You Hunters, Please Be Careful

9outof10mms

9outof10mms

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I lost a friend today due to falling out of a tree stand. I don’t know anything other than it was a direct result from the fall. 50-something years young, wife, three grown kids. Solid leader in our church and at his job working avionics.

I don’t hunt and I don’t know the first thing about tree stands other than they’re high enough to kill you if you fall. It feels like there’s a death or serious injury at least once a year in my 2nd or 3rd degree circles (i.e. the kid that fell here on the forum a couple years ago) related to tree stands.

Please be careful on these damn things. Wear the stupid belt or whatever you’re supposed to wear, regardless of how awkward they are or how un-manly it may seem.

I found this article with some discussion about statstics of hunters notusing safety gear. I’m making the assumption that my friend didn’t use his gear—I likely won’t find out any details for a little while.
https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/big-game-hunting/whitetail-deer/statistics-say-falling-treestand
 
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I definitely hate to hear this. Dad and I hunted this evening. Knowing someone died doing the same thing at the same time is eerie.

I hope the family gets the support I feel certain they're gonna need.
 
kcult said:
I definitely hate to hear this. Dad and I hunted this evening. Knowing someone died doing the same thing at the same time is eerie.

I hope the family gets the support I feel certain they're gonna need.
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I’m not letting myself go too deep into this thought path...but...

A group of us from church were planning to go shoot clays sometime over the past 7 days. Everyone took off from work on Friday to go do it, but we cancelled it due to the rain. It was bounced around to reschedule to today. We opted to punt to January. Jim wasn’t confirmed for yesterday nor today had we done it, but he was on the email list. Might have been different if we’d gone clay hunting today...

That doesn’t bug me too much. When it’s your time, you don’t get to tell God “hang on a sec.” It’s your time. There’s always a reason for it—whether we get to learn it or pretend we know it, or not.

Thankfully, Jim had left the looney asylum of Scientology years ago and got right with God before this. It’s a punch in the nuts for us still here, but I’m totally confident he’s doing just fine. God hopefully gave him a good flick on the ear when he showed up (if it was truly a lack of safety on his part).
 
So sorry to hear of this...........but thank you for the reminder that we must be careful.......hopefully this post may save someone else from a terrible accident.
 
Wow, so sad to hear of this tragic accident. It was prob preventable and what seems like a good man is no longer with us. I don't know the first thing about tree stands but please use any safety gear you have to so we don't lose any friends on here.
Praying for the family...
 
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Sorry for your loss and his family .

This happens a lot unfortunately. I think a guy in Troutman/Statesville area died in a fall about a month ago.

I climb a 100 foot structure fairly regularly, it's always on my mind of how dangerous it really is.
 
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Hate to see this. I know people who never used a harness until someone close to them died falling out of a tree. Can get decent ones for like $40 at academy.

Will keep his family in my thoughts and prayers.
 
NC loses about five hunters a year to firearm accidents and five to falls. Considering the falls are usually around one species and in about six weeks, where firearms are all species, all year long, climbing a tree is more likely to get you killed than the gun.

I never climb without a harness, but occasionally I’ll get to the top and realize that I forgot to snap in. Duh.

Just last week I was in a climber, stood up to stretch, and the thing shifted. Nearly threw me out before I caught myself. Closest I’ve ever come to needing that harness.

In a climber, the standard tree strap does slow you down and it’s noisy. Plus, you have to loosen it to slide it up the tree, and during that time, you’re not protected. Hunter Safety Systems sells the “Rope Style Tree Strap” that’s faster, quieter, and doesn’t have that vulnerability. It’s only $15 at Amazon.
https://www.huntersafetysystem.com/rope-style-treestrap-1/
 
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I stopped climbing trees years ago, too damned dangerous and unstable. There's a reason safety harnesses are included with climbing stands and it ain't for fashion. I'm sorry you lost a friend but sometimes Darwin won't be deterred in his mission. It's up to us to deny him his due.....RIP..
 
My uncle died in the same way about 10 years ago. Do be careful out there.
 
Everyone take care when hunting. We don't want to be reading about you in a thread like this.
 
Really crappy news about his death...

He was wearing a three point harness. He fell and it strangled him against the tree. Unknown how long he was hanging until his buddy found him.

Sorry for assuming ignorance, brother Jim.
 
