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Have you had a fall climbing?

Have you had a fall while climbing with anything related to hunting?

  • Yes with saddle. Minimal injury. Ex.. cut, bruise, scrape

    Votes: 29 11.6%
  • Yes with saddle. Major injury. Involved a doctor's visit or more.

    Votes: 4 1.6%
  • No with all means. Everything has gone to plan to far.

    Votes: 132 53.0%
  • Yes with saddle But not even a scratch. Talking free fall for any length of time.

    Votes: 8 3.2%
  • Yes with hang on or climber. Minor injury. Cuts, scrape, bruise.

    Votes: 38 15.3%
  • Yes with hang on or climber. Major injury.

    Votes: 8 3.2%
  • Yes with hang on or climber. But not even a scratch.

    Votes: 27 10.8%
  • Took a fall free climbing a tree.

    Votes: 10 4.0%
  • Fell off my bucket once. Does that count? (Only if sober)

    Votes: 14 5.6%

  • Total voters
    249

MattMan81

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2020
Messages
4,940
Location
The Mitten
With all the safety talk, I think getting a gauge of where statistics are at this time could be helpful. Maybe more guys have had a fall then are saying. You can vote multiple times if you have had more than one fall. Feel free to give a note as to why, and what you could have done differently.
 
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Had some puckered moments testing climbing methods but nothing to speak of saddle hunting. Had a lock on drop out from underneath me (squirrel chewed new strap) it was a 2ish foot fall from a hss harness, scraped up & threw my back out. Was able to self recover & limp out of the woods & never made that mistake again!
 
Had a near fall once. Sat in a hanger that had been in the tree for a couple years, started to stand up to readjust and get comfortable and one of the cables on the platform pulled out of the cable clamp. I was able to stay hanging on with the seat and climb down, walked back to the shop to get a new clamp and finished out the hunt with no issues.
 
I slide about 20' down a poplar with an old Baker. I was facing the tree, feet locked in the stand ready to come down when the stand let go. Grabbed the tree in a bear hug and it was like hugging a belt sander. Melted my brand new treebark fleece jacket but otherwise just some minor burns and abrasions. Those were the days before safety gear so extremely fortunate.
 
This just happened the other day, testing out a ROS before I started working for the day. Up until this point I've used a platform and I wanted to test them out the evening before, but the wife convinced me to just relax indoors since we just moved and have been unpacking, cleaning, and moving stuff for days. I set the ring of steps about 2 feet off the ground, set my tether and clipped in. While walking around the tree testing them out, the OCB buckle came undone and then fell to the ground. I didn't fall as much as I swung into the tree since my tether was under tension. But I was left dangling there 2 feet off the ground. I tried calling my kids on there phones, but of course neither answered. My dog just stood there watching me as I undid the waist belt and tried to slide out of the saddle. I eventually was able to get out, I'm just glad the only witness was my dog and that it was at ground level instead of 15+ feet up a tree!
 
This just happened the other day, testing out a ROS before I started working for the day. Up until this point I've used a platform and I wanted to test them out the evening before, but the wife convinced me to just relax indoors since we just moved and have been unpacking, cleaning, and moving stuff for days. I set the ring of steps about 2 feet off the ground, set my tether and clipped in. While walking around the tree testing them out, the OCB buckle came undone and then fell to the ground. I didn't fall as much as I swung into the tree since my tether was under tension. But I was left dangling there 2 feet off the ground. I tried calling my kids on there phones, but of course neither answered. My dog just stood there watching me as I undid the waist belt and tried to slide out of the saddle. I eventually was able to get out, I'm just glad the only witness was my dog and that it was at ground level instead of 15+ feet up a tree!
What kind of kids do you have, neither had their phones?
 
This just happened the other day, testing out a ROS before I started working for the day. Up until this point I've used a platform and I wanted to test them out the evening before, but the wife convinced me to just relax indoors since we just moved and have been unpacking, cleaning, and moving stuff for days. I set the ring of steps about 2 feet off the ground, set my tether and clipped in. While walking around the tree testing them out, the OCB buckle came undone and then fell to the ground. I didn't fall as much as I swung into the tree since my tether was under tension. But I was left dangling there 2 feet off the ground. I tried calling my kids on there phones, but of course neither answered. My dog just stood there watching me as I undid the waist belt and tried to slide out of the saddle. I eventually was able to get out, I'm just glad the only witness was my dog and that it was at ground level instead of 15+ feet up a tree!

glad that wasn’t worse! Can you talk about how the cam buckle came undone or at least your best guess if you don’t know for sure?

I was actually messing with mine yesterday and accidentally un-cammed the buckle right into my thumb while I was setting it up. Son of a.
 
glad that wasn’t worse! Can you talk about how the cam buckle came undone or at least your best guess if you don’t know for sure?

I was actually messing with mine yesterday and accidentally un-cammed the buckle right into my thumb while I was setting it up. Son of a.

So I think one of the steps was too close to the buckle, and as I was moving around my foot hit it and un-cammed it. Either that, or I didn't have it cammed down good enough to begin with. But that's why we practice on the ground first, right?
 
So I think one of the steps was too close to the buckle, and as I was moving around my foot hit it and un-cammed it. Either that, or I didn't have it cammed down good enough to begin with. But that's why we practice on the ground first, right?

exactly!! And that is precisely how I un-cammed into my thumb. My step was too close and wouldn’t allow a full cam over so I tried to move the step and the cam snapped back into my thumb with surprising force.

I am still unpracticed with the ROS so that is a great lesson learned. Thank you for sharing that!
 
I give an extra wrap with the strap over the buckle to help hold it in place & you can tuck the slack on the backside, it’s not perfect but you have to do something with the tag anyway
 
Hey @MattMan81, You missed a category for us old guys who were hunting elevated before tree stands were a common thing. I've fallen out of more trees while hunting than I care to think about. :tearsofjoy: Luckily no serious injuries, just lumps and bruises.

I will say I can't recall ever falling from an actual tree stand though. Had some close calls but no actual falls. Probably a good thing since I never wore a safety harness in those days. :screamcat:
 
Typical climber slip on a shag bark hickory. Also, put my climber (top) above my head once I unlocked it so I could step into it easy and once I stepped on the platform the upper popped and thumped my dome piece.
 
A number of close calls, but never a full fall. Prior to moving to a saddle, I was only ever connected to the tree after reaching hunting height. I can also think of a number of near disasters installing hang-ons.
 
Hey @MattMan81, You missed a category for us old guys who were hunting elevated before tree stands were a common thing. I've fallen out of more trees while hunting than I care to think about. :tearsofjoy: Luckily no serious injuries, just lumps and bruises.

I will say I can't recall ever falling from an actual tree stand though. Had some close calls but no actual falls. Probably a good thing since I never wore a safety harness in those days. :screamcat:
Okay. I added the free climb option. Also an option for those bucket hunters.
 
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