Well I can't say I am happy to be sharing this, but if the post helps someone, its worth it. And no, I was not in saddle (would't be writing this story if I had been in my saddle). If you don't wanna read the fluff, cut to the **marked paragraph for the meat of the matter.
The season here in Maine is coming to an end this Saturday. I have been pushing hard over the last few weeks working to seal the deal, no luck as of today. I told myself it would be a bow or nothing this year, and I like to think I am stubborn enough to make good on it. One of my hunting partners that got his 4th deer for the season last night suggested I hunt a piece he was having good luck with, even sent me an OnX pin for a location he recommended. We discussed details a little further last night and the plan sounded good.
Worked my night shift last night 6p to 6a, then got a call from a tenant at my rental that there was a problem with the propane. Got the kiddo to school, struck out for the renal property, and 4 hours later at 11am we had replaced a faulty regulator valve on the propane tank and leak checked all appliances. This was never part of the plan, but such is life. Got home, went to grab a nap (working again at 6pm for another night shift), set my alarm for 1pm to get up and be in the woods to hunt at 2pm. As I was driving to the stand location I found myself thinking that I know better than to try and pull two night shifts, no sleep, and then go climb around in the trees. My gear was still damp from hunting the rain the day before, and I was using a back up bow release because my regular release smelled like I pulled it out of a gut pile. If this had been a friend or one of my hunting partners and not me, I would have told them to take a day off and hit it hard and refreshed the next day. "Do your laundry, wash your gear, dry it properly, and have a beer. Save it for the next day."
I knew the target hunting area well enough to know its all bushy pasture pines and low brush. Terrible area to try and climb without scouting first (at least for my skill level with single stick and saddle), and so, as much as I didn't want to, I accepted the fact that with limited time and no time to trim shooting lanes, I would hunt my partners hang on, which he had been in the night before and has shooting lanes trimmed out. Quick 5 min walk into the woods following OnX to the pin, threw on my Summit Pro full body hardness, put my bow on the pull string, and climbed up into the stand. I hate climbing pines, pretty much never do, and especially hate bushy pasture pines. Did a quick survey of the hang on before I made the final step from pine limbs / climbing stick onto the stand, and climbed into the stand. Took a 10 second look around, said OK to myself, set my backpack on the stand at my feet (I know, shouldn't climb with the pack), and turned around to hook up my tether. Passed what is normally my linemen belt around the tree, hooked into the beaner, gave it a little extra tug to tighten the tether to shortest distance possible and still move for a shot ( don't always shorten my tether this much, but again, I hate pines, and really don't trust them), did another check on the RM1 and beaner (screw gate lock, screw down before I screw up), pulled my bow up, and turned around to focus on getting my backpack hung and arrow knocked.
**At that point it was slow motion, but it all happened before I even knew what was really happening. Sounds weird to say, but that's how it felt. Watched my backpack tumble end over end twice before it belly flopped onto the ground below, realized I was hanging in my harness and no longer standing in on any platform, and quickly became aware of a searing pain in the back side of my left upper thigh. But also still in some disbelief that I was actually someone who had fallen. So far a short fall, but a fall for sure. "I read about this, I don't actually do it. I have been climbing in industrial settings for over a decade, and I know better. The safety gear is there as a back up, not to be used." - those were the comments racing through my head. It didn't take much to swing myself over to the steps and take the pressure off my harness and take a minute to really figure out if I was actually hurt or not. And weather I had pooped myself. Thoughts of ScentLok jokes briefly went though my head. Figured out pretty quickly that the top strap on the hang on failed, and the pain in the back of my leg was where the post from the stand had tilted forward as the stand rotated around the bottom strap which was still intact, and then I had fallen onto the post. Too many layers on to figure out if I was bleeding or not, but no blood soaking through my pants. Time to get down. If I had been in my saddle, I would have already been hanging on my safeguard and rappel rope and could have made a quick decent down. Not an option.
In retrospect, I realize I was feeling a fair bit of adrenaline at this point. My judgement was clearly not great as I looked at at my tree tether, said to myself that I wasn't gonna let this get the best of me, and made a decision to leave my tether in the tree, as I would climb down, get my saddle, and get back in the tree to finish the hunt. Managed to safely get down, determine that I was not bleeding (have what is sure to be a really nasty bruise and swelling), and started to put my saddle on. By the time I got ready to climb, I guess I was starting to think a little more clearly. Got my rappel line up over a limb above the stand and around the main truck of the tree, one sticked up, got my tether, and decided that with only 45 min of legal light left at this point, my best option was to go home, get a little nap before work, hang out with my son for a little bit, and call today a win - normally a win would involve heading to the tagging station, but its all relative and it seemed like a good time to go home and reflect on my lessons learned.
I won't preach a bunch of lessons learned to others reading this, but I know I certainly re-learned and had some things reinforced for myself. Thanks to those that have shared their near misses on the forum before, hope this helps someone else out there.
