Falls

[David Kretschmar]

I am new to saddle hunting, so new that I don’t have a setup yet! Hope to hunt a lot from a saddle this fall though.

I keep hearing that hunting from a saddle is very safe, and falls are rare. Comfort, safety and mobility are what are drawing me to this way of hunting. My question is, have you fallen , or do you know of someone that has fallen while using a saddle, and if so, what was the cause. I’m trying to learn here and trying to minimize mistakes in the process. (I have fallen while hanging a hangon stand and would rather not go through that experience again.)

Thanks,
David

 

[cspot]

I have not fallen from a treestand or a saddle in 30 plus years of hunting. Granted I was lucky for a while as back in the days there really wasn't safety equipment. My opinion if you use some common sense and follow good safety practices then it is extremely safe. Most accidents are caused by taking shortcuts, not using equipment properly or the proper equipment, or using equipment that is damaged.

 

[Nutterbuster]

The one guy I personally know who fell from a saddle fell as a result of an improperly retired bridge knot.

 

[gameflogger]

I am new to saddle hunting, so new that I don’t have a setup yet! Hope to hunt a lot from a saddle this fall though.

I keep hearing that hunting from a saddle is very safe, and falls are rare. Comfort, safety and mobility are what are drawing me to this way of hunting. My question is, have you fallen , or do you know of someone that has fallen while using a saddle, and if so, what was the cause. I’m trying to learn here and trying to minimize mistakes in the process. (I have fallen while hanging a hangon stand and would rather not go through that experience again.)

Thanks,
David

David,
Hunting from a saddle is much safer than hunting from a lock on type tree stand, as most falls occur when stepping from the ladder to the stand or leaving the stand and getting back on to the ladder. Also because you are always wearing your safety harness, you are much more likely to use your linesman belt which rarely gets used in most cases with a fall arrest harness during ascending and descending the tree. As previously mentioned common sense goes a long way as well, but unless you are confident with your harness, rope, and sewing knowledge, DIY projects add more risk to the equation especially if corners are cut.

 

[Blacksmith]

I never really felt safe on a stand w/a harness and tether behind my back. I always wanted a strap or something you could lean against rather than a harness that saved you when you fell, ,Walla , the saddle. Always tethered to the tree and leaning against your harness instead of it being loose behind you. I for one will never go back..

 

[Swingin' Free]

Closest to a fall that I had was when walking around the tree on a ROS to get a shot on a doe. My heel bumped a *improperly* set OCB and the floor dropped out from under me. Only fell about 2"-3", I was able to grab my SRT kit and went down to retrieve the ROS. I should have brought my shotgun down, spooked her climbing back up.
Learned that day to really check my setup. If it doesn't look right, fix it.

 

[neonomad]

I could be wrong but I happen to be of the opinion that saddle hunting is no safer. I’ve always felt very safe in a climber and to take a full fall in a climber or a hang on two things need to fail, first the stand or sticks, and then your fall arrest. Saddle orientation / position to the tree is arguably more stable, but in a saddle you typically have only one thing that needs to fail, a rope or connection, to head all the way to the ground. I’m also plenty cautious when climbing sticks, because even with a lineman’s I’m not interested in experiencing a stick into my sternum or the inside of my thigh. For these reasons I use an RC harness along with the JX3 and feed a tether above me as I climb, in addition to the lineman’s. It’s not difficult. The closest I’ve come to a fall was about a month and a half ago.... I was quickly setting a hang on for someone else and realized on the way down that on one Lone Wolf stick I had not fully secured the cam strap around the versa button. It didn’t give out but it was hanging by a thread and it could have. I typically stare at each versa for a few seconds before advancing but on that day I was in a hurry, lesson learned. Here in the off-season is a great time to contemplate this stuff and work safety tweaks into your system so they can be executed efficiently 9 months from now. There are some other really good safety threads from the forum.

 

[Wirrex]

I have had a few gaff outs using spurs but nothing else. The first one really shook me up. Now when a gaff slips (rare) I almost take it in stride.

 

[sureshotscott]

The one guy I personally know who fell from a saddle fell as a result of an improperly retired bridge knot.

retired or retied? Easy mis-spell or deliberate knot-tying practice? My money is on retired...

OP the "hunting" part of saddlehunting is WAY safer IMO than any other kind of elevated hunting. You're tied in with quality gear, unlike many treestand/ladderstand scenarios where guys aren't tied in or are standing on stuff made in china 10 years ago. The climbing part of saddlehunting is where most of the risk is. You can read here or review stuff on youtube to assess how you want to approach that.

 

[bigjoe]

I would tell you the only way I will get into a tree is by using a saddle. I fell about 15’ approximately 5 years ago. This was from a regular harness.

It was my own fault for not double checking to make sure my caribeners on my linesman was all the way through the loops. They were not, 1 was clipped to the loop and not through it. Needless to say it came off and BigJoe went down. I broke 3 ribs. I looked over and there a tree stump about 3” from my face.

It took me a few years to get my nerve up to hunt from a tree again. When I did get my nerve up, I switched to saddle hunting. The gents here in saddle hunter encouraged me and I have been swing since. Trust me, I was scared Sh..Le... the firs time I got over 10’.

Slow and steady wins

 

[Nutterbuster]

retired or retied? Easy mis-spell or deliberate knot-tying practice? My money is on retired

Yep. He failed to retire his bridge after the 5th season per the manufacturer's recommendation. Completely blew apart opening day of season 6.

 

[David Kretschmar]

Thanks everyone, you’ve pretty much affirmed what I thought, that most falls come from human error like rushing or using improper equipment.
None of you have said anything that will deter me from saddle hunting this fall, in fact I can’t wait to try it.

Thanks again,
David

 

[robstewart]

Thanks everyone, you’ve pretty much affirmed what I thought, that most falls come from human error like rushing or using improper equipment.
None of you have said anything that will deter me from saddle hunting this fall, in fact I can’t wait to try it.

Thanks again,
David

I make it a goal to always have two points of contact and if possible keep 1 under tension. I don’t like climbing sticks with a lineman for that reason. Similarly I feel it’s safer to rappel down. Everyone needs to evaluate their own comfort level though.


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