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What was YOUR moment of truth?

stevethebreeze

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2020
Messages
691
Location
North Central Alabama
It happens. Forgot to do this, didn't do that, then all of a sudden the reality of your mistake hits. I've been hunting a long time and I've had so many close calls because of my lack of safety. I've fell out of a stand years ago that I was taking down and was ok. Personally that was my closest call. As of now. I was very shook though and if I could have, would have kicked my tail all the way home. My 6 year old (at the time) son was with me and watched the whole thing. That was my wake up call.

For us newbies, and to possibly help others here out, what was YOUR moment of truth that may have been/was a big disaster while saddle hunting? What do you suggest to help us not do the same? What did you do to make sure it wouldn't happen again?
 
I started a thread called Repelling 101 (I think that was the name?) and I was working on repelling for this year. I convinced myself I didn’t need a meet up to get a demo from an experienced saddle hunter because meetups were being canceled.

then somebody posted a thread about how they broke their back repelling.

then I realized that it is pretty dumb of me to forgo proper education And training for something so important.

maybe someday I will repell and maybe I won’t. But I won’t be teaching myself. That’s just stupid.
 
My suggestion would be to practice religiously in all sorts of condition. In the dark, cold, hot, weather conditions with hunting gear. Also get a system or a pattern down so you know what works for you on each climb. The main thing is keeping your linemans belt around the tree up until you finally connect your bridge to your tether.

IMO most falls will occur when it is a transition, like from stick to stick, stick to platform, etc..
 
I was in a climbing tree stand years ago. I was wearing a harness but took it loose before I started down. I was hanging onto the top sitting part and was working my feet into the bottom straps with the other hand. This stand has a rubber sleeve over the end of the open shot sitting portion which is what I was hanging onto. That rubber boot slipped right off the end and I nearly went backwards off the stand at about 35 ft. This was all before everyone had cell phones and no one knew where I was hunting.
What I did to fix it was to stay tethered to the tree at all times.
 
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I will base my response on life in general and working construction. Slow down. Don't rush. I have had a few close calls out of tree stands. Most of them were me being in a hurry. Same thing as work. Rushing to get something done. Don't check something and it becomes a close call. While hunting since I got older and had kids, I told my self no deer is worth me ending up dead. Take your time and don't rush.
 
My moment of truth that got me into saddle hunting was a near fall transitioning from my sticks to my hang on stand. I always wore a harness and tethered in once I got in the stand. I’ve taken that lesson and applied it to my saddle routine. I am connected with linesman now before I leave the ground and when I am at height, I connect into my tether before transitioning from the sticks to the platform.

On the way down, the linesman belt is attached around the tree and I transition from platform to steps before I disconnect my tether.

I had a second moment of truth due to stick kickout using an aider because I didn’t properly bury my toe into the tree on the way down. This was the last step coming down so I wasn’t far off the ground but I gashed the inside thigh of my opposite leg on the bottom step. That spot was sore for 9 months and it was way to close to the fellas. I had not taken enough time to get educated and careful practice using the aider before climbing to height.
 
I started climbing last year and haven't had a moment of truth while hunting from a tree. The closest thing would be when I started climbing SRT with an ATC in guide mode and got stuck up the rope about 4 feet from the ground and had to figure out how to get down. Now, when I climb a different way my first thought is do I have the things I might need to get down if I get stuck.
 
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I'm going with @MattMan81. SLOW DOWN!! I was topping a 150 foot white pine for a friend of mine. While I was taking off the branches at about 80 feet I had to go over the next branch whorl with my 2n1 I mistakenly hooked onto an accessory loop on the side of my saddle, as I was about to lean back on it I got a funny feeling ( for no reason my chest got tight and the hair raised on the back of my neck)( I believe it was Divine intervention) so I double checked the hookup....damn. My legs went weak when I saw where I was hooked up. What we all do in the trees is unforgiving. Pay attention, and be deliberate.
 
