falls??

[mrbb]

OK I know this might be a off subject,
but how many folks here have ever fallin out of a tree stand
I know over my yrs of hunting, back when we used to build tree stands out of other tree's, and I was very young and didn't know any better, and there really wasn't any comercial tree stand on the market, or I never heard or seen any!
I maybe fell out of about dozen or more, mostly while building them, rather than hunting out of them
its been a good 20+ yrs now since the last fall(and hope no more too)
But with so many folks now a days using treestands, I was just wondering how many on this site have had a fall?

[Whitetail Freak]

I fell back in 2001 from 18 ft i got lucky god was with me that day and i landedn bounced ya iam a little over weight lol but nothing serious bruses nothin broken i left the woods and went to a sporting good store n bought a harness or belt system i dont remember which it was but i have worn one ever sense

[nomad_archer]

No falls for me. I always have a harness on and am tied in from the moment I leave the ground. The closest I've come was when descending in my climber the foot portion of the climber didnt bite as well as I thought and I had a little six inch slide. Not enough to for my harness to catch and I caught myself on my forearms on the summit climber rail. I took a minute to make sure everything was good and continued on down the tree. But six inches of free fall is still enough to make you need a change of underwear.

[buckstalker17]

I've only had one i feel a sleep in a hang on stand and toppled over my harness caught me but I did take a couple of my climbing steps to the ribs but luckily all I had to do was get back on the steps and climb back in. That's why I'm more into hang on stands now days than climbers.

[mrbb]

No falls for me. I always have a harness on and am tied in from the moment I leave the ground. The closest I've come was when descending in my climber the foot portion of the climber didnt bite as well as I thought and I had a little six inch slide. Not enough to for my harness to catch and I caught myself on my forearms on the summit climber rail. I took a minute to make sure everything was good and continued on down the tree. But six inches of free fall is still enough to make you need a change of underwear.


HAHA I have done that with a climber yrs ago, an old Baker climber, didn't ever grab all that well and while going up a smooth bark tree about 8 ft up the bottom lost grip on the tree and did a very fast decent, dragging my forearms and face down the side of the tree, then the dam thing caught and stoped at about a ft off the ground(guess the taper of the tree caused it to grab), and I had my feet in straps, so when it stopped I tipped over the sides a ft off the frong and almost broke both ankles, as mine don't like to bend 90 degree;s to the side above me LOL
minus some cuts and scrapes, no broken bones
gut lucky, But even after that I didn't know of any harness's on the market, and no one was using one to climb with
close calls, us old timer's I think maybe had more of, just due to lack of information, and well the quality of things wasn't up to todays spec's
all the fall's I had, were a little on the comical side looking back now, , since no major injuries
well I once fell helping a person build a stand, they had all the ssteps nailed on, or so I thought, but wasn't comfortable on the higher one's
so I climbed up to help finish, and the l;ast step he nailed on, he only had one nail on each side, and it came off as I was hammering on the platform, standing on his last step
and fell, and landed on him, Broke his arm, too, I didn't get a scratch
told him it was his fault, and back then being young and dumbm, we laughed it off
but was surely lucky over the yrs
and maybe why I am mostly a ladderstand guy now a days, not that they cannot fail, but feel there are less risky, as I tend to bo9lt them to the tree and together, as to say a climber and a loc's on with more worries of attachment safety issue's to worrry of a failure

[nomad_archer]

I like ladder stands I still dont like hang on especially the part about hanging them and the steps. Plus climbing those little bitty climbing steps/ladders and transitioning into the stand. I'll take my climber over that any day.

[mrbb]

well I'm OK with loc on's to a point, and I simply found that when ever I want to use one, I take a 24 ft ladder to hang them, , ratchet strap the ladder to the tree, and it makes for a rock solid stand set up, plus it gives me a chance to see the view before all the work of steps and hanging a stand
I do this with every set up I do anymore
I can take the laddre almost any place I can get my atv to, so its been the prefer method for me for last 10 yrs of installing all my stands here in PA
feels a lot safer too, than a linemans harness or vest , for hanging stand, still tie off on the ladder, but better than just the one

[nomad_archer]

Hunting public doenst afford me the ability to get an extension ladder in and out but I know your hunting circumstances are different. The only thing I would tweek with your set up is to tie off to the ladder and the tree.

