Tree stand PSA reminder

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Always offer this up closer to season but I have some basic tree stand harnesses that came with them that I will give to anyone who needs and will use it.
 
BSK said:
I've never fallen while hunting in a stand. But I sure have fallen putting up and taking down stands! How I escaped major injury is beyond me.
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I've did both ...first time I had already installed tree steps I'd made out of angle iron and bolted them into the tree . Hung stand but couldn't get the connector in both sides of the chain. Kept dropping stand . It was homemade but sturdy and had a brace with a sharpened end to dig into the tree . Finally got it up again but still having problems with the adjustable connector .Thought about the one in my backpack. It was spring loaded so I connected it to the chain...at last I had it up. I meant to connect the one with the chain once I got it up....but didn't. The one with the chain was steel the one I hung it with was pot metal . I just had a brain fart I guess but instead of fixing by temporarily situation I looked at the stand and thought " I need to get on the stand and with my weight push the brace into the tree.

First mistake unhooking my safety harness to climb into the stand .

Second mistake once in the stand was not hooking my safety harness back up around the tree .

Third mistake after assuring the stand held me I decided to just jump a little up and really drive the brace into the tree .

Boom pot metal connector broke down I came ...thought fast which probably saved broken bones to turn midair and grabbed the tree. I really made a great move and if those trapise people had seen me they would have cheered .

Kinda slowed down my fall grabbing the tree and sliding down it ...but those steps I had just installed took chunks of my arms out while sliding down.

Hit the ground pretty hard but I jumped straight up hoping I wasn't paralyzed. All good but my arms were skinned up pretty bad . Left straightway to the motel where my wife was . Of course she scolded me but did attend to my wounds.

Second fall was when one of those homemade steps pulled the bolt out ...had to be the first one coming down. The tree's sap had ate that bolt almost into . I had been up and down that permanent stand many times and just took it for granted I guess. Angie iron steps would last a lifetime but the bolts didn't.

But I had just shot a buck during open day of muzzleloader and after watching him fall ...giving the customary wait time of 30 minutes decided to get down to begin the process of gutting .

Down I went hitting the ground really hard and like before I jumped up hoping I wasn't paralyzed like before but sat back down as quick as I jumped up .

I'd definitely messed my ankle up . Couldn't put any weight on it but managed after a few minutes to hop to my buck which was only about 30 yards.

Finished gutting deer and then contacted my friends and told them my dilemma.
They came to me got the buck and took us out . They begged me to go to the hospital but I told I'd go when I got back home . Guy that rode with me wanted to come home but I told him ...you've got to get a deer ...I stayed in the motel the next morning and didn't hunt .

Rented some crutches at a pharmacy in Pulaski and went back hunting the next day but stayed on my four wheeler. The other lease we had consisted of some fields so that's where we hunted until we ended our hunts.

Pretty sure I fractured my ankle but never went to the hospital...ankle bothered me for a couple years but mended in it's own .
 
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Most of my falls have been from ladder stands tipping once I disconnected the strap, or tipping as I climbed up to attach the strap. In most of the cases, I jumped free before the stand fell to the side. Hard landings, but usually on steep terrain as so I just rolled down the high to spread out the impact. Luckily, no broken ankles.

Worst fall was when an older 2-person "buddy" ladder stand snapped in half as I got up into the basket. Close inspection after the fact found water had gotten into the ladder and rusted through the ladder right at one of the joints where two ladder section connect. Ladder snapped inwards towards the tree, which pitched me and the basket backwards. Landed flat on my back and the basket crashed down on top of me. No one, including myself, could believe it when I popped up uninjured. And this was a stand on the edge of a timber cut, so there were sharp stobs sticking up everywhere. I fell right in between several.

But most of the fall situations have been eliminated once stand manufacturers started including the straps that connect top and bottom of the ladder, and criss-cross behind the tree. This has added dramatically to the stability of a stand once it's leaned against the tree and before the ratchet strap has been attached.
 
BSK said:
I thought that Baker was the cat's meow. I didn't realize what a death trap it was until later.
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It was certainly better than hunting from the ground. A side benefit to their lack of stability, is they made you hold very still due to fear of falling.
 
Ski said:
Good reminder! Lineman's ropes are cheap and easy to use. I know accidents are called accidents for a reason, but the major injuries can mostly be avoided by staying strapped to the tree.
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Treestand falls are one of the most preventable accidents out there. Lifelines are super cheap insurance.

One thing you can do when putting up ladderstands is have a rope on both sides of the part that "V" the tree, then cross the lines and tie them off when you get it up and before you climb to buckle it up. I also chain it on with a 8" carrige bolt to lock it tight. I don't trust straps and buckles.
 
Ski said:
Good reminder! Lineman's ropes are cheap and easy to use. I know accidents are called accidents for a reason, but the major injuries can mostly be avoided by staying strapped to the tree.
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I'll second that. I had the platform section on my Summit climber let go while going up a Beech tree season before last. I was about 10 ft off the ground and stood up on the platform to adjust my safety rope up higher on the tree. Next thing I know, I feel the jerk of the safety rope and harness catch me and I'm hanging eye level with the seat section. Luckily, I walked away from that with just bruises on the underside of both arms from where I hit the seat section while falling through it. First and only time that's ever happened in several years using that climber. The tree had a little lean to it but nothing major. Figured that and maybe how I shifted weight on the platform caused it to let go.
 
