Moving on after a tree stand accident

[TreeFreak]

This past Monday afternoon, I snuck into a ridge system to slide up a tree between two points that hold some heavy bedding. I ascended the tree, got my stand set and went to make the transition from my top step into the stand. In the process of switching all my weight onto the top left step of the stick (right foot going into stand), the top stick kicked out and Gave way. I always try to be as safe as I possibly can when climbing. At this point I had already tethered in and also still had my lineman rope attached. Luckily, I didn't fall far, probably not even a foot. Regardless, this scared the daylights out of me. I was able to lower myself to the next stick down and sat and evaluated the situation. I could see what happened. The stick gave way with all my weight on the top left corner with the given contour of the tree. I reset the stick and retrieved my stand and got down completely.

While standing at the base of the tree attempting to regain my composure, I contemplated pulling out from the hunt. I started to think back on some old football injuries, shattered ankle, stingers from hard hits, the list goes on. I remember it taking me a while to get back into the swing of playing after these injuries as I was scared of getting hurt again. This was the last thing that I wanted to happen that day, so I decided to stick it out. I wound up setting up in an entirely different tree , wanting nothing to do with the tree that tried to kill me.

The next day, hunting a different area, I found myself extremely reluctant in making the transition from stick to stick on my way up the tree. My question is, for those who have had or come close to a tree stand accident, how long did it take you to regain the confidence to get back into a tree?

I consider myself extremely lucky. The results of the entire situation could have been much different. I felt a little more comfortable yesterday, but still a little nervous. I am going to push myself to be extra careful the remainder of the season and try to not let the accident prevent me from getting out there to get it done.

Stay safe everyone.

[RiverBottoms]

Glad to hear you are alright. Definitely scary. I've never fallen, or had an issue like that where I might lose confidence in my equipment, but I've come close. I tend to think practicing setting up at low elevations might help. Go in your back yard and set up a stick or two and see if you can't recreate the issue to see where the limits might be. I bet with a little confidence you'll be back in the saddle in no time

[Ranger12]

Hey treefreak, maybe you should change your name to freaky tree?? Haha!! I’m glad to hear that you are ok. I have had plenty of slips and bobbles, but luckily, nothing too serious.
A few years back, my dad completely fell, 25+ up out of his climber. He was there dangling by his LW harness. He repositioned his climber and got back on stand. Nothing changed. What matters here, is that me, my dad and you, were following the correct procedures to stay safe in case something happened. Climbing trees is risky, but that’s why we put so much saftey into the process. You have too. Things are going to happen and slips will follow, but as long as you focus on staying safe, keeping that lineman’s on, harness on, lifeline up and down, as well as harness on up and down while in a climber, you will be ok. Sure you might get cut on the sticks or banged up, but you will survive. And that’s what matters.
So instead of letting it rattle you and get in your head, take it as trophy that fate was out to get you that day, and due to you being responsible and safe that day, you are now able to tell fate to eat it and that it can go try it on someone else, haha!!
Again, glad your safe but due to your smart thinking and safety approach, your here today.

[dan]

I would avoid using sticks that kick out... What kind were they? I had a lot of close calls when I was younger, personally I always shrugged them off and kept going, but also I realized that things like that happen for a reason. Analyzing my equipment, and my procedure would come into play after an event like yours. Its part of the reason I put so much R&D time into the stands and sticks I make... I was at a lodge once with a group of about 20 well known hunters and someone got a message about someone he knew fell out of a tree and the outcome was not good... The conversation turned to bad falls, and one by one every single hunter at that camp told a story of a personal bad fall... Thats kind of eye opening.

#1 Use quality proven Equipment
#2 always have 3 points of contact on a tree3
#3 Never get so comfortable climbing that you get complacent.

[Dewey]

I’ve had my share of close calls but luckily my safety gear saved me every time. I have plenty of scars from tree steps or climbing sticks over the years. Every single time it happened I was rushing so am always trying to be conscious about slowing down and thinking about every movement I make. Kicking out sticks are always a concern especially if you climb a lot of gnarly trees that are rarely perfectly vertical.

Can’t say I have ever been scared to climb again after an incident but it sure does wake me up and make me think about what I’m doing a lot more. If you hunt in trees enough sooner or later something will happen. That’s a given. Inspect your equipment closely and buy the best safety gear you can.

