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Had a new, unpleasant experience yesterday.

CHRIS WILSON

CHRIS WILSON

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Every year we talk about treestand safety while climbing but lets talk a minute about safety while packing your stand in or out of your hunting area on your back. Like many on here, I use a climbing stand for most of my hunts. I've got it setup with Lone Wolf carry straps and a waist belt. Total, it weighs about 20 pounds or so and carries nicely on my back while hiking to and from my stand sites. I've had similar setups for a few years now and have never experienced a fall while hiking in or out until yesterday morning. Yesterday morning was pretty uneventful as far as hunting was concerned. I'd had a few does come in but no shot opportunities, so I climbed down from the tree around 10:30. I packed up my stand....threw it on my back....grabbed up my crossbow and took off in a hurry with the intent to have a look at a different area before heading back to the ForeRunner. I'd taken about a dozen hurried steps when I lifted my back foot and felt it snag. Had I not been in such a hurry, I'd probably have noticed the fallen branch partially hidden under the leaves but now I found my self airborne, laid out like superman with the ground approaching pretty quickly. I've taken enough falls over the years and broken enough bones to know that the last thing you want to do in that kind of situation is extend the arms and try to catch yourself. That's how you break fingers, hands, wrist, arms and potentially dislocate shoulders. You Ideally want to roll with the impact but when your carrying a 20+ pound treestand on your back, tucking and rolling with the fall really isn't really an option. So, I instinctively tossed the crossbow off to the side so I wouldn't fall on it....tucked my right arm in close and just brace for impact. I vividly remember saying to myself as I'm falling..."This is gonna hurt". The best thing I can compare the impact to is being blindsided by a 200+ pound line backer who ran thru the offensive line untouched. To add insult to injury, the treestand on my back shifted during the fall and ended up smacking me in the back of the head/base of the skull ringing my bell even more. After a minute or two of laying on the ground....clearing the fog from my head.... trying to catch my breath....cursing under what breath I did have and evaluating the pain I was experiencing in various parts of my body, I was able to determine nothing was broken and picked myself up off the ground. This morning, I'm just a bit battered, bruised and feel like Tom Brady after his offensive line had a bad night. Luckily, I only fell on mother nature's leaf covered forest floor missing any big rocks and fallen limbs that could have caused other injuries. The take away here is to be safe, don't get in a hurry and take your time when hiking in or out of your hunting area while carrying a treestand on your back. Be sure of your footing, especially in the dark. Yeah, it may only be 18, 19, 20 pounds on your back but it changes your whole center of gravity and can easily play with your balance. No matter your age, it only takes one bad fall to end your season. Be safe out there guys.
 
Good reminder to all and glad to hear despite bruised and battered you are okay. While reading it made me think of some of the things one could fall upon while out afield. Most places/areas I hunt are usually around water with an abundance of beavers. The thought of falling on one of those sharpened beaver daggers left behind from what used to be a very small tree, would be horrible.
 
Heath423 said:
Good reminder to all and glad to hear despite bruised and battered you are okay. While reading it made me think of some of the things one could fall upon while out afield. Most places/areas I hunt are usually around water with an abundance of beavers. The thought of falling on one of those sharpened beaver daggers left behind from what used to be a very small tree, would be horrible.
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The area I primarily hunt is pretty rough, rocky and has all kinds of deadfall littering the forest floor in places. That kind of fall on solid rock...an old stump or into some deadfall could result in a whole different level of injury.
 
CHRIS WILSON said:
Every year we talk about treestand safety while climbing but lets talk a minute about safety while packing your stand in or out of your hunting area on your back. Like many on here, I use a climbing stand for most of my hunts. I've got it setup with Lone Wolf carry straps and a waist belt. Total, it weighs about 20 pounds or so and carries nicely on my back while hiking to and from my stand sites. I've had similar setups for a few years now and have never experienced a fall while hiking in or out until yesterday morning. Yesterday morning was pretty uneventful as far as hunting was concerned. I'd had a few does come in but no shot opportunities, so I climbed down from the tree around 10:30. I packed up my stand....threw it on my back....grabbed up my crossbow and took off in a hurry with the intent to have a look at a different area before heading back to the ForeRunner. I'd taken about a dozen hurried steps when I lifted my back foot and felt it snag. Had I not been in such a hurry, I'd probably have noticed the fallen branch partially hidden under the leaves but now I found my self airborne, laid out like superman with the ground approaching pretty quickly. I've taken enough falls over the years and broken enough bones to know that the last thing you want to do in that kind of situation is extend the arms and try to catch yourself. That's how you break fingers, hands, wrist, arms and potentially dislocate shoulders. You Ideally want to roll with the impact but when your carrying a 20+ pound treestand on your back, tucking and rolling with the fall really isn't really an option. So, I instinctively tossed the crossbow off to the side so I wouldn't fall on it....tucked my right arm in close and just brace for impact. I vividly remember saying to myself as I'm falling..."This is gonna hurt". The best thing I can compare the impact to is being blindsided by a 200+ pound line backer who ran thru the offensive line untouched. To add insult to injury, the treestand on my back shifted during the fall and ended up smacking me in the back of the head/base of the skull ringing my bell even more. After a minute or two of laying on the ground....clearing the fog from my head.... trying to catch my breath....cursing under what breath I did have and evaluating the pain I was experiencing in various parts of my body, I was able to determine nothing was broken and picked myself up off the ground. This morning, I'm just a bit battered, bruised and feel like Tom Brady after his offensive line had a bad night. Luckily, I only fell on mother nature's leaf covered forest floor missing any big rocks and fallen limbs that could have caused other injuries. The take away here is to be safe, don't get in a hurry and take your time when hiking in or out of your hunting area while carrying a treestand on your back. Be sure of your footing, especially in the dark. Yeah, it may only be 18, 19, 20 pounds on your back but it changes your whole center of gravity and can easily play with your balance. No matter your age, it only takes one bad fall to end your season. Be safe out there guys.
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Your situation is exactly what I experience last March on my Argentina dove hunt.
I tripped on the top step of a flight of stairs at the Holiday Inn. As I ran down the stairs to avoid falling I thought to my self " how am I gonna stop".
Apparently, I threw my right arm out to catch myself as I slammed into the landing wall.
Fractured my upper humerus in 4 places. All from tripping on stairs.
 
