Patriot38
Well-Known Member
As a second season saddle hunter I'm always learning. This past weekend on opening day I almost had a scary accident.
I was all set up, I had been in my tree for about 2 hours an everything was going really well. I noticed the top standoff of my predator platform wasnt hitting the tree but the platform was still really solid and didnt bother me. I decided to attempt a "toe hook" to set my platform a little better. So I put all my weight into the tether/saddle and lifted the platform up with my foot so I could stand on the post and sink the teeth deeper into the tree. When I lifted the platform the rope obviosly got loose and the entire platform slid about a foot down the tree. I was literally hanging from my tether without anything to step on. My ropeman was under 100% load with my body weight. I had no way to take slack off in order to lengthen my tether and drop down to my platform. I was EXTREMELY lucky because the platform snagged my top WE stepp. I was able to barely, and I mean barely get the tip of my boot on the step and get enough slack in my tether to drop down and fix the problem.
If I didnt have a step there or the gap from my top step to the platform was an inch greater I would have been stuck dangling from a tree. It all happened so fast and I'm so thankful that it didnt end up worse. I'm sure I would have figured out a way to get loose but it was scary.
I've never read about this scenario anywhere so I wanted to admit I was a noob and did something stupid. I want others to learn from this.
My biggest learning lesson from the sit was always place a step,climbing stick,bolt...etc close enough to your platform to be able to step onto in case of any platform failure.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
I was all set up, I had been in my tree for about 2 hours an everything was going really well. I noticed the top standoff of my predator platform wasnt hitting the tree but the platform was still really solid and didnt bother me. I decided to attempt a "toe hook" to set my platform a little better. So I put all my weight into the tether/saddle and lifted the platform up with my foot so I could stand on the post and sink the teeth deeper into the tree. When I lifted the platform the rope obviosly got loose and the entire platform slid about a foot down the tree. I was literally hanging from my tether without anything to step on. My ropeman was under 100% load with my body weight. I had no way to take slack off in order to lengthen my tether and drop down to my platform. I was EXTREMELY lucky because the platform snagged my top WE stepp. I was able to barely, and I mean barely get the tip of my boot on the step and get enough slack in my tether to drop down and fix the problem.
If I didnt have a step there or the gap from my top step to the platform was an inch greater I would have been stuck dangling from a tree. It all happened so fast and I'm so thankful that it didnt end up worse. I'm sure I would have figured out a way to get loose but it was scary.
I've never read about this scenario anywhere so I wanted to admit I was a noob and did something stupid. I want others to learn from this.
My biggest learning lesson from the sit was always place a step,climbing stick,bolt...etc close enough to your platform to be able to step onto in case of any platform failure.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.