to private in both directions. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Alright. There was a stand that I had in a tree several years. #1 mistake. It was actually an old climber I converted into a permanent stand. I didn't wear any safety harnesses either. #2 mistake. I did check my stands, straps and bolts. They were all good. This was the first time in this stand this season and it was also the first day of my 3 week vacation. I did have a weird feeling though and I couldn't figure out what it was. So I climb up the ladder sticks to get in the stand. Knowing this stand has been in the tree a long time, I mean like over 10 years, I still felt uneasy even after checking straps and bolts, nuts, and all metal parts. So, I get over onto the stand and kind of test it. It seemed ok. So, I step over onto it and started getting ready for the evening hunt. This is one of my best spots and first day of my 3 week vacation, October 26th. I'm facing the tree starting to pull up my bow, still standing. All of a sudden I heard a snap! The stand dropped out below me and down I go. Straight down 23 feet. It was amazing at all the thoughts that ran through my head in 1/8 or less of a second. So I hit the ground and was laying flat on my face. It's possible I lost consciousness for a few seconds but I don't think I ever did. All I know is I had to check myself out and make sure I had no major injuries that needed immediate attention. First I asked myself if I could move my fingers and toes. Check, not paralyzed. Next I began to look over my arms, legs and make sure I had no major bleeding going on. I had a couple good cuts on my arm but nothing that would kill me. Next I had to address the pain in my right hip/low back. It felt like someone took a red hot sword and stuck it into my hip and pushed it up through my low back. It was horrible intense pain. Well, I am an x-ray tech so I know a lot about bones and have a good medical background. I had to see if I had a broken/hip or possibly pelvis. Let me backtrack a bit. I did have my cellphone. It never worked in this area before. But I called my wife and low behold it worked. I was calm and collected when I talked to her. At first she thought I said I shot a buck. She said wow, you just got there and you shot a buck already. I said no! Listen to me! The tree stand broke and I fell. I'm on the ground. She instantly was I'm calling 911. I said no. Just bring the boys and they can help me out. My one son knew where the stand was so they could come and get me. She asked if I was ok. I said I checked myself out and I could have a broken hip. Now, back to where we were. I decided I had to get up and test that hip. I sat up and yes it hurt but no more than it already did. That was good. So, I decided to stand. It still hurt but again no worse. So I started walking. Took about 3 steps and my BP was dropping rapidly. I was going to pass out. I laid back down. Now I'm thinking nothing is broke but my blood pressure is dropping when I get up. Am I bleeding internally? I don't really have any chest or abdominal pain. I waited a bit and tried it again. This time I made it about 20 feet before I had to lay down again. Now I hear my sons yelling for me and I said come on down. Then I hear the sirens. Dang, I told my wife not to call them. Here they come. Well they come and check me out. They said if they take me in the ambulance I'll be on a backboard and in a c-collar and I said no thanks. After they checked me over and they thought I seemed ok, they helped me up and I walked up to the clearing. They had a gator waiting on me there. They drove me back over to my car and told my wife I wasn't going with them. In the mean time, on our way to the ER my right forearm and shoulder was hurting bad now too. I couldn't even lift my arm. So anyways, I ended up tearing my shoulder in 3 places, no surgery though. A compression fracture in my T spine, and my sacrum was basically split in half. My whole right side from my knee up to my neck basically turned black I was so bruised it was insane. The first 4 or 5 days after the fall the pain was pretty much unbearable. Well by the 6th of November I was feeling good enough to hunt, or so I thought I was. My wife slept right through me getting up and going out. Haha. Well, I go out and climb up the ladder into the stand. That was a chore itself. It was also like 19 degrees. That cold and sitting in a hard metal stand was brutal. Lucky for me about 7:30 that 9 point came by and I shot him. Again lucky for me it was a short drag, about 200 yards. That was the most painful 200 yards of my life. My son did come and help me get the deer in the vehicle though. To this day I still have pain from that accident. I also converted all my stands to ladder stands. Definitely was not a fun time. Hope you all enjoyed the long story.
Yeah details are in the link brother. Big pain in the ass is what it is. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow. Thanks for taking the time to write that. I guess at the end of it all it could have been much worse. I think back to all the hunts I use to have with no harness. I’m lucky to be here, I use to climb 75-80 ft in my climber to gun hunt.
I forgot to say what broke on the stand. You know the part you would wrap around the tree. It was wrapped with like a plastic hose. The metal cord inside the plastic tube snapped. I never even thought of that breaking. Somewhere I have a picture of it and the stand I fell from. I'll try finding them and posting pics.
I ended up seeing 6 does and 3 bucks with all kinds of chasing but no shooters. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not even exaggerating either. I would climb these tall pine trees next to 230 acre planted pines that were 6-8 ft tall. The higher I went the more I could see down into the smaller trees. I would carry 2 pieces of 2 by 4 in my back pack and put between the stand and the tree when I got to the top because the tree would be so small around at that height.
I would like to see those pics. I used to work for Ol man treestands back in the day and it used what sounds like the same system.
Took a while but here they are. You can see the top half of the stand still in the tree and then the broken cable.
Wow that’s crazy to see. I’ve crimped hundreds if not thousands of those. Interesting that it failed in the bend of the loop. I always figured it would be at the crimp. I guess that hose kinda kept you from seeing just how rusted it was.
