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Darwin Award tree stands

HokeyMike

Active Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
117
Post the most unusual ones you run across. A couple on a WMA I hunt
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Times have changed.
30 years ago, we stood on rotten wood stands, or homemade crap stands, Bakers, or sketchy, dead limbs with no safety harnesses.
We used to ride in the back of pick up trucks, or without seat belts, no bicycle helmets, and kids played outside without adult supervision. We played with knives and BB guns. Our tree swings were swinging over cliffs on grape vines.
I'm a proud Darwin survivor.
 
Times have changed.
30 years ago, we stood on rotten wood stands, or homemade crap stands, Bakers, or sketchy, dead limbs with no safety harnesses.
We used to ride in the back of pick up trucks, or without seat belts, no bicycle helmets, and kids played outside without adult supervision. We played with knives and BB guns. Our tree swings were swinging over cliffs on grape vines.
I'm a proud Darwin survivor.
Yep. You're totally right Tom. We not only survived, we thrived. And I'll tell you, I loved every minute of it.

Well... everything except standing in the homemade crap stand...
 
Times have changed.
30 years ago, we stood on rotten wood stands, or homemade crap stands, Bakers, or sketchy, dead limbs with no safety harnesses.
We used to ride in the back of pick up trucks, or without seat belts, no bicycle helmets, and kids played outside without adult supervision. We played with knives and BB guns. Our tree swings were swinging over cliffs on grape vines.
I'm a proud Darwin survivor.

I took a lot of risks too.

Knowing what I know now, it's amazing so many of us are okay.

Part of it is the internet. We now get to see low probability accidents all the time. It can make us too vigilante, or maybe safe enough if you take it the right way.

I was a daredevil until I fell 15 feet out of a tree (in my mid 20s) and landed on my side. I am very lucky I walked away. I landed almost perfectly to prevent injury. I can still remember the force of the impact. It's actually stomach churning how hard your body hits the ground. It knocked the wind out of me so hard that I could not breath at all for a full minute. I was trying to pull in air as hard as I could and I could not even get a sip of breath. I thought I was going to suffocate. I was reaching around and feeling my sides, thinking I had punctured my lungs with a rib or stick.

EDIT: I talked to an avid hunter and first responder last week. He doesn't wear a safety harness because he found someone hanging from one of the old chest stranglers we used to use. The harness killed him by constricting his chest. I told the guy he has to get a new one that is safe. So, even our safety equipment was out to get us back in the day! I told him about rock climbing harnesses and saddles.
 
I took a lot of risks too.

Knowing what I know now, it's amazing so many of us are okay.

Part of it is the internet. We now get to see low probability accidents all the time. It can make us too vigilante, or maybe safe enough if you take it the right way.

I was a daredevil until I fell 15 feet out of a tree (in my mid 20s) and landed on my side. I am very lucky I walked away. I landed almost perfectly to prevent injury. I can still remember the force of the impact. It's actually stomach churning how hard your body hits the ground.
I hear ya. I fell 15 feet once. Walked away without a single scratch.
Talk about a guardian angel!!

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I hear ya. I fell 15 feet once. Walked away without a single scratch.
Talk about a guardian angel!!

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

I bet the impact was still brutal. When I hit, it felt like King Kong had me by the ankles and slammed me into the ground. I'm glad you're okay.
 
I bet the impact was still brutal. When I hit, it felt like King Kong had me by the ankles and slammed me into the ground.
Amazingly, it was not brutal at all!
I was climbing into a wooden observation stand in my yard with loping pruners in my hand. I used to spend evenings in that platform watching my food plots. The top 2x4 step pulled put of the tree and I fell perfectly vertical. Falling was like slow motion. Every thought went through my head as I plummeted to the ground. As I was falling, I assumed that I would be hurt, or paralyzed or impaled by the pruners.
At the base of the tree was a wet spring. The ground was very soft. My feet rammed into the mud half way up my shins and held me from falling over, like my feet were in concrete.
I landed in disbelief that absolutely nothing at all hurt. I expected some sore muscles or something the next day...nope, zero pain...not a scratch. I was serious when I said that I had a guardian angel that day!

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Amazingly, it was not brutal at all!
I was climbing into a wooden observation stand in my yard with loping pruners in my hand. I used to spend evenings in that platform watching my food plots. The top 2x4 step pulled put of the tree and I fell perfectly vertical. Falling was like slow motion. Every thought went through my head as I plummeted to the ground. As I was falling, I assumed that I would be hurt, or paralyzed or impaled by the pruners.
At the base of the tree was a wet spring. The ground was very soft. My feet rammed into the mud half way up my shins and held me from falling over, like my feet were in concrete.
I landed in disbelief that absolutely nothing at all hurt. I expected some sore muscles or something the next day...nope, zero pain. I was serious when I said that I had a guardian angel that day!

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Wow. Reminds me of people that have a parachute not open and they survive.

My SIL's sister was in jump training for the military. The person behind her had their chute not open. He walked away. Amazing.
 
Wow. Reminds me of people that have a parachute not open and they survive.

My SIL's sister was in jump training for the military. The person behind her had their chute not open. He walked away. Amazing.
It happened 30 years ago and it still blows my mind every time I walk past that old stand. It's still hanging in that old cherry tree. I need to take a pic of that death trap.

I truly believe that it was the Hand of God that saved me from serious injury that day.
I didn't own a safety harness until the day after that happened...I have ever since then.
 
I say this only half in jest, but I didn't know or hear anyone that really got hurt doing all those "terrible" things back in the day growing up, so maybe it was the lack of "safety" stuff that made our brains hold on tighter or be more aware of the moment and less prone to mistakes (think Alex Honnold) ? Throw in that most were doing them and the death/injury % was likely less than today, I blame it on the lawyers.
 
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