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Poll Question: Falls

I was asked to pose a poll question(s) to y'all:

Have you ever fallen from your tree stand? Also, Going up, or going down? Was it caused by tree stand failure? Any friends or acquaintances who have?

Yes. Both times the stand broke.

First fall knee surgery. Second fall broken rib.

Never fallen myself. Plenty of acquaintances that have. Not a majority of hunters I know, but not an insignificant percentage either.

No, not yet. I know it is not a question of "if", but "when." You just need to be prepared. I did fall out of a tree, bowhunting, when I was in HS. Didn't have $ for a treestand back then so, had to shimmy up the best "climbable" tree, while holding the bow too! Luckily, I was on the low branches, it was soft, slanted ground and I fell from about 8'. Nothing hurt but my pride.

No, not yet. And no.

I never fell FROM my stand. Leaned too far once and had the top section dislodge and I fell IN the stand. Had my harness, so just fell to bottom section.(kneeling position) It was user error, so not the stands fault. And YES, had 1 friend that I know of who fell.

Had a buddy fall when his Loggy Bayou broke. I quit hunting from trees last year, don't even fell safe in ladder stands anymore.

Yes, about 10 yrs. ago. It happened climbing up to a chain on stand when a screw in tree step broke where the rivet went through the hole drilled in the screw broke out. Fell 14 ft. Fortunately I hit a maple limb on the way down which broke my fall a little. Still ended up with a couple nasty gashes and bruises on my chest and groin while trying to grab anything I could on the way down and ruined a brand new pair of Scent-Lok pants. . Only lost one week of hunting until I could draw my bow again. Lucked Out!! for Sure. Now in my advanced age - it's pretty much ladder stands all the way.

No and no acquaintances either. Not for lack of trying in my younger dumber days though. These days its all lifelines for myself and my son. Hoping to talk my Dad into it or I will probably be able to change my answer at some point.

Not me, but I am feeling better since I now use about 90% ladder stands and blinds. Had 2 friends once who were best hunting buddies in the world. While hunting at one guy's farm and using the host's home built tree stand, the guest had a platform failure and ended up having serious, expensive injuries and long recovery time. A long lawsuit really messed that relationship up. I read about an old highschool friend who fell near the top of his screw in steps from a failure and slid down the tree with quite a few injuries on the way and as he hit the ground. He spent at least one night in the woods and had to crawl quite a distant just to get to a field where I believe a passing motorist saw him.

Never fell but had a couple of brief slips down a few inches. That was scary enough for me.

No. No acquaintances either.

Thirty years ago I took a 15 foot ride down a wet maple on a Loggy Bayou. It was before they used a ribbed rubber top strap. Nothing but brush burns. Emery Archery gave me a full refund.

Who are you polling for?

And no.

Yes, installing stand. Forgot harness, but did it anyway. While adjusting stand, strap unhooked. When I pulled it tight I fell off backwards. Fell over 20 ft. landed on face. Hurt like hell. Took a helicopter ride to hospital in Pittsburgh. Bruised Ribs, concussion, and broken left wrist. Wasn't fun!

I haven't fallen out of a tree stand since,,,,, October. Well not really the stand, but off the steps. Hurt my ankle. Missed most of the archery season.. Sincerely the dumb lucky guy.

Yup. Here's a link to my post about it.

never fell, but did have the bottom of my climber slide away form my feet. Had my harness on, scared the hell out of me even though I still had the top piece of the climber to hang on to.

No. But had a few close calls. Thank God for the harness. Hey guys, change those cables on your hang on to chain. I did and feel more safe.

I forgot that one Pat. Same thing happened once after I did not have the connector lines attached between the seat and stan parts of my climber, been so long. Had to shinny down.

Nope. Never fell from a tree. I do all of my falling from the ground.

Fell out of a 15' ladder stand, while rifle hunting about 20 years ago. Stayed up too late the night before, started nodding off in the stand, and before I knew it, I was doing a somersault towards the ground. My rifle hit the ground before I did, and I remember not being able to feel anything below my waistline. Dad rushed me to the hospital, where hours later I was able to feel my legs tingling a little. A badly bruised tailbone and 7 stitches to the back of my head, was what I came away with. I wasn't able to sit, walk, or sleep comfortably for weeks. I took a few years off from hunting, but never leave the ground now without tying myself off first. It only takes one second, and a little bit of carelessness, that could change your life (and your family's) forever.

Whew, glad that wasn't any worse, Josh. Sometimes it hurts to be lucky. But hurting is better than, well, you know.

By the way, I know a handful of folks who've fallen from stands. One of my best friends landed right at my feet. The injuries varied from nothing... to death.

Sometimes there are great risks within the seemingly simple things we do.

Bob- this came from one of the PGC Commissioners thru the UBP. Apparently they wanted more data, as there are only a few in depth studies on treestand falls that have been done.

Josh- that raised the hair on the back of my neck just READING about your fall! THe good Lord was surely watching out for you that day! Thank God there were no serious permanent effects from that fall!

