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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
Buddy of mine is still recovering from a broken strap on a hang on two years ago. Broken hip.
Most the recovery for him now is 'getting back on the horse' though he's probably only 75% of what he once was physically.
I know this is an old quote, but a relevant statistic:

If you're over 50, your chance of dying within 12 months of breaking your hip is 30%, that number only increases with age.
 
I've swung Into the tree a couple times, no injuries but my pride.

Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk
 
I was about 20 feet up once and tried to toe hook my predator to get it tighter. It ended up coming lose and falling down below where my feet were. I was left hanging from my tether and just barely was able to get my toe onto my top WE step. If my top step was any lower it would have been a dicy situation.

Lesson learned...ALWAYS have a backup plan if the step you are on drops out from under you. Its something I never read or thought about. Now I never set my predator more than 6-8 inches from my top step.

Even if you don't plan on climbing 2TC, this climbing method will absolutely get you out of a situation like this.

Using your scenario, swinging from the tether. Take your linemans belt and girth hitch it to the tree about waist height. With the tag end, tie a bowline and you've now created a foot loop. At that point, you can use the foot loop as a step to take pressure off the tether which will allow you to inch worm down the trunk until you reach the ground or your next set stick.
 
I fell off a bad leaning tree on my recent trip in Kentucky. Lucky I was but a few feet from the ground and had my rappel rope/tether hooked up. Had no backup just using the safeguard. Had maybe a foot of slack in the line. The only thing that sucked was swinging and slamming back into the tree. I keep a single Cranford step in my pack for emergency. Though this time I just rappelled back to earth. Had I been using my tether it would have been way more difficult. I was far enough from the tree due to its lean that I would have had to probably try and throw my linemen belt around to pull my self back or swing and grab it.
Honest question. How many of you guys carry something to recover from a fall ? I keep a spare oplux tether and that folding cranford just for emergency use.
 
I fell off a bad leaning tree on my recent trip in Kentucky. Lucky I was but a few feet from the ground and had my rappel rope/tether hooked up. Had no backup just using the safeguard. Had maybe a foot of slack in the line. The only thing that sucked was swinging and slamming back into the tree. I keep a single Cranford step in my pack for emergency. Though this time I just rappelled back to earth. Had I been using my tether it would have been way more difficult. I was far enough from the tree due to its lean that I would have had to probably try and throw my linemen belt around to pull my self back or swing and grab it.
Honest question. How many of you guys carry something to recover from a fall ? I keep a spare oplux tether and that folding cranford just for emergency use.
I make sure now I have 2 tethers in my pouch. Plus my rappel rope and lineman's. If I have to I can 2t my self out of a jam if needed.
 
I make sure now I have 2 tethers in my pouch. Plus my rappel rope and lineman's. If I have to I can 2t my self out of a jam if needed.
I keep two spare carabiners and a Prussic cord for the unknown as well. I figured in a bind I can quick throw a prussic on and use it as a adjustable foot loop.
 
Not a fall per se but when I first got the life guard I was trying it outat ground level then got braver around 6 to 8ft when the wife asks how fast can you come down. Of course I dunno let's see. Well I pulled the handle started going faster than I liked. Reaction was to pull tighter made me go even more. Burnt the skin off my other hand. Caught myself when I let go to "break my fall" with my hands and it caught me about 4 inches from my butt hitting the ground. Lesson learned....dont listen to the wife lol
 
First time using my summit climber I forgot to attach the strap from bottom to the top before climbing. When I reached about 20' up and slipped my feet out of the plastic stirrups the bottom decided to leave me hanging from my armpits as it dropped to the bottom of the tree. Scared the crap out of me and luckily I was young and strong enough to shimmy down with the upper but would never be able to do that today haha.
 
I used to hunt with a bow club back in the day and they had a bad alcoholic in the club. One day he headed out to his stand and didn't come back in at his normal time. They found him hanging from his harness. He was too out of shape to pull himself back up.

A few lessons learned here. 1. Don't drink and climb / drink and hunt, you would think this is common sense but I see it every year. 2. Make sure someone knows where you are hunting.
 
Bump. Making sure everyone had a safe season.
Didn't fall while out hunting but I had the toe of my boot slip off the tree from my aider twice. Wasn't bad. The aider held me like a foot loop and the linesman kept me from going back. Just a good ol' pucker moment. Rubber rand boots and wet tree's don't mix well
 
I had a good pucker moment one of my first saddle hunts using a Ropeman. My tether was way too high and when I went to pull the release to get more slack I didn't realize I still had slight tension into my tether and when it gave I went falling back before I could grab the tree. Thank God for stopper knots! sheesh
 
Never had a full on fall yet. Had a couple slip and pucker moments. I will say though ever since I’ve hunted Ive gone full on safety. When I hunted out of a treestand I used a lifeline so I was always tetherd in. When I used a climber i climbed with a tether and the top and bottom always tied together. Now saddle hunting I always use a lineman’s belt. I’ve even considered climbing with a Tethrd and or tether and a belt this coming year.

In my line of work they always have safety meetings. It’s almost always simple stuff that got people hurt. Pride and ego need to go out of the window. That what gets more people hurt. “I’ve climb for 30 years” and think that means you can ignore basic safety. This message always goes to myself though as I’m confident in my climbing but it can’t happen to anyone.
 
Had an amsteel daisy chain snap on my first stick and rode the tree down with the linesman belt. Leg straps got me pretty good in the family jewels.
 
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