PSA

S.T.Fanatic

5 year old buck +
Just a reminder to stay safe out there and make sure you have a life line while climbing up and down as well as when seated in stands at all times. A guy I know that works for a supplier of ours was in a hunting accident this past weekend. He was climbing up the tree to get into his stand and the top step broke as he was about to step onto his platform. He ended up falling 15 feet and landing on a down tree. Broke some ribs and punctured a lung. He wasn't able to get ahold of anyone and had to walk out and drive himself home. He is lucky to be alive and should recover just fine.

Shit happens! make sure you are thinking about who you might be leaving behind every time you go out to stand.
 
Just a reminder to stay safe out there and make sure you have a life line while climbing up and down as well as when seated in stands at all times. A guy I know that works for a supplier of ours was in a hunting accident this past weekend. He was climbing up the tree to get into his stand and the top step broke as he was about to step onto his platform. He ended up falling 15 feet and landing on a down tree. Broke some ribs and punctured a lung. He wasn't able to get ahold of anyone and had to walk out and drive himself home. He is lucky to be alive and should recover just fine.

Shit happens! make sure you are thinking about who you might be leaving behind every time you go out to stand.
Just had a local guy near me was up in his stand practicing before season. Fell out and had to be helicoptered to the hospital.

Had a friend fall the same way, climbing the ladder and the top of the ladder broke off and he fell and shattered his ankle. We put life lines in every stand now. I bought a bunch of the Muddy life lines and I don't like the prusik knots they put on them. The rope seems way too stiff and it sometimes slides down on it's own. I'm not sure if it will catch if I were to fall or not.
 
I second ST and Pat's words. I took an 18 foot flight in 2015 after the top strap on a lock on stand snapped and trap-doored me (I was not wearing a harness). One moment I was watching a buck walk down towards my buddy and the next I was writhing around on the ground wondering where I was. and why various parts of my anatomy were suddenly hurting alot. My buddy who was 100 yards away thought I had dropped my pack full of stuff until he heard me screaming. I've never seen a big guy scale a steep hill that quickly. Thankfully, I was able to walk away with some bruised ribs (in the shape of the binos that I landed on and snapped in half), a badly sprained ankle and a broken wrist. Now everyone on our place wears a harness all the time.
Overall the experience cost me several thousand dollars and a good deal of pain along with the cost of a good harness that I now wear religiously.
 
I guess I am old school and live dangerously with this but I use Lone Wolf hang on's and screw in tree pegs not tethered to a life line. To each is their own though, I certainly don't think lesser of anyone that does use a harness, it's your choice to make and I respect that.
 
I guess I am old school and live dangerously with this but I use Lone Wolf hang on's and screw in tree pegs not tethered to a life line. To each is their own though, I certainly don't think lesser of anyone that does use a harness, it's your choice to make and I respect that.

I thought you mentioned being a single dad previously? I have hunted the majority of my years without a harness but all of the terrible stories out there have made it obvious that is a mistake. I haven't graduated to lifelines everywhere but I'm always tethered to the tree in stand now. A little rock climbing belt isn't really a nuisance and could prevent serious injury or death.
 
I thought you mentioned being a single dad previously? I have hunted the majority of my years without a harness but all of the terrible stories out there have made it obvious that is a mistake. I haven't graduated to lifelines everywhere but I'm always tethered to the tree in stand now. A little rock climbing belt isn't really a nuisance and could prevent serious injury or death.
Gypsy,

You have any links to the safety gear you're using?

I'm in the same boat at TT at the moment. I've tried a couple harnesses over the years and ultimately decided they were to big of a PIA. I'm certainly open to something simpler though.
 
Gypsy,

You have any links to the safety gear you're using?

I'm in the same boat at TT at the moment. I've tried a couple harnesses over the years and ultimately decided they were to big of a PIA. I'm certainly open to something simpler though.

I bought a tree saddle before the 2020 season to see what the hype was about for mobile hunting situations and now I just use that as my harness in treestands as well. A rock climbing harness would be a lot cheaper and maybe more streamlined. When researching I have found a lot of folks use black diamond rock climbing harnesses like this one: https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/product/alpine-bod-harness/?colorid=5118

Here's a video i found with a quick search:
 
I’ve somewhat ditched my screw in steps, if I use them it’s the first few feet of the climb. I use sticks now. I have some lifelines but after using them last year I find them cumbersome and slow and honestly I don’t like taking a hand off to slide the knot up every couple feet. I do wear a lightweight safety vest and immediately hook in when I’m in the tree and it’s the last thing I take off. I feel naked without being strapped in.
 
