Tree Stand Falls

[Groundhunter@1]

I want no fellow hunters to fall this year. It has already started in Wisconsin, and the rescue units have been out..... Climbers, hang ons, sticks, saddles, nothing is fool proof. Have a plan on getting down, if something happens. Practice with your equipment. Be careful.... If you think your Superman, your not...................

[Huntress13]

Good reminder.

[Dewey]

No doubt. Just found this one. Happened a number of years ago but shows even climbing stands can be very dangerous.

https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/ ... pside-down

[Andyschulte]

Amen. I had a stick come down last year when I was climbing. I was wearing my tether, so luckily I only scrapped up my hands. I imagine I would have been in the ER or morgue otherwise.

Stay attached to the tree from the first stick!

[Dewey]

I like to share this one to show just how fast you can get in a serious situation.



I was in a remote spot in Northern WI with no cell service and nobody knew where I was. Climbed up a tree with my Summit Climber like I did 100’s of times previously with zero issues. Got to hunting height, adjusted and removed my feet from my lower platform which immediately slid down the tree a bit. No problem I have a tether attached so it won’t drop. Problem was as soon as I thought that the knot came undone and I watched in horror as the lower platform fell 25+ feet to the base of the tree.

There I was with nothing but air under my feet and only sitting on the climbing bar. Luckily I had my harness on and was already tethered to the tree. To make matters worse my cold weather coveralls fell as well so there I sat with nothing to stay warm. Checked my cell phone again…….no service. I sat there and relaxed for a bit pondering how to get out of this situation. Then decided to take a picture to document my dilemma in case I didn’t make it. I decided nobody could help me so the only way was to somehow stand up on my top platform, bear hug the tree and hook my feet in the arm bars while I shimmy down the tree. I managed to do it pretty much draining every bit of strength I had and somehow never slipped while hugging that tree with a death grip all the way down. It felt like a miracle when I reached the ground that I avoided a pretty bad situation. Thank god for being tethered to the tree. Doubt I would have felt confident enough to descend the tree like I did otherwise. It was a but t puckering moment for sure. All this could have been prevented with a pair of stabilizer straps to connect the upper and lower platforms. Another lesson learned the hard way.

[Trail]

Definitely a good reminder.

I had the bottom of my Ol' Man climber slip down a tree before as well. The attachment keeping the top connected to the bottom broke but luckily it only slid a few feet down. I had to lower myself as far as possible before the end of my boot luckily hooked on it and I was able to bring it back up. I realized how easy it is to panic when you're 15+ feet up in a tree with your feet dangling.

[Tennhunter3]

I had my beast stick slide down the tree last year from about 15 feet to 7 feet. It was my fault I didn't get it tight enough on tree and it slid about 4 feet below me used my feet reach then trying to feet pull it back up it fell again.

How I did it was I attached my bow holder rope to my saddle loop lowered I put my boot inside my bow holder rope and bear hug the tree lowered my saddle tether a few inches at a time took 45 min to get down but it worked.

It didn't seem to damage or break my saddle.

I wasn't too concerned about falling being in a saddle but I didn't want to be up their all night either.

Dewey that's a terrifying situation to be in you were lucky on that one.

[Brokenarrow1980]

When I was about 18 I bought an old beat up API climber and the first time I tried going up a tree with it I got between 17-20 feet with it and something gave the base cable some slack and I slid down the tree to about 4 foot off the ground till it grabbed. I got lucky and only got two massive bruises on my legs and a sore back for a while. That experience put me off the mobile thing for a while till I learned what i know now.

[sureshotscott]

A fella was recently testing his saddle/climbing gear, and passed. Please read pg 15 of the thread before posting judgements. Hunting from a treestand/elevated position is an athletic pursuit. It can happen, we should all be mindful.

https://saddlehunter.com/community/inde ... ere.48202/

[<DK>]

A fella was recently testing his saddle/climbing gear, and passed. Please read pg 15 of the thread before posting judgements. Hunting from a treestand/elevated position is an athletic pursuit. It can happen, we should all be mindful.

https://saddlehunter.com/community/inde ... ere.48202/

Wow

Just read an article online and that is a sad story.. Ill bet the squirrel hunter that found him is having a rough time too

[tim]

Year was 2000 I believe. Lone wolf stick step broke , I fell 12 feet on back but not before the next step ripped open my hamstring-16 stitches. Lifetime of back pain. Stick sent in was never cast so was basically raw metal never treated so it was brittle. Anything can happen!

[Dewey]

Year was 2000 I believe. Lone wolf stick step broke , I fell 12 feet on back but not before the next step ripped open my hamstring-16 stitches. Lifetime of back pain. Stick sent in was never cast so was basically raw metal never treated so it was brittle. Anything can happen!

That’s a real obvious screw up on their part. Sounds like a lawsuit. Did Lone Wolf cover your medical bills?

[ODH]

We all need to graduate to two forms of safety and we’ll all be happy

[ODH]

We all need to graduate to two forms of safety and we’ll all be happy

[szwampdonkey]

Read up on the saddle hunter who died. Man, that was tragic and worse, totally preventable.

I might add, in addition to be safe know you’re limits. Not everyone is fit enough to climb a tree on dental floss then rappel down in the dark or has the skill set to master complicated climbing techniques using mountain climbing hardware and knots simply by watching youtube videos of the latest greatest coolest “influencer”. And if you do decide to practice some crazy new method to get up a tree please do it in your yard with someone around instead of out in the woods with no one around.

RIP Dane