9outof10mms said:
Really crappy news about his death...

He was wearing a three point harness. He fell and it strangled him against the tree. Unknown how long he was hanging until his buddy found him.

Sorry for assuming ignorance, brother Jim.
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Gah! That's horrible!
 
I've used stands in the past and being a former rock/mountain climber, I've got a few harnesses and arresting gear. Easy and quiet in the tree and won't strangle/suffocate if you fall. Any harness that relies on a waist belt is hugely dangerous as you can suffocate from hanging by your waist. I've spent hours hanging in my Forrest Big Wall harness climbing. It's been out of production for years but there aren't many that are nearly as comfortable.

So the guy died hanging in the harness, my guess is the harness was adjustable and he had it all wrong. It probably rode up his torso when he had to hang in it and that will cut off diaphragm function.
 
I've spent a lot of time hanging in a comfy harness as well. This death did not have to happen!

I'll never understand how a company can sell "safety" gear that will kill you and not get sued into bankruptcy.
 
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Dave951 said:
I've used stands in the past and being a former rock/mountain climber, I've got a few harnesses and arresting gear. Easy and quiet in the tree and won't strangle/suffocate if you fall. Any harness that relies on a waist belt is hugely dangerous as you can suffocate from hanging by your waist. I've spent hours hanging in my Forrest Big Wall harness climbing. It's been out of production for years but there aren't many that are nearly as comfortable.

So the guy died hanging in the harness, my guess is the harness was adjustable and he had it all wrong. It probably rode up his torso when he had to hang in it and that will cut off diaphragm function.
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I'm sure it's not unheard of for a hunter to have a heart attack in the stand and fall. I'm curious how often this is the case?
 
kcult said:
I'm sure it's not unheard of for a hunter to have a heart attack in the stand and fall. I'm curious how often this is the case?
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I wouldn't be surprised if some didn't also fall out of stands because of alcohol.
 
One more thing. To me it's very foolish to not test harnesses close to the ground for fit and proper adjustment. A couple minutes a few feet off the ground can literally mean life or death in the real deal.

Another reason hunters fall from tree stands is they doze off. I've done it more than once but since I was wearing purposely designed climbing gear nothing happened more than a good nap.
 
rantingredneck said:
I survived an 18ft fall from a tree stand 11 years ago. I hate to read this. Prayers for his family.
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I instantly thought of your experience the moment I clicked on this thread yesterday. I have shown the thread you had several years ago to a number of young people to try and plant a seed of caution in their young and daring minds.
 
9outof10mms said:
Really crappy news about his death...

He was wearing a three point harness. He fell and it strangled him against the tree. Unknown how long he was hanging until his buddy found him.

Sorry for assuming ignorance, brother Jim.
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If you could get more info about this, I would be very interested in hearing about it. Brand or style of harness, or how it happened. If I'm doing something wrong or have bad gear I want to be able to do something about it.
 
MostWanted said:
If you could get more info about this, I would be very interested in hearing about it. Brand or style of harness, or how it happened. If I'm doing something wrong or have bad gear I want to be able to do something about it.
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Absolutely. That’s sort of my intent with posting about him—keep one of you numbnuts from doing the same.

I know the Wildlife folks were at their house before our pastor could even get there, so I don’t know if there’ll be a public report about it or not. Not sure how those folks roll.
 
MostWanted said:
Hunter Safety Systems sells the “Rope Style Tree Strap” that’s faster, quieter, and doesn’t have that vulnerability. It’s only $15 at Amazon.
https://www.huntersafetysystem.com/rope-style-treestrap-1/
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Being an old salt, and a teacher of knots and rigging, this looks to me like a very good tree strap. It's simple. Me like! (I just ordered two, although they are really easy to make!)

This season, the 95 year old owner of my hunting land told me, "I wish you wouldn't go down there alone an get in that tree stand." So, I did not. It doesn't take much to talk me out of it. One in three tree stand climbers falls out. He was amazed when he found out that I did what he suggested!

I have two extra 4' tethers on my harness. They are for climbing a ladder stand. I always have one of them attached, even when I am on the lowest rung.
 
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Dave951 said:
Another reason hunters fall from tree stands is they doze off. I've done it more than once but since I was wearing purposely designed climbing gear nothing happened more than a good nap.
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Yep. My pop fell out of a 15-20ft stand when he dozed off once. Scared the hell out of us, but nothing more than bruising.