I thought you mentioned being a single dad previously? I have hunted the majority of my years without a harness but all of the terrible stories out there have made it obvious that is a mistake. I haven't graduated to lifelines everywhere but I'm always tethered to the tree in stand now. A little rock climbing belt isn't really a nuisance and could prevent serious injury or death.
Yessir, I am a single Dad with Custody. I did have a friend fall on opening day of gun about 15 years ago, the last step into the tree was a dead branch and he broke his back, had no cell service and had to crawl to his truck. I know these kind of things happen but are an exception to the rule and not the rule. Out of everyone I have ever hunted with, or known to hunt he is the only one that fell out of a tree. I hear of 5'ish of these kind of stories every deer season here in NY, maybe more I don't hear about, but there are tens of thousands of hunters so the odds are small and akin to wearing (or not wearing) a helmet when riding a motorcycle. My early years of hunting I didn't have a treestand or pegs, I scaled the tree and stood on icy branches, THAT was dangerous lol

Like I always say, to each is their own and maybe at some point my old age will have me less comfortable on a platform and convince me otherwise but as of now I don't see me jumping into a harness.
 
I am not that old, and I'm about done with climbing up trees. I'm even rethinking the amount of chainsaw work I do alone at my place. I'm in no hurry to ever go to a hospital or big system clinic ever again. Developed some reservations about how all that works the past couple years.

Can't fall out of a ground blind. I have rolled out of one though.
 
I used to totally be in the "never harness crowd" till I fell. My harness takes less than 10 seconds to put on (thanks to quick release clips) and we now put I bolts on our ladder stands to clip onto once you're up.
My harness also has handy pockets for rangefinder, wind direction checkers and hand warmers. Like HOWBOUTTHEMDAWGS I definitely feel naked when I am not wearing (even when sitting in a blind or on the ground) as I just have adapted to a system that includes it.
 
I’ve somewhat ditched my screw in steps, if I use them it’s the first few feet of the climb. I use sticks now. I have some lifelines but after using them last year I find them cumbersome and slow and honestly I don’t like taking a hand off to slide the knot up every couple feet. I do wear a lightweight safety vest and immediately hook in when I’m in the tree and it’s the last thing I take off. I feel naked without being strapped in.
I use climbing sticks almost every time I go up in a tree (when it's not a fixed ladder stand). Why not just use a linesman's belt when ascending and descending? I can't imagine using claiming sticks without one now. It's great having hands free if needed.
 
I use climbing sticks almost every time I go up in a tree (when it's not a fixed ladder stand). Why not just use a linesman's belt when ascending and descending? I can't imagine using claiming sticks without one now. It's great having hands free if needed.
Cause I try to hang my stands in hairy trees, meaning branches for cover. I would have to unclip every branch
 
I am not that old, and I'm about done with climbing up trees. I'm even rethinking the amount of chainsaw work I do alone at my place. I'm in no hurry to ever go to a hospital or big system clinic ever again. Developed some reservations about how all that works the past couple years.

Can't fall out of a ground blind. I have rolled out of one though.
100% ground hunts here now. I'll try to force my kids to as well. Not worth it.
 
100% ground hunts here now. I'll try to force my kids to as well. Not worth it.
I still get a little elevation. Where I built blinds, I took a skid steer and made 2-3' dirt platforms upon which to set them. That gets me up over the vegetation. My land is also as flat as Ariana Grande, so I don't need much elevation.
 
I started with a Seat O the Pants. But last year I bought a vest harness. The vest just keeps everything contained a little better. I wear mine underneath my jacket so there is nothing to get snagged on while climbing.
 

there's a couple stories i've seen recently of stands failing too so it's not always just your balance that gets you.

I never wore a harness prior to 2020 either so I get the desire not to. My step dad and step brother still dont wear a harness but have tied a loop of rope to their trees that they just put around their torso under their shoulders.
 
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I hope anybody not wearing a harness has good paid up disability and long term care insurance if they have family dependent on their income stream.
 
Cause I try to hang my stands in hairy trees, meaning branches for cover. I would have to unclip every branch
I use a dump pouch and a second lineman's belt anytime I have branches. It's tedious, but reassuring that I'm always attached to the tree. With a ropeman you can adjust length with one hand and keep your hand on the steps or tree with the other. Super slick.
 
100% ground hunts here now. I'll try to force my kids to as well. Not worth it.
I ground hunt more and more. Seeing Zach from The Hunting Public have so much success or at the very least still have great encounters has made me a believer. I also think it can help keep your scent cone a little narrower so you're negatively affecting a smaller area each hunt. The safety aspect is definitely there, though.
 
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