Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Be careful guys, I fell out of a tree stand this evening.

Thankful you weren't hurt, Randy. A shooter that shot in our matches fell out of his tree stand and broke his neck. I had a climber ratchet down a tree with me once from about 10 feet. It just skinned me up a bit. I don't mess with them any longer.

Glad to hear you're OK but for the grace of God you could not be home to type your post!

I don't use climbers but I use a lot of hang on stands with ladder sticks and there are a couple things I do to be safe.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS wear a safety harnass - no excuse for not wearing one!

ALWAYS use a Lineman's belt when setting up stands for the first time and taking them down after season - ALWAYS!

When you set up your stand ALWAYS put a life line in the tree. Most falls happen getting off the ladder onto the stand or out of the stand on the ladder, without a life line you're not connected at these times. If you think $30 is to much to pay for a life line look at your childs face and tell me again $30 is to much to make sure you get home?

Carry your cell phone (on silent) somewhere were it's easy to get to in case you need to call for help.

I live alone so it could be days before someone notices me missing so I text my sister every time before I go hunting. She knows that if I don't call or text within 45 minutes after dark to call me, if I don't answer she has the numbers of my buddies who know where I hunt and know where my stands are.

A couple years ago I had an accident that was a freak thing and resulted in no injury at all but could very easily have resulted in my death in a tree stand. After going home and seeing my daughter's face when I told her about what happened I decided right there that safety is #1, not for me but for those around me that I love. All the money we spend on hunting there is no reason for not haveing the best safety equipment available.

first of all, I am thankful you survived the fall.

Back in 1994, I was hunting a friend's place east of Gainesville. 4AM found me in my climbing stand, 35 feet up a pine tree. Pouring rain, windy.
Just as I got the seat set into place, and before I could put on my safety strap, the dang thing broke loose. I slid all the way down the tree, and knocked myself out when I hit bottom. Thought for sure I was a goner.
I have not been in a tree stand since, and won't be. Just still hunting for me now.

I get nose bleeds on the third rung of a ladder, and also get real clingy, so tree stands are a non issue with me. Had a good friend in Wisconsin that fell out of a tree and broke his ankle and a couple ribs, so you fared well. Glad you're okay.

Glad you're OK.
Climbers can get hairy at times.

My first season using a climber, I made the mistake of climbing a Rock Maple.
Everything went well and I was in the tree for an hour when the seat dropped about 4 inches. Scared the pizz out of me.

I only climb Ash and Oaks these days.

Glad you're OK

Good post - and good info. Glad you're ok.. A good friend of mine had a very bad experience with a tree stand back in circa '77-'78, and, after his experience, I determined that I'm best off stayin' on the ground..

Last, at my age (66 today) I won't go hunting unless my son is with me..

Best wishes sir..

Thanks again everyone. I posted this on a local site to remind those guys too. One of them told me that he did the same thing two years ago and broke both ankles.

He was left hanging at 15 feet, upside down, with his feet trapped in the foot climber webbing. He managed to cut himself loose and fall to the ground.

The main thing is to keep your safety line tight to the tree!! It needs to be adjusted short enough that you can't be thrown upside down with your feet trapped in the foot climber webbing.

Also, I think a tight tarp strap for your feet would be a lot safer than nylon webbing. Your feet wouldn't get trapped or broken from a tarp strap.

This ^. Had a similar experience with a climber years ago and haven't touched one of them since.

Wow, close one RH. Glad you're ok, I think there are several lessons to learn here but you forgot to mention what you did right, you had two lights on you! Never ever go in the woods without at least two lights. I learned this lesson the hard way many years ago when a bulb on my mag light burned out and I had to fumble in the dark to change the bulb, at several points I wasn't sure it was going to happen but luckily it worked out.

Glad you are okay

Glad you're ok. Falls are the #1 killer now of hunters! My son, Chad, AKA "High Brass" used to do tower work. He always said he was more afraid of falling using a tree stand than off of towers because he wouldn't suffer and linger from a fall off of a tower!

dang it, glad you made it out ok


regular occurrence for me to climb 90-100 ft. spruce trees to locate moose


no seat or harness, just a couple of boards, and some cargo straps.

I try and be damned careful though.


few years ago big windstorm blew through, hanging onto that tree for dear life, while it swayed to and fro, trees crashing down all around, was kinda sporty as it lasted over an hour.


but pretty tough to fill a freezer where I hunt without gaining a birds eye view.


may have to rethink how I'm doing things though.


appreciate your post and glad you weren't hurt any worse than what you were.

You're very fortunate to be ok....glad everything worked out and thank you for the reminder!

I ALMOST bought a climber this year, but came to my senses and bought another ladder stand. Climbers, if they're for anyone, are for fit and strong folks, not fat old men like me.

When I think about the homemade stands we built in the 60s using sections of saplings cut on site, it makes my blood run cold. Later, we started using treated 2X4s and plywood, but they still were potential deathtraps due to age, weathering, and tree movement.

Another item I'll never use again is screw-in tree steps. I had a bunch, made of 1/2 inch steel and also a tool for installing them. The tool made them easier to install, but the tremendous torque it provided apparently twisted the step rather than screwing into the tree. The last time I used that stand, on the way OUT of the stand, two of the steps broke off in my hand. Fortunately, I hadn't shifted my weight to those steps yet. The stand was pretty low, so I was able to hop off to the ground. I used strap-on steps made of polymer with nylon straps for a while with no problems, but haven't seen them for sale recently.

I like ladders, and have two on the public ground I hunt now. One is only about 9 feet to the foot platform, as I left out a section of ladder. I've taken 3 deer in 3 years from that one, so it must be high enough.

Glad you're okay.

In all of this, I seemed to have missed the brand name and model of the climber


I think that would be more helpful to fellow hunters.


And from my experience, all that safety harness garbage (if you don't know wtf youre doing) can actually introduce more hazard to the situation both before and after a possible incident. Getting wrapped up in harness, ropes, cables, buckles.


So pretty please with sugar, how bout the name of the stand?

Thanks

I'm trying to understand how your safety rope got too long. On my climber the safety rope length is more or less constant. It is determined by the location of the knot I tie. The only way the distance from the tree changes is when the diameter of the tree narrows, which is a very minor change.

Postak
The safety line is a Hunter Safety System rope with a prussik knot on a 6' piece of rope. The knot is attached to a carabiner. I had the knot slid too far down the rope because I was coming down about 3" at a time. It allowed me to move twice before having to slide the rope down the tree. If I would have kept my rope shorter, I wouldn't have been able to fall completly backwards with my feet trapped in the foot climber straps.

slumlord
The stand was an Old Man Grand Multi Vision. I still haven't completly examened it this morning but last night it looked like the pin holding the cable around the tree came out. There were vines in that tree and I assume one grabbed the pin enough to remove the wire loop holding it in place.

I still highly recommend all safety harnesses and ropes attached to the tree when climbing and going down. They have saved a lot of lives. Mine would have caught me if I would have had it adjusted closer to the tree so I couldn't tumble backwards. I never envisioned getting caught with my feet in the straps of my foot climber.

Seriously? Nothing about climbing that high and unsecured is remotely intelligent.

If you are going to climb those trees, which I wouldn't, you need a safety harness and two ropes with carabiners. Just attach and move them up the tree as you go.Release one, move it up , attach it and then do the same with the other one. You will always have one attached to the tree.