- Joined
- Dec 25, 2018
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- 1,981
My dad had a life changing event when I was pretty young falling from a homeade plywood stand nailed to a tree. Drizzling rain and near freezing temps made for a slick platform and down he went. He crushed his heel like an egg and had to crawl back to the pickup to drive the 5 speed Chevy Luv back home. He said the fall didn't hurt as much as pushing the clutch in to put the pickup into gear and to shift once and awhile. He hobbles around on that foot to this day. He absolutely will not hunt elevated anymore. I vowed to always wear a safety harness.
Flash forward to about 15 years later and I was taking a few steps up a cottonwood tree on the limbs before attaching my harness to climb. I had been in the same tree before with no issues and was standing on pretty solid limbs. I was maybe 8 feet off the ground when a limb gave way (cottonwoods self prune and are very unpredictable with their limb integrity apparently) I landed smack dab on my tail bone and had the worst shock sent up my spine I ever experienced. I layed flat on my back until I was able to gain my senses. That small fall of only 8 ft or so was enough for me to tether in at the base of the tree or sit on the ground if I don't think I can get up the tree quietly and efficiently.
An event that can change your life permanently or kill you and change the lives of others around you permanently just isn't worth a deer. I've never asked, but I'm sure my dad would've let every deer he ever got walk on by if it meant having full mobility and no pain in that foot.
Flash forward to about 15 years later and I was taking a few steps up a cottonwood tree on the limbs before attaching my harness to climb. I had been in the same tree before with no issues and was standing on pretty solid limbs. I was maybe 8 feet off the ground when a limb gave way (cottonwoods self prune and are very unpredictable with their limb integrity apparently) I landed smack dab on my tail bone and had the worst shock sent up my spine I ever experienced. I layed flat on my back until I was able to gain my senses. That small fall of only 8 ft or so was enough for me to tether in at the base of the tree or sit on the ground if I don't think I can get up the tree quietly and efficiently.
An event that can change your life permanently or kill you and change the lives of others around you permanently just isn't worth a deer. I've never asked, but I'm sure my dad would've let every deer he ever got walk on by if it meant having full mobility and no pain in that foot.