Getting strangled by the harness, that just sucks. Sorry for the loss of your friend.
 
MacEntyre said:
Being an old salt, and a teacher of knots and rigging, this looks to me like a very good tree strap. It's simple. Me like! (I just ordered two, although they are really easy to make!)

This season, the 95 year old owner of my hunting land told me, "I wish you wouldn't go down there alone an get in that tree stand." So, I did not. It doesn't take much to talk me out of it. One in three tree stand climbers falls out. He was amazed when he found out that I did what he suggested!

I have two extra 4' tethers on my harness. They are for climbing a ladder stand. I always have one of them attached, even when I am on the lowest rung.
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What's fun about those is when you climb way up the tree showing off, and you screw around and let the foot component slide all the way down. Thank God I did that one when I was young.
 
Simply wearing a harness won't save you in the event of a fall. It has to fit properly. It has to be positioned properly above your head height in your stand. Either of the above being off can result in injury or death as you fall and the harness arrests that fall.

Then once you're safely hanging from your harness you have to deal with suspension trauma and figure out how you are either going to call for help or self-rescue. Hanging there for very long is life threatening.

Once I had my accident, which resulted in a burst fractured vertebra and spinal fusion I got serious about this stuff. Each of my ladder stands has a lifeline with prussic knot to keep me tethered the whole time I'm off the ground.
 
Been hunting out of trees since before anyone knew what a tree stand was. We made all kinds of makeshift things to hunt off of.

Never used harnessing.

Now that I am older my knees won’t let me use hang on’s and sticks. I have an ol man climber that I really like but a ladder stand (20 ft) has become my stand of choice.
There is nothing like bow hunting out of a tree.

But after shoulder surgery and the need of knee surgery, those days are gone.

Don’t be stupid, know your harness and how to use it .... and use it!!

Now my .308 barks and I go pick them up.

Grocery shopping at it’s finest.
 
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I rarely hunt hang on stands anymore. I don't consider myself old, but combine the years I do have with the weight I seem to want to carry now, and climbing the ladder stick to the stand is not desirable.

Most of my hunting, harvesting, grocery shopping... whatever, is done from an elevated box blind or a quad-pod stand. There's still risk, but I think much less than negotiating a seating position at the top of a 20' ladder stick.
 
9outof10mms said:
I lost a friend today due to falling out of a tree stand. I don’t know anything other than it was a direct result from the fall. 50-something years young, wife, three grown kids. Solid leader in our church and at his job working avionics.

I don’t hunt and I don’t know the first thing about tree stands other than they’re high enough to kill you if you fall. It feels like there’s a death or serious injury at least once a year in my 2nd or 3rd degree circles (i.e. the kid that fell here on the forum a couple years ago) related to tree stands.

Please be careful on these damn things. Wear the stupid belt or whatever you’re supposed to wear, regardless of how awkward they are or how un-manly it may seem.

I found this article with some discussion about statstics of hunters notusing safety gear. I’m making the assumption that my friend didn’t use his gear—I likely won’t find out any details for a little while.
https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/big-game-hunting/whitetail-deer/statistics-say-falling-treestand
Click to expand...
This is horrible, and I'm sorry for all involved!

I obviously know nothing about this, I just supposed you went up a few feet and sat on a ledge or something. I had no idea about how far up hunters go in the tree! So I've learned yet another thing here.
Praying for his friends and family.
 
I had a friend who was pulling his rifle up into the tree stand in Union County, South Carolina. Don’t know what happened but his rifle fired and the bullet went thru the wood in the stand and missed him.

Very sad story. Tree stands are very mobile but not very safe.
 
I had given up climbing stands before I reached 30 and concentrated on making portable ground blinds. I found them to be as easy as a climber without the risk. People always use the "portability" factor of climbing stands as justification for using them and I intended the same portability with my ground blinds. I achieved my goals with my third edition, this was long before commercially produced versions were available. Look at today's "pop up" blinds, easy to carry, easy to use and provide many benefits that a climbing stand can't.
Also safer, did I mention SAFER???
 
There are areas that cannot be hunted on the ground... several where I hunt. That's where I use a climbing stand. But I've taken to baiting them to come into the field, where I can choot 'em from 100 yards away. Much safer, and I can arrive late without missing a thing!
 
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