My only incident happened using a climber... The tree had a slight lean but straightened back up....I thought I stay to the high side but I lost control and ended up on the bottom side of the learn holding on for dear life.... No harness no nothing....I survived but from then on I wear the right safety stuff...felt much safer with sticks and a hang on and with the saddle I most safety minded
 
My suggestion would be to practice religiously in all sorts of condition. In the dark, cold, hot, weather conditions with hunting gear. Also get a system or a pattern down so you know what works for you on each climb. The main thing is keeping your linemans belt around the tree up until you finally connect your bridge to your tether.

IMO most falls will occur when it is a transition, like from stick to stick, stick to platform, etc..

Some stats...

According to a 2018 article on real tree.com, 23% of falls happen while ascending, 15% happen during the transition to platform, 40% happen while on stand and 22% happen while descending.

Top 5 causes of falls: slipping or losing grip (28%), stand strap broke (16%), human error (11%), stand broke (8%) and ladder/step broke (7%)

Types of stands in use when falls occur: lock-on (31%), climber (25%), ladder (20%), homemade (20%), box stands/tripods (4%)

91% of falls result in injury and 9% result in death. Of the deaths, 90.2% were not wearing a harness. Of the injuries, 85.2% were not wearing harnesses.

The 3 core elements of the tree stand safety associations education campaign to reduce fall accidents by 50% by 2023 include: always remove and inspect your equipment, wear and use your harness, connect to the tree before leaving the ground.

All of those items are core to what we recommend as saddle hunters.
 
I was watch AFV with my kids saw a guy in a climber. The top part came loose smashing down onto bottom part which came loosing sending the whole package screaming down 10-15 feet. I didn’t think it was a funny video.
 
Looking back on a lot of the crap I did growing up and some of the stands the guys my dad's age used, it's a thousand miracles we arent all dead. One stand I remember looking at and immediately saying nope, no way I'm getting on that, was a a metal folding chair hung about 18 feet up by a lag bolt through the back of the chair. The guy that hung it would climb up with spurs and stand on the seat of the chair with no other attachment of any kind. I have seen plenty of stuff that back then made me happy to have my Baker stand and that should say plenty. LOL
 
My only incident happened using a climber... The tree had a slight lean but straightened back up....I thought I stay to the high side but I lost control and ended up on the bottom side of the learn holding on for dear life.... No harness no nothing....I survived but from then on I wear the right safety stuff...felt much safer with sticks and a hang on and with the saddle I most safety minded
I climbed the high side once using SRT. After fighting to stay there, I went to the low side and had an easy climb. Now, I always head directly to the low side and do not pass GO. :D
 
I'm one of those old guys who hunted before there were many options in commercial tree stands. We hunted standing on branches and the tree you picked had little to do with where the deer sign was but more to do with whether you could reach a branch to climb. I've fallen out of more trees in my life than I care (or am able) to remember. Luckily I was never seriously hurt. I've also had several close calls in tree stands but still hardly ever wore a safety harness.

My moment of truth for saddle hunting occurred early in my saddle hunting experience. I documented it more fully in the referenced thread if anyone is interested but the cliff notes version is as follows:

Instead of investing in some purpose built equipment, I was repurposing an ancient, highly corroded bottom end of a set of interlocking steel climbing sticks to one stick. The stick partially broke in mid climb and I made another bad choice in trying to continue up with it further cobbled together. In the transition to my platform it failed completely and I dropped 3-4 feet before coming to rest. Luckily I recognized I was on shaky ground (literally ) and was tied in with both my tether and my lineman's although the tether was not taut when the stick gave way. I managed to self rescue with only a minor laceration but the incident pushed home the value of using real equipment, inspecting it regularly and being tied in, especially when making the transition to the platform.

The tree I was climbing was part of a clump of maples located in a really thick beech thicket. Had I not been tied in I would have ended up wedged in the crotch of the trees to far up to get out but not far enough up to be seen. I doubt very much anyone would have been able to locate me for quite some time. Take the care to use good solid equipment, practice regularly with it, inspect it as often as you use it and always stay tied to the tree, preferably on a taut line, especially making a transition to a platform.