Picture quality is low, and without my weight on the platform it is closer to the tree again, but you get the idea.
The season here in Maine is coming to an end this Saturday. I have been pushing hard over the last few weeks working to seal the deal, no luck as of today. I told myself it would be a bow or nothing this year, and I like to think I am stubborn enough to make good on it. One of my hunting partners that got his 4th deer for the season last night suggested I hunt a piece he was having good luck with, even sent me an OnX pin for a location he recommended. We discussed details a little further last night and the plan sounded good.
Worked my night shift last night 6p to 6a, then got a call from a tenant at my rental that there was a problem with the propane. Got the kiddo to school, struck out for the renal property, and 4 hours later at 11am we had replaced a faulty regulator valve on the propane tank and leak checked all appliances. This was never part of the plan, but such is life. Got home, went to grab a nap (working again at 6pm for another night shift), set my alarm for 1pm to get up and be in the woods to hunt at 2pm. As I was driving to the stand location I found myself thinking that I know better than to try and pull two night shifts, no sleep, and then go climb around in the trees. My gear was still damp from hunting the rain the day before, and I was using a back up bow release because my regular release smelled like I pulled it out of a gut pile. If this had been a friend or one of my hunting partners and not me, I would have told them to take a day off and hit it hard and refreshed the next day. "Do your laundry, wash your gear, dry it properly, and have a beer. Save it for the next day."
I knew the target hunting area well enough to know its all bushy pasture pines and low brush. Terrible area to try and climb without scouting first (at least for my skill level with single stick and saddle), and so, as much as I didn't want to, I accepted the fact that with limited time and no time to trim shooting lanes, I would hunt my partners hang on, which he had been in the night before and has shooting lanes trimmed out. Quick 5 min walk into the woods following OnX to the pin, threw on my Summit Pro full body hardness, put my bow on the pull string, and climbed up into the stand. I hate climbing pines, pretty much never do, and especially hate bushy pasture pines. Did a quick survey of the hang on before I made the final step from pine limbs / climbing stick onto the stand, and climbed into the stand. Took a 10 second look around, said OK to myself, set my backpack on the stand at my feet (I know, shouldn't climb with the pack), and turned around to hook up my tether. Passed what is normally my linemen belt around the tree, hooked into the beaner, gave it a little extra tug to tighten the tether to shortest distance possible and still move for a shot ( don't always shorten my tether this much, but again, I hate pines, and really don't trust them), did another check on the RM1 and beaner (screw gate lock, screw down before I screw up), pulled my bow up, and turned around to focus on getting my backpack hung and arrow knocked.
**At that point it was slow motion, but it all happened before I even knew what was really happening. Sounds weird to say, but that's how it felt. Watched my backpack tumble end over end twice before it belly flopped onto the ground below, realized I was hanging in my harness and no longer standing in on any platform, and quickly became aware of a searing pain in the back side of my left upper thigh. But also still in some disbelief that I was actually someone who had fallen. So far a short fall, but a fall for sure. "I read about this, I don't actually do it. I have been climbing in industrial settings for over a decade, and I know better. The safety gear is there as a back up, not to be used." - those were the comments racing through my head. It didn't take much to swing myself over to the steps and take the pressure off my harness and take a minute to really figure out if I was actually hurt or not. And weather I had pooped myself. Thoughts of ScentLok jokes briefly went though my head. Figured out pretty quickly that the top strap on the hang on failed, and the pain in the back of my leg was where the post from the stand had tilted forward as the stand rotated around the bottom strap which was still intact, and then I had fallen onto the post. Too many layers on to figure out if I was bleeding or not, but no blood soaking through my pants. Time to get down. If I had been in my saddle, I would have already been hanging on my safeguard and rappel rope and could have made a quick decent down. Not an option.
In retrospect, I realize I was feeling a fair bit of adrenaline at this point. My judgement was clearly not great as I looked at at my tree tether, said to myself that I wasn't gonna let this get the best of me, and made a decision to leave my tether in the tree, as I would climb down, get my saddle, and get back in the tree to finish the hunt. Managed to safely get down, determine that I was not bleeding (have what is sure to be a really nasty bruise and swelling), and started to put my saddle on. By the time I got ready to climb, I guess I was starting to think a little more clearly. Got my rappel line up over a limb above the stand and around the main truck of the tree, one sticked up, got my tether, and decided that with only 45 min of legal light left at this point, my best option was to go home, get a little nap before work, hang out with my son for a little bit, and call today a win - normally a win would involve heading to the tagging station, but its all relative and it seemed like a good time to go home and reflect on my lessons learned.
I won't preach a bunch of lessons learned to others reading this, but I know I certainly re-learned and had some things reinforced for myself. Thanks to those that have shared their near misses on the forum before, hope this helps someone else out there.
Picture quality is low, and without my weight on the platform it is closer to the tree again, but you get the idea.