Thanks, Jeff & Perry. Trust me....my tailbone & legs still tingle a little bit every time I tell that story. As far as permanent side effects....I have been told my choice in mechanical broadheads must be from getting knocked in the head. Maybe that's where it came from? ;-D

No never fell, but was very lucky when I first started hunting with the half-rotted home made baker style stands and a rope around tied my waist. I had an acquaintance fall back in the early 1990's. He wasn't a friend, but I was supposed to hunt with him and 2 others that day and couldn't make it. He was hunting out of a pine tree with a wood platform. He was getting down and he stepped on a branch that broke and fell to the ground. Compound fracture to his leg and he was about a mile from the road, so medical staff and removal was difficult. His boots that they had to cut off of him still sit at the bottom of the tree as a reminder all these years later.

I have never fallen. Knock on wood. Don't personally know anyone that has.

About 22 years ago, I slid 20 feet down a tree standing on a loggy bayou. I leaned my chest against the hand climber to hold it while I made it smaller and the bottom slipped. the stand caught hold about 3 feet off the ground, springing me like a diving board. I was very lucky. My right foot hurt for a year or so, but that was it. I sent the stand back to see if all the broken welds and bent pieces could be fixed, they sent me a new stand

Just lucky here.

I have used every thing from a home made climber, widow maker's, w/o any safety attachment's whatsoever. Of course that was back in the early days. I once fell out of my climber when trying to step out of it at bottom of tree SDKH ? I fell awkward and landed on my neck and shoulder. That short but hard fall left me plenty sore for days on end.

These days I primarily use lock-on's with ladder sticks and I DO NOT LEAVE THE GROUND w/o having my harness attached to a life line.

My son is trying to convert me to ladder stands but I just do not find them easy to get into or very comfortable for long sits. I generally hunt high and it makes him nervous !

:^}

I fell once, it was a long time ago. Somehow while climbing tree steps to a hang on I lost my grip and fell, don't ask me how, but one second I'm climbing, the next I'm flat on my back on the ground. I didn't fall far and I was not injured, that being said I have been using a safety belt or body harness for years, even before my fall. I used to make my old rock climbing gear for hunting. Now at my age I hunt mostly from ladder stands and I don't sit in one unless I'm securely attached to the tree.

I never have fallen. Hank Barella fell due to a step malfunction. He ended up impaling himself on the step below, and hung there for a few seconds before climbing down and driving himself to the hospital. It was a pretty bad scar, and the beginning of lifeline use for Hank.

I fell 1 time climbing down. Waas using a Summit Sabre back in the early 90's. used a belt to tie in after I climbed the tree back then. Undid the belt, started climbing down about 10 ft from the ground, I lifted the climber to lower it and the base slipped a little causing me to lose my grip on the climber. My feet were in the straps in the base and I went over backwards ended up hanging by my feet over the front of the base of the stand. I did a situp, grabbed the base and worked on trying to get my foot lose. Lost my grip and hung again, another situp and this time was successful in getting a foot loose. When I lost my grip, all my weight was hanging by 1 foot in the strap and I tore the strap from the base and down I went. I was lucky it was oft earth under me. Wind was knocked out of me and everything moved, but I had 2 very badly sprained ankles. Quit trees for the next 2 seasons. Then I found out about full body harness and never climb without it.

Whole different subject, been having some issues with slapping my wrist strap, and having a little target panic, what do you guys think of a thumb release for hunting, I know you can do the blind bail shooting too.

Yes, Tree seat broke, fell 18 feet, fractured my spine in 4 places. Always wore a safety belt except for the day I fell. Left it in the trunk of my car. Half way to my stand that morning I realized I forgot it, started back and said the hell with it. It almost cost me my life. My best friend (now deceased) was hunting in Berks County about 1986. Leaned back against a tree limb, limb broke and he fell about 15 feet. Broke his neck and laid in the woods for 12 hours before a little girl that went to get her mail heard him yelling. She went and told her mother who called rescue squad.

While coming down my climbing sticks a few years ago, my left foot was on the top of the second stick up the tree. This was about 8' off of the ground. As I went to put my right foot on the next step, I hit the strap buckle and it immediately released. The end of the strap was folded over and sewn, so it never came out of the buckle. However, it was now so loose that I rode the second stick down the tree (quite rapidly) until it hit the first stick and bounced me off. Injuries included a nice gash in my leg and what felt like a cracked rib in my back. If not cracked, it was really sore for about three weeks.

As a result of this incident, I have incorporated the "Fallguy" safety system to keep me attached to the tree while climbing up, setting the stand, and climbing down. Believe me, this relatively low height fall taught me that I never want to fall again.

Almost fell once because i fell asleep.

I dont climb without a harness.

My uncle was killed due to a tree stand fall about 6 years ago while hunting out of state in New York. I now have life lines on my stand setups so you're attached from the time you leave the ground. My daughters hunt and I would not even let them in a tree stand without the life line and a harness.

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