Tree Stand Falls....Are You or I Next - Added a Lifeline

[Bowwild]

Yesterday, while I was in a staff meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana at 3:30pm, my best friend of 40 years, was lying on the ground about 80 miles away.

At around 3:PM he and another friend, from Kansas went in the woods together. Jim, my Indiana friend, went to a stand he had not hunted in about 2 years. He tied his bow to the haul line and climbed up. As he stepped into the hang-on stand the stand's strap broke and he fell 20' to the ground, landing on his back. The stand fell on top of his upper body.

Jim laid there for 4 hours until the edge of dark. His pelvis was broken in the fall and his clavicle was broken when the stand landed on him.

Jim is 70 years old and as a carpenter has been on very high ladders for nearly 50 years.  If any of you shot the traditional class at big IBO shoots in the early 1980's you probably ran into Jim. He was world champ at least one year.

He is undergoing surgery to repair the pelvis as I write this.

In 2014 there were 180 hunting accidents reported in Indiana.  Of those, 100 were due to falls from tree stands. Most, like my friend Jim were not wearing restraints.

I started wearing harnesses about 15 years ago, after surviving 31 years without using any more than a waist belt. I haven't been very diligent about using life lines so I stay tied climbing and descending, although I have three of these.  

I'm going to start.

[Shadowhnter]

Horrible news. My prayers are with him.

[J. Cook]

Scary stuff - prayers headed his way for sure. I hope he has a full recovery.  

The key phrase was that was a nylon strapped stand that had been in a tree for at least 2 years.  Most of the falls occur because stands are not maintained.  Trees continue to grow, and nylon degrades over time.

I fell out of a Loggy Bayou when it slipped while I was in college.  Thank God I was in very good shape as I somehow walked away unharmed.  My dad tore his bicep off when that same stand cut out from under him while climbing.  Yep - snapped his bicep loose at the elbow.  

Be careful out there - please don't use any loc-on style stands that have been in a tree for more than a year.  Re-set that stand and buy a new strap for it before you do.

[BradLantz]

tree stand accidents are not often falling out of your stand ... its getting in and out an into the stands

hope he recovers well, its a fear of mine as I get older

[Michael Arnette]

Praying for Jim now! As serious as the injuries are I'm very glad it wasn't more serious

[DWT]

I personally have fallen twice,(slow learner) once in a skidder rut full of stagnant swamp water and did not get hurt, the other in a rock pile under the tree that the farmer had piled up,broke 3 ribs,bruised my lungs and a kidney, broke all my arrows, and the lower limb on my bighorn bow, those ribs hurt for two years. I dont wear a harness in ladder stands but any other type  I definately do.

 Hope your friend pulls through allright.

[suburbanirma]

Roy, like you, I didn't utilize a fall restraint while climbing to my stand or hanging it. Last year in the Big Horns of Wyoming, I fell hauling a  stand to hang on the tree. Gashed my forehead, was stunned and hurt my lower leg a bunch. Took a couple of hours to get down the mountain crawling over deadfalls and boulders. It took nearly a year to recover so walking didn't hurt much. I haven't hung a stand yet this year, but will use a lineman's harness when I do, and then hook up with the safety vest fall restraint. Hope your friend mends up OK.

[Bowwild]

Thanks for the thoughts. I know this isn't the "Prayer" forum and I made sure the title and content I wrote didn't go that direction.

I put this here to once again, as so many remind us every season, we  need to protect ourselves from what seems an impossible event.

[Mike Bolin]

Prayers sent for Jim. I wear my harness every time and have gone strictly to ladderstands. Even though the ladders are safer, welds, straps and ratchet and bolts and pins can fail. Hunt hard, hunt safe!

[Bowwild]

Out of surgery. Heart did fine. He got 7 screws in pelvis. Will be in wheelchair 8-10 weeks. This season is over. Ligaments and clavicle are expected to heal.

I'll be packing up a bunch of my hunting DVDs to keep him occupied.

A magazine survey years ago found that 1/3 of bowhunters will eventually fall from a tree stand. 10% of those will be killed or permanently damaged.

Let that 1/3 be the squirrels instead of us.

[Dan Landis]

Prayers for Jim also.  13 years ago I fell  into a few blowdowns, fractured two vertebrae and fractured my pelvis in two places.  I was attached to the tree, but could not reach my steps so I unclipped, as I reached for the steps the strap slipped and dumped me out backwards into the blowdowns.  This happened the 10th of January, the last day of our deer season that year.  The temp was below zero.  

Moral of the story - make sure you use good straps and a good life line.

[Roy from Pa]

I fell out too, had a safety belt around my waist. I fell 3 feet and the belt saved my life as I was up 25 feet. But I got a broken rib and lost the rest of the season. Ever since then it's been a full body harness and the climbing rope system for me.

[dnovo]

So sorry to hear about this. I'm glad he pulled thru surgery and wasn't killed or paralyzed.
I must say the sentence that caught my attention was getting in a stand that hadn't been hunted in 2 years and had a strap. I would never think of getting in a stand like that. Most of mine have chains but more important, they come out of the woods every year after season and get inspected

[Warden609]

Prayers sent!!

Had a buddy fall last year while hunting with his wife. She was hunting within eyesight of his stand in a climber. He stepped onto a lock-on style stand and both cables broke. He fell 18 feet and somehow just barely missed a stump. His wife got so upset she started crying and panicked in the climbing stand. Not being very experienced in the climber she just set there crying. My buddy came to his senses and told her to calm down. Unbelievabley he stood up and helped her down. They decided to hunt a ground blind the rest of the afternoon and went to a doctor the following day. He ended up with a cracked rib and should have bought a lottery ticket. This guy is in his late thirties and in phenomenal physical shape.  The doctor said this probably helped him when he fell. I just think he was lucky.

This incident caused me to replace all cables and straps on my stands before this season.  Please hunt safe this year!!

[bowfanatik]

Bad news , I'm sorry for your friend.
Check , triple check when you go high . After 2 years , well ...he is live and not paralyzed

[LittleBen]

I'm 30 and I wouldnt dare climb into a stand without hooking up to a lifeline. I hope Jim recovers physically but I doubt that he will ever get over the experience.

[Pine]

That's why I say on the ground .

[abbatoys]

I am hunting more from the ground than ever. I even sold my newest trestand...

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

first of all I hope your friend recovers.

I personally never ever step on to a platform stand with out being connected to a strap above the stand fastened to the tree. I also never go up a tree with a safety line all the way up from the ground, Never ever.

[jono446]

I just heard of a buddy's dad that I've shot a couple 3D shoots with fell out of a tree stand and broke a vertebrae in his back and messed his ankle up pretty bad. I'm afraid of heights and wear a harness all the time. I'm also always aware of where the edges of the stand are because I'm constantly worried about stepping off the side of it. Be safe everyone