Just to add on this you don't have to fall far to have a bad day. Two weeks ago my neighbor was working on his house and was only 10' up a ladder. The ladder folded and he tried to break his fall landing on his right leg. Snapped his ankle and came through the skin. They took him to Vanderbilt where they did minimal surgery to close the wound until the swelling went down and then had to go back for pins and screws. He's gonna be out of work 2-4 months.
 
CHRIS WILSON said:
I'll second that. I had the platform section on my Summit climber let go while going up a Beech tree season before last. I was about 10 ft off the ground and stood up on the platform to adjust my safety rope up higher on the tree. Next thing I know, I feel the jerk of the safety rope and harness catch me and I'm hanging eye level with the seat section. Luckily, I walked away from that with just bruises on the underside of both arms from where I hit the seat section while falling through it. First and only time that's ever happened in several years using that climber. The tree had a little lean to it but nothing major. Figured that and maybe how I shifted weight on the platform caused it to let go.
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And you're here to tell the story! That in itself speaks volumes. I hope i never have to need my harness but I won't go up a tree without it.
 
I bought some of the "Safe-Line" safety ropes that hang down the side of the ladder the whole way down and you slide a Prussic knot along the rope as you go up and down. Gonna install those this year.

Also plan on disposing of about five stands that have been in the woods for 25 years. Anyone wanna buy some gently used ladder stands? I gotta cut them out of the trees first, tho…
 
Terrier said:
I bought some of the "Safe-Line" safety ropes that hang down the side of the ladder the whole way down and you slide a Prussic knot along the rope as you go up and down. Gonna install those this year.
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I have those on every permanent stand I've got. I hook my harness to it on the ground and slide the knot up as I climb.

For mobile stands I use a lineman rope to keep my hands free while hanging sticks & stand, then use a strap above head level to hook my harness to once in place, before unhooking the lineman. I'm never not attached to the tree. The older I get the more important it seems. I'm really lucky I never had a bad accident in my youth.
 
Iglow said:
One thing you can do when putting up ladderstands is have a rope on both sides of the part that "V" the tree, then cross the lines and tie them off when you get it up and before you climb to buckle it up.
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All of the new ladder stands are coming equipped with these straps. I really didn't understand why they were important until a couple of bad experiences. Now, we attach them first thing, before climbing up to attach the ratchet strap.

I replace all ratchet straps every few years, so we always have good ones on the stand. I've had old ones break, but never new ones.
 
encore06 said:
After the first couple of years of hugging the tree and scraping my chest, I got the hand climber to go with it. What a difference that made
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The hand-climber was great, but I have a huge scar across the palm of my left hand from when the Baker fell and I grabbed for the hand-climber. All I caught was the adjustment wingnut. Sliced my hand wide open.
 
Terrier said:
I bought some of the "Safe-Line" safety ropes that hang down the side of the ladder the whole way down and you slide a Prussic knot along the rope as you go up and down. Gonna install those this year.
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This sounds like a great idea, but if I'm being totally realistic, it's not going to happen with us. When trying to maintain 52 ladder stands, that kind of accessory - even a good one - doesn't get done.

Terrier said:
Also plan on disposing of about five stands that have been in the woods for 25 years. Anyone wanna buy some gently used ladder stands? I gotta cut them out of the trees first, tho…
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Man do I have some old 2-person "buddy" ladder stands. I think we bought our first ones in the early 2000s and we're still using them. But they are getting so rusty, it's time for them to go.
 
Ski said:
I have those on every permanent stand I've got. I hook my harness to it on the ground and slide the knot up as I climb.

For mobile stands I use a lineman rope to keep my hands free while hanging sticks & stand, then use a strap above head level to hook my harness to once in place, before unhooking the lineman. I'm never not attached to the tree. The older I get the more important it seems. I'm really lucky I never had a bad accident in my youth.
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This is very smart and good advice.
 
BSK said:
I thought that Baker was the cat's meow. I didn't realize what a death trap it was until later.
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Yeah I had my falls with those things too. Fell three times one morning on Hiwasee Island bow hunting. Finally got up and missed a buck that morning. While tracking it to make sure I didn't hit him because I couldn't find my arrow I ran up on a friend that came with us . I asked him did he see that buck and he said yes running like a scolded dog . He also said he seen a fellow come by cause he shot at that buck too but he couldn't hunt for some SOB climbing and falling all morning laughing . I didnt laugh ....told him I was that SOB and it aint funny ! He even laughed harder . I had borrowed the stand from his BIL and told him if it was mine I'd throw it in the river cause I'm sore from my knees to my chest from that piece of crap .
 
Terrier said:
I bought some of the "Safe-Line" safety ropes that hang down the side of the ladder the whole way down and you slide a Prussic knot along the rope as you go up and down. Gonna install those this year.

Also plan on disposing of about five stands that have been in the woods for 25 years. Anyone wanna buy some gently used ladder stands? I gotta cut them out of the trees first, tho…
Click to expand...
I've got those for my Loc on stands .
 

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