[mrbb]

I do tie off when up the ladder, and I ratchet strap the ladder to the tree before I climb it LOL
I used to carry a ladder in on public lands in PA
up on game lands in SUllivan Co,
used to use loc's on and then leave the first 2 climbing sticks off, so they didn't grow legs and walk away when I wasn;t there
was more work for sure, but not too bad
would ratchet strap the stand the climbing sticks and all to the ladder, and then me and a buddy would walk the ladder in, and hang our stands
used just a 14 ft ladder, to get stands up about 15 ft then
ladder was very light empty, so the way out was always more fun than going in LOL

but being able to use a ATV is the way to go for sure!

[nomad_archer]

for ladder stands on public land I like to use a deer cart. Im actually gonig to put up a ladder this year for the first time in a spot since there are no suitable trees where I want to be.

[mrbb]

just a heads up, we at my northern camp used to use ladderstand,s and well, just leave them then yr to yr, over the yrs, the stae game wardens started taking them on us
as they tell us its illegal to leave out all yr on game lands?
we worried mroe about people stealing them and turns out its the game wardens LOl

so started doing these loc's on
as theer just more work for anyone to take the way we set them up
we do take down every season too now, but less work than pulling a ladderstand for use

[nomad_archer]

As of a few years ago leaving a stand up after the season on public lands is not illegal in PA. I think it is after february? Stands can go up a month before season and must be removed a by a month after the season if I remember correctly. Now the end of deer season applies to the latest deer season in the state with is well into January.

[Mightymet]

I have not fallen out of a stand but I gotta tell ya putting them up and especially taking them down can be a bit sketchy. I'm not bothered by heights so I love a nice tall stand. I have three 21 foot ladder stands. When we put them up it wasn't to bad. We used three people and one guy held the ropes while the other guy held the ladder. I climbed up and hooked up the ratchet straps. We recently moved one of these stands and I gotta tell ya I wasn't to excited about it. We left the stabilizer bar on and they held the ladder while I climbed up. When I let the second strap go I Haden's thought of the tree growing and adding pressure to the strap. Needless to say it sprung the stand out from the tree from the tension an scared the bejesus out of me. My but hole was so tight you couldn't drive a pin up there with a jackhammer! With this knowledge I now will be undoing the straps on all the stands and re strapping them so the tree can grow an not get damaged. I know most people leave there stands up all year and I wonder how many actually check the condition of the straps. I noticed some uv damage on the straps themselves. I think I will be changing them out for next year. I do wear a tree spider harness while hunting. I get pretty excited when I actually see a deer and can see myself stepping right off it.


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[00buck]

i have fallen out of a stand 25 ft and only broke ribs thank god i now wear a harness and a use a life line just remember harness's have an expiration date just like food, before you go out this season look as it might be time to replace them oh and the fall was from a hang on that had snow on it hurt like hell

[zachc]

Knock on wood no falls here either. I have almost made a big mistake, when the tree climbers really started getting big I was using my buddies. When I got up in the tree I realized that the seat part was sloped down way to much, so what did I do, took the wing nut off and try to fix it way up in the tree. And of course I dropped the wing nut to the ground. Luckily I was able to hold it just tight enough to be able to climb down, but wow what a close call.

[mrbb]

On ladderstand, I used to always loosen the top straps in the off season to allow the tree to grow
in high risk locations to them growing legs, I made metal brackets I lag bot to the tree , and also use them as a back up to if a strap ever fails, done this on loc on stands too!

[Mightymet]

On ladderstand, I used to always loosen the top straps in the off season to allow the tree to grow
in high risk locations to them growing legs, I made metal brackets I lag bot to the tree , and also use them as a back up to if a strap ever fails, done this on loc on stands too!

Good thinking

[ManOfTheFall]

The only time I ever fell if you can call it that is I was climbing up the tree steps and about 4 feet up my foot slipped off the step and I kind of jumped back away from the tree and landed on my feet. I have been in some othere sticky situations while hanging some stands but was always able to work my way out of them. I have now transitioned to nearly all ladder stands and I love them. They are definitely alot safer.

[Griz]

no falls yet! (let me knock on some wood). i've been lucky, but my son ( married, two kids) fell a few years ago. He was hanging a lock on. Just got 3/4 of the stick strapped to the tree. He stepped up to sinch the last strap and stepped on a stubby limb, he thought it was the stick. It broke and went down catching just above the knee a step about 4 feet off the ground turning him upside down, but luckly stopping him from hitting the ground. It ripped the jeans up to his crouch. A few scrapes and bruises, but he was OK. I had been hounding him to wear a harness but he wouldn't. I even bought him one. He said that he likes going in as lite as he can. So the old man couldn't convince him, but the fall did !
He now where's one, even when he's hanging stands. The linemans rope will give you both hands to work with, it makes it more easy and safer.
Good subject mrbb!