Good reminder! You painted a great picture!! Glad you're able to get back in the game…soon!
 
gatodoc said:
Your situation is exactly what I experience last March on my Argentina dove hunt.
I tripped on the top step of a flight of stairs at the Holiday Inn. As I ran down the stairs to avoid falling I thought to my self " how am I gonna stop".
Apparently, I threw my right arm out to catch myself as I slammed into the landing wall.
Fractured my upper humerus in 4 places. All from tripping on stairs.
Click to expand...
I think I remember that story! Ouch!!
 
Not to hijack the thread but reminds me of a time dragging a deer out with my dad. This was before we had a sxs and depending on where we killed a deer on the farm we would have to drag it a pretty good ways. Well we were dragging at a pretty fast clip and idk if he tripped or slipped but when he did his knee landed right on a rock. And this was the knee that had fairly recently had a lot of work done on it. Luckily he was ok and not hurt at all. But just a reminder to be safe and not get in too big of a hurry no matter what you're doing in the woods.
 
You are right about broken bones, sure doesn't take much. Glad you weren't hurt worse. Good reminder for us all to be careful, thanks for posting.
 
muddyhunter said:
Not to hijack the thread but reminds me of a time dragging a deer out with my dad. This was before we had a sxs and depending on where we killed a deer on the farm we would have to drag it a pretty good ways. Well we were dragging at a pretty fast clip and idk if he tripped or slipped but when he did his knee landed right on a rock. And this was the knee that had fairly recently had a lot of work done on it. Luckily he was ok and not hurt at all. But just a reminder to be safe and not get in too big of a hurry no matter what you're doing in the woods.
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Two guys dragging one through the timber and one falling is probably more common than we think when you think about it. One of them needs to be careful he isn't going any faster than the other one feels comfortable, but the slower man might be pushing himself too much to keep up with the stronger man.
 
Chris, I misunderstood you the other day, thinking you took the fall on the way to your stand. Now I get why you seemed a little more out of sorts still than I would've expected. I'm sure thankful we didn't have a trip to the ER and you only suffered bruising.

We were talking about packs the other day and one other thing I like about my Summit front storage bag on my climber is that it very likely might pad my head or neck if I fall.
 
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Snake said:
Been there and there are times you just can't prepare or prevent accidents . I've not been in a hurry and catch a fallen branch the wrong way to trip . Glad you not hurt anymore Than you was .
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Absolutely, but most of the time we can prevent spills by simply watching where we're going.

I landed my knee on a rock or something almost as hard on a scouting trip this summer. Didn't notice what it was because I was in some low undergrowth but If I'd finished messing with my phone or Garmin before I took off again most likely I wouldn't have tripped. I could've just as well been looking up for the perfect stand tree. Other times we might just go too fast or think we don't need to look down since we have our snake boots on.
 
I fell alittle over a week ago walking down some poly coated hardwood stairs at a cabin in Pigeon Forge. I had wet feet where I had just got out of the hot tub a few seconds before. Both of my feet zipped out in front of me quicker than a greased pig and I busted it so hard and to add insult to injury after I hit I then thudded and bounced down the remaining steps to the landing at the bottom. I could not move for almost a minute and where the first thing that hit the step was my back/ rib cage it knocked the breath out of me for about a minute. The next thing that hit was my butt and it has a bruise that is bigger than a softball and black as coal. It was by far the worst spill I have ever taken and I am still kind've wondering whether I broke a rib or not. lol When I got back to the hot tub, my wife asked me if the "Thud" she heard was thunder lol
 
Good reminder that hunting can be dangerous in many ways. This is complicated by the fact that it could take awhile for help to arrive or get to help. Sometimes what could be a minor injury could become something more. It's a good idea to carry a whistle, tourniquet, some heavy gauze and medical tape in your pack. I keep my whistle tethered to my climbing harness. Glad your ok!
 
Snake said:
Been there and there are times you just can't prepare or prevent accidents . I've not been in a hurry and catch a fallen branch the wrong way to trip . Glad you not hurt anymore Than you was .
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Yep, sometimes it's out of our control and crap just happens. Other times, we just get a little careless because we've done this a thousand times without incident.
 
I feel your pain, I have yet to eat $hit with my treestand on my back (been close quite a few times) but have eaten the ground carrying my ruck and a 240B. Ate it really good down in Dahlonega, Georgia one time. Rolled about 40 yards down into a nasty draw. I was more pi$$ed and my pride was hurt than anything. But that ruck is heavy so you just go where it goes for a little bit. Luckily it's not a metal treestand beating me in the head though. That would leave a mark.
 

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