 
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I'm one of those old guys who hunted before there were many options is commercial tree stands. We hunted standing on branches and the tree you picked had little to do with where the deer sign was but more to do with whether you could reach a branch to climb. I've fallen out of more trees in my life than I care (or am able) to remember. Luckily I was never seriously hurt. I've also had several close calls in tree stands but still hardly ever wore a safety harness.

My moment of truth for saddle hunting occurred early in my saddle hunting experience. I documented it more fully in the referenced thread if anyone is interested but the cliff notes version is as follows:

Instead of investing in some purpose built equipment, I was repurposing an ancient, highly corroded bottom end of a set of interlocking steel climbing sticks to one stick. The stick partially broke in mid climb and I made another bad choice in trying to continue up with it further cobbled together. In the transition to my platform it failed completely and I dropped 3-4 feet before coming to rest. Luckily I recognized I was on shaky ground (literally ) and was tied in with both my tether and my lineman's although the tether was not taut when the stick gave way. I managed to self rescue with only a minor laceration but the incident pushed home the value of using real equipment, inspecting it regularly and being tied in, especially when making the transition to the platform.

The tree I was climbing was part of a clump of maples located in a really thick beech thicket. Had I not been tied in I would have ended up wedged in the crotch of the trees to far up to get out but not far enough up to be seen. I doubt very much anyone would have been able to locate me for quite some time. Take the care to use good solid equipment, practice regularly with it, inspect it as often as you use it and always stay tied to the tree, preferably on a taut line, especially making a transition to an platform.

Wow. Glad you made it out of that scrape with ONLY a laceration @boyne bowhunter . Thanks for sharing and sorry if this thread is repetitive. You can move it to a correct thread MODS if you need too.
 
Wow. Glad you made it out of that scrape with ONLY a laceration @boyne bowhunter . Thanks for sharing and sorry if this thread is repetitive. You can move it to a correct thread MODS if you need too.
Nope, this is really good thread. Thanks for bringing it up. These lessons learned can't be repeated enough especially with all the new guys coming in.
 
Some stats...

According to a 2018 article on real tree.com, 23% of falls happen while ascending, 15% happen during the transition to platform, 40% happen while on stand and 22% happen while descending.

Top 5 causes of falls: slipping or losing grip (28%), stand strap broke (16%), human error (11%), stand broke (8%) and ladder/step broke (7%)

Types of stands in use when falls occur: lock-on (31%), climber (25%), ladder (20%), homemade (20%), box stands/tripods (4%)

91% of falls result in injury and 9% result in death. Of the deaths, 90.2% were not wearing a harness. Of the injuries, 85.2% were not wearing harnesses.

The 3 core elements of the tree stand safety associations education campaign to reduce fall accidents by 50% by 2023 include: always remove and inspect your equipment, wear and use your harness, connect to the tree before leaving the ground.

All of those items are core to what we recommend as saddle hunters.
Very interesting stats @ofor Thanks for sharing. There are some glaring numbers there.
 
When I was young, grabbed a branch to pull myself up the tree. Way before the use of linesman belts were popular. Branch broke and started to fall backwards. Luckily with my long arms I was able to grab the cross bar of my tree stand and was hanging by one arm and my feet on my steps. Now I only grab my steps or the back side of the tree where I know there is no risk of a branch breathing on me... Now I use linesmen belt until tethered in up and down the tree.
 
The only moment of truth that comes to mind was when I bought WE steps and built a knaider and swaider. I was pumped to use that as my primary climbing method. I was practicing in my backyard, working on the WE knot/loop. When I felt comfortable setting the steps, I was practicing with the knaiders/swaider when one of my steps tilted on a 45 degree angle and my carabiner slid to the lowest point on the step. It was then I said "Not worth it. Can't have that happen when I'm 10-20 feet off the ground.". I sold the steps that day. I still think it's a dangerous method and I try to convince everyone it's not worth the weight savings and packability.
 
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