Ever fall out of the tree?

[blackwolf]

Have had a couple falls. Both were coming down tree, harness would not have helped. I now use safety rope (Summit) for up and down. This limits my danger to putting up stands. One fall I hit tree step and came close to meeting my maker but after surgery and a month recovery I was fine. No falls in last 18 years!

[bonemonger]

the only time i have fell out of a tree was when i was training some young coonhounds. they had treed a coon in a small tree i could climb. so up the tree i go, coon kept climbing as i climbed. we went clear to the top. i started shaking the tree trying to get the coon to fall out. the coon was hanging on good and as i was shaking the top of the tree broke. down i came, now this is where it gets strange. i fell down thru the tree holding on to the part that broke off, i stop falling and thought i was good, let go of the top and fell 10 feet to the ground. knocked the wind out of me and had three coonhounds running all over me. last time shaking out coons for me.

[Ack]

Had a couple stands slip on me before, but fortunately they only slid less than a foot. Also missed my last step a few times coming down. Biggest scare was a couple years ago when I was hanging my second LW stick.....thought I had the loop on the versa button, but somehow it came off and down I went. No injuries, so I was pretty fortunate there.

[chad]

Back when I was a kid and just started bow hunting I didn't have a treesTand so I would just climb a tree with my bow in hand. One evening I was hunting on a field edge in a big oak tree, underneath was a pile of field stone, at last light I started climbing down and stepped on a dead limb, crack, down I went on to that pile of field stone, I hit my head and got knocked out and also twisted my ankle pretty bad. Sure glad I don't hunt like that anymore! Still hunted like that for a while and had some close calls but got a tree stand and some steps. I didn't start using a harness until a couple years ago. Now I have a hss harness and love it.

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[Casper]

Once, I was hanging a stand/pegs when it was raining. Slipped off a peg from about 14-15 feet, landed feet first luckily. Ended up with a big scratch down my side and few holes in the pants.

[Milk Weed Seed]

Came very close while hunting. The worst slip up was completely my stupidity. I was using a LW hand climber and had set the platform to loose, it was angling down away from the tree. I wanted to tighten it up, so my dumb decided to try and tighten up the climbing belt. As soon as I realeased the cam lock the belt poped out. I was basically hanging for dear life. Some how I managed to rest all my weight on the seat/hand climber and lift the platform with my feet and reach back down to close the buckle on the climbing belt. All while up 25' whith no safety harness. The whole time I could feel myself slipping, not a good feeling....
When I used to climb for a tree service I lost grip with my spikes and slid down the skinny tree. That too my my sphincter clamp shut like a bear trap:-)
Now I never hunt without a harness, it amazes me how many people still hunt without one? I remember as a kid falling asleep in my Loggy Bayou stand and waking up to catch myself while waiting for first light. I can remember over a dozen times having that happen...
Be safe Beasts!

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[bowhunter15]

I was climbing a tree in 1st grade once, slipped off and landed on my back from 10 feet. Got the wind knocked out of me and walked away.

I have been very fortunate not to have a hunting accident. I know multiple people personally who have. I have had a couple very close calls, when the stand slips out while I'm climbing into it etc. I found some old screw ins in a tree last year and started climbing. One of the pegs broke under my foot. Luckily I am still young and was able to catch myself hanging there from another peg. Those heart stopping moments really put things into perspective.

[mastermind]

Last august I fell out of a tree while climbing out of stand, I had a harness on too. There was a branch I had to get around took my harness off to get around it when I tried to swing linemans belt around tree, BAM! I hit the ground hard. I knocked myself unconscious, back of my head hit a stump, when I awoke I could not move anything all I could do is blink my eyes. As I lay there I start to try and accept the fact that I'm gonna be paralyzed from neck down, my finger moved then my hand. When I could move my arm I made the necessay calls to get me out of there. When it was said and done I completely shattered my tibial plateau and destroyed my knee, it still hurts and probably always will I guess it beats the alternative. It makes me look at things differently, I never knew how much I took things for granted. For now on ill always have 2 linemans belts when going.up and down tree. Oh and one more thing we all think if I slip ill just grab something well that always dosent work so please for your familys sake always wear a harness when climbing up and down.

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[Singing Bridge]

Here's my post from when Dewey put his up:

I have fallen from trees a number of times; fortunately I ended up with nothing more than some bruises and getting the wind knocked out of me. When I was a kid and started bow hunting in the 70's, I didn't have a tree stand / steps of any type. I climbed and shimmied up trees and stood on limbs while bow hunting. I learned in a hurry what types of limbs I needed to use and how thick they needed to be to support me. It was a bad feeling when a 2'' limb you were standing on snapped an hour into your hunt...

I survived those younger years relatively unscathed. Nowadays I use an HSS harness while on stand, and have great climbing sticks, etc. Every year my medics and I transport bow hunters who have fallen from their tree stands to the emergency department, with everything ranging from broken bones to paralysis, sometimes even death. If you multiply my home county by the number of all the other hunting counties in Michigan, start adding in other states.... it isn't a pretty picture. With all of the safety oriented accessories available to hunters today, it really is important to make them an essential part of your equipment while religiously using them.

[UntouchableNess]

I'm almost afraid to post in this thread, for fear of tempting fate.

Oh well, my only incident so far was once I was setting my my LW, coming down the tree to get it after putting up the sticks, and for some stupid reason lost count of which stick I was on. I thought the ground was there, so "stepped off" the stick with one section remaining. It was only 4 foot down, but time seemed to stop as I fell to the ground. I hit the ground rolling, luckily there wasn't a tree in my path. Got up, dusted off and finished the set.

[gjs4]

No- but one of my biggest fears (seriously)

My hunting partner has fallen twice...scary stuff....know a few others..all had injuries...scariest portion of our sport imo