Be Careful

[401TE]

Going on my annual pheasant/deer hunting trip on Tuesday and wanted to revive this thread. I've gone to all ladder stands this year. Be careful out there, falling out of a tree is not fun. Took me 3 months to heal and had a severe limp for the first 4 weeks.

[harvey lee]

As far as why the tree steps coming out or loosening after a few years, I have seen that alot after even one year. I would guess the sap in the tree loosens the step up in the hole.

I do not use the tree steps anymore as I use climbers but when I did, they need to come out every year to be safe.

I do not leave any stands up over winetr, they all come down after the season and then I check them all over before the next season. Does not take that long and I like to know the stand is safe when I am 15 ft plus up in a tree.

[MahtowaDave]

I'm glad that you are O.K. also. It is only as we get older and look back that we figure out just how lucky we were. I took a fall from a tree in my early 20's from 30 feet up. Freezing rain was coming down at the time on the tree that I should never have been in in the first place, and I knew better too. I went to take a shot at a doe with my bow and as I turned to shoot, that is the last thing I remember. Luckily, My buddies brother and his friend saw my car in their driveway near where I hunt, and decided to do a deer drive to me. They found me unconscious at the base of the tree. I was there for just under an hour that way. They walked me out together. I fell on top of my bow and had a serious concussion as well. I repeated the story to them about the doe about 20 times by the time they had brought me to the emergency room. The temp was 5 degrees. I was at that age where you take a chance and had no insurance, so I paid dearly financially for that too. Luckily, there was a foot of fresh snow on the ground that likely saved my life, or at least whats left of my senses. If the guys hadn't been there to find me, I don't think I could have found my way out in the condition I was in. Please guys and gals, like 401TE said earlier, learn from us and save yourself a lot of trouble and perhaps your family from a lot of pain. Put the darn safety vest on, take the extra 5 minutes.