[tim]

I got back in the tree the next day after falling 12 feet ripping my leg open and landing on my back. The 16 stitches in my hamstring made it uncomfortable to sit but.....also I used screw in tree steps till I got the verdict on why those lonewolf steps broke on my sticks. I did eventually start using sticks again but yeah a bit apprehensive for a few hunts

[MNarrow]

Glad you are Ok!! It's so incredibly important to be connected to the tree 100% of time when your feet leave the ground by either a lineman belt or tether.

[Dewey]

I got back in the tree the next day after falling 12 feet ripping my leg open and landing on my back. The 16 stitches in my hamstring made it uncomfortable to sit but.....also I used screw in tree steps till I got the verdict on why those lonewolf steps broke on my sticks. I did eventually start using sticks again but yeah a bit apprehensive for a few hunts

Wow! So why did they break? Can you explain what exactly happened?

[tim]

I got back in the tree the next day after falling 12 feet ripping my leg open and landing on my back. The 16 stitches in my hamstring made it uncomfortable to sit but.....also I used screw in tree steps till I got the verdict on why those lonewolf steps broke on my sticks. I did eventually start using sticks again but yeah a bit apprehensive for a few hunts

Wow! So why did they break? Can you explain what exactly happened?

It was the year 2000 I believe. Bought all my stuff from Andrae out of his garage in cudahy. I bought a couple stands as well. Anywho the first time I ever put my foot on a step it snapped and was like what the heck. I just thought it was a fluke and through that one to the side for the time being and continued my hunt. Well the next time I wasn’t so lucky I had put 4 steps up and everything was fine so I was climbing up with my stand to hang it and I always spaced my sticks to get as much height as possible for me. I think I was on 3rd step I think going to take the next step up and the step broke. I started falling facing the tree until my left hamstring caught the next step and it threw me into a backwards fall. I landed on my upper back/shoulders and it knocked the wind out of me so bad it took a bit to get a breath. I had stand in one hand and that just fell off to side . All I felt was my leg on fire I looked back and my hamstring was wide open from the step it hit . Limped out of the woods back to the house and ended up getting the 16 stitches to leg. But actually had 3 lacerations in a row so they sutured them in a running stitch and closed them altogether. So called lonewolf at that point and brought them the sticks . They replaced them and later received a call telling me they were sent to a lab and they were raw material they had never been cast? So the aluminum was brittle.

[Dewey]

I got back in the tree the next day after falling 12 feet ripping my leg open and landing on my back. The 16 stitches in my hamstring made it uncomfortable to sit but.....also I used screw in tree steps till I got the verdict on why those lonewolf steps broke on my sticks. I did eventually start using sticks again but yeah a bit apprehensive for a few hunts

Wow! So why did they break? Can you explain what exactly happened?

It was the year 2000 I believe. Bought all my stuff from Andrae out of his garage in cudahy. I bought a couple stands as well. Anywho the first time I ever put my foot on a step it snapped and was like what the heck. I just thought it was a fluke and through that one to the side for the time being and continued my hunt. Well the next time I wasn’t so lucky I had put 4 steps up and everything was fine so I was climbing up with my stand to hang it and I always spaced my sticks to get as much height as possible for me. I think I was on 3rd step I think going to take the next step up and the step broke. I started falling facing the tree until my left hamstring caught the next step and it threw me into a backwards fall. I landed on my upper back/shoulders and it knocked the wind out of me so bad it took a bit to get a breath. I had stand in one hand and that just fell off to side . All I felt was my leg on fire I looked back and my hamstring was wide open from the step it hit . Limped out of the woods back to the house and ended up getting the 16 stitches to leg. But actually had 3 lacerations in a row so they sutured them in a running stitch and closed them altogether. So called lonewolf at that point and brought them the sticks . They replaced them and later received a call telling me they were sent to a lab and they were raw material they had never been cast? So the aluminum was brittle.

That’s crazy. Getting impaled by a stick step is my greatest fear. I had one catch my chest and scrape me up pretty bad. Luckily I glanced off it because if it went under my rib cage it would have probably gutted me. Just missed my face and then into the bicep of my outstretched right arm. That actually just happened this last spring when hanging a camera. My foot slipped off a step.

[headgear]

I've had a few slips and caught myself, for sure the one time the harness saved me because I was able to grab the tether and pull myselt back to a balanced position. Heck I still think about it and that was 15 years back and not nearly as bad as your experience. Even one time I had an owl divebomb me and it took a while not to flinch at every bird that came out of the corner of my eye for a while. Give it some time, maybe hunt a little lower for a while and keep strapped in. That last step from stick to stand is where it happens a lot of the time, not a bad thing to be extra cautious in that area.

[TreeFreak]

I would avoid using sticks that kick out... What kind were they? I had a lot of close calls when I was younger, personally I always shrugged them off and kept going, but also I realized that things like that happen for a reason. Analyzing my equipment, and my procedure would come into play after an event like yours. Its part of the reason I put so much R&D time into the stands and sticks I make... I was at a lodge once with a group of about 20 well known hunters and someone got a message about someone he knew fell out of a tree and the outcome was not good... The conversation turned to bad falls, and one by one every single hunter at that camp told a story of a personal bad fall... Thats kind of eye opening.

#1 Use quality proven Equipment
#2 always have 3 points of contact on a tree3
#3 Never get so comfortable climbing that you get complacent.

In this case , I take full blame for the situation. My mind and eyes were fixated on the bedding area while climbing. I’d call it an error in judgement.

Referring back to your 3rd bullet point, I have been hunting hard and have been up and down a ton of trees lately. I’d say I did fall complacent.

[dan]

I got back in the tree the next day after falling 12 feet ripping my leg open and landing on my back. The 16 stitches in my hamstring made it uncomfortable to sit but.....also I used screw in tree steps till I got the verdict on why those lonewolf steps broke on my sticks. I did eventually start using sticks again but yeah a bit apprehensive for a few hunts

Wow! So why did they break? Can you explain what exactly happened?

It was the year 2000 I believe. Bought all my stuff from Andrae out of his garage in cudahy. I bought a couple stands as well. Anywho the first time I ever put my foot on a step it snapped and was like what the heck. I just thought it was a fluke and through that one to the side for the time being and continued my hunt. Well the next time I wasn’t so lucky I had put 4 steps up and everything was fine so I was climbing up with my stand to hang it and I always spaced my sticks to get as much height as possible for me. I think I was on 3rd step I think going to take the next step up and the step broke. I started falling facing the tree until my left hamstring caught the next step and it threw me into a backwards fall. I landed on my upper back/shoulders and it knocked the wind out of me so bad it took a bit to get a breath. I had stand in one hand and that just fell off to side . All I felt was my leg on fire I looked back and my hamstring was wide open from the step it hit . Limped out of the woods back to the house and ended up getting the 16 stitches to leg. But actually had 3 lacerations in a row so they sutured them in a running stitch and closed them altogether. So called lonewolf at that point and brought them the sticks . They replaced them and later received a call telling me they were sent to a lab and they were raw material they had never been cast? So the aluminum was brittle.

That’s crazy. Getting impaled by a stick step is my greatest fear. I had one catch my chest and scrape me up pretty bad. Luckily I glanced off it because if it went under my rib cage it would have probably gutted me. Just missed my face and then into the bicep of my outstretched right arm. That actually just happened this last spring when hanging a camera. My foot slipped off a step.

I had a screw in step break in bitter cold and the broken edge severely cut my leg many, many years ago.

[Tribute80]

I haven't had any serious issues climbing. Had a stick loosen up coming down after my foot was off while I was gripping it with my hands.(I think I bumped the buckle with my foot on the transition.)

I do have something to admit and i'm not really proud of it as I have kids and they need me. But I do not tie off to the tree 100% of the time and I have never been tied off while climbing. Last hunting season I made it a goal to wear my harness 100% of the time but there was still a few sits I didn't wear it. I dont know why probably just lazy. While I'm working on this I do have a question??

Other then a line mans rope, how does one tie off going up or down? A line mans rope wont always keep me from getting hurt but may keep me from dyeing? is that the idea? I have seen life lines but I think that's for if you are climbing the same tree and can leave it. Should I put my harness strap on the tree and move it up as I go up? If so how do I go around libs and my sticks and stand? I'm kinda embarrassed to ask but I have a daughter thats going to start hunting with me and I want us to hunt in trees and want to learn to do it right so I can teach her the right way.

Also how long did it take for some of yall to actually employ these technics what changed to get you to tie on from the bottom to the top to the bottom.

Not trying to hi jack your post TreeFreak wish you the best I think you did the right thing by getting back after it right away.

Any advise is appreciated

[Crazinamatese]

It was stated in some study that treestand accidents happen most when the hunter takes the first step onto the stand platform. I have had sticks shift or kick out on me too. Sometimes they just don’t want to bite into the tree. (Hawk helium sticks have been the worse) Never slipped or fell though. Biggest thing for me is kinda bear hugging the tree as I make that last step up the stick and then onto the treestand platform while tethered. If I do slip and fall I won’t reach the ground. If a step ever breaks on me, that might be enough for me to never trust climbing sticks again.