Well it finally happened

[JRS]

Use a scaffold ladder, or dock ladder.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Not a tree stand accident, but 2 1/2 years ago I was 8' up a ladder when it broke, fell on to concrete slab. Broke my left side pelvis bone in 4 places. Had to go to a trauma center, that height is a possibility for internal soft tissue injury. One year before pain free, when they told me a year for recovery I decided to NOT take pain medication. I never was nervous about heights before, but it is hard(mentally) to climb anything now.

 

[284winner]

Good he had you in the woods watching out for him and nothing more serious, though those injuries aren't anything to sneeze at. Just curiousness, could you post a photo of the tree stand? Some may not like it but there are tree stands on the market that should have been banned long ago, nothing more than a seat and foot rest tied to a tree.

Here you go. Just removed his stand this afternoon. As you can see in the picture, it's a very well built and solid tree stand.

 

[hogpatrol]

Here you go. Just removed his stand this afternoon. As you can see in the picture, it's a very well built and solid tree stand.

Ladder sticks! Yep, they can be a problem especially getting in and out of the stand. I use them on a couple hanging stands that have a shooting rail. I put the sticks up higher and put the heavy screw in steps up higher to grab so I can step into the platform. Still, you really have to pay attention and keep one hand locked on something. Can't tell but is there a rope for bringing up the gun and gear? Climbing up with a bunch of stuff on your back can also cause a fall.

 

[Immike]

Ladder sticks! Yep, they can be a problem especially getting in and out of the stand. I use them on a couple hanging stands that have a shooting rail. I put the sticks up higher and put the heavy screw in steps up higher to grab so I can step into the platform. Still, you really have to pay attention and keep one hand locked on something. Can't tell but is there a rope for bringing up the gun and gear? Climbing up with a bunch of stuff on your back can also cause a fall.

I’ve studied myself climbing and have always concentrated on moving only one limb (leg or arm) at a time. When climbing with 2 at a time we leave ourselves vulnerable to a fall. Try this... may save your life!

 

[hogpatrol]

I've sat in dozens of different tree stands and I swear half of them are designed by people that never sat in one, never hunted and don't have a clue other than copying what they see on the internet.

 

[284winner]

Ladder sticks! Yep, they can be a problem especially getting in and out of the stand. I use them on a couple hanging stands that have a shooting rail. I put the sticks up higher and put the heavy screw in steps up higher to grab so I can step into the platform. Still, you really have to pay attention and keep one hand locked on something. Can't tell but is there a rope for bringing up the gun and gear? Climbing up with a bunch of stuff on your back can also cause a fall.

Yes he has two. One for his gun and another for his backpack. Turned out after seeing him in the hospital, he had the wrong foot on the step he needed to have the other on so he tried to switch feet. Huge NO, NO. Especially at 80+ years old. He has no grip strength or leg strength compared to someone half his age and that's still a bad thing to do on icy snowy steps. He did nothing right that morning from having no harness to playing hop scotch on his tree stick.

 

[hogpatrol]

Yes he has two. One for his gun and another for his backpack. Turned out after seeing him in the hospital, he had the wrong foot on the step he needed to have the other on so he tried to switch feet. Huge NO, NO. Especially at 80+ years old. He has no grip strength or leg strength compared to someone half his age and that's still a bad thing to do on icy snowy steps. He did nothing right that morning from having no harness to playing hop scotch on his tree stick.

The ladder sticks I use are staggered. It's pretty difficult to get gaffed up when climbing but I have hung a pant leg on a rung while climbing down. One really has to go slow and pay attention. Hope the old guy is doing better.

 

[Brians356]

Sounds like your buddy needs to repay the favor. Throw you a tenderloin this year after he harvests a deer. If you love venison, 4 years is a long wait.

Backstraps.

That may be a well-built rig, but I wouldn't want to try getting from the ladder onto the platform, and back again, it looks very awkward. He's lucky he didn't puncture a lung with a rib, or worse.
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[370bc]

As a recently retired scaffold builder, I always thought hunting out of a tree stand was too risky. I used a couple of manufactured ones in my life, but they all had a rails around them, and I stopped using all elevated stands once ground blinds came on the market. And Im not that big of a deer hunter anyway. Large sound blinds are so much more comfortable, out of the wind, and 100 other reasons. I hope he recovers completely !

 

[Brians356]

As a recently retired scaffold builder, I always thought hunting out of a tree stand was too risky. I used a couple of manufactured ones in my life, but that all had a rail around them, and I stopped using all elevated stands once ground blinds came on the market. And Im not that big of a deer hunter anyway. Large sound blinds are so much more comfortable, out of the wind, and 100 other reasons. I hope he recovers completely !

I once was helping a friend work on a dormer of his old two-story Victorian house in Virginia City. Four of us were standing on a 2 x 12 plank on scaffolding. Suddenly there was a loud gunshot sound and I am hanging by my armpits on something, legs kicking air. The plank had snapped but none of us fell, we all somehow were caught by the crossmembers. Sometimes luck trumps stupidity.
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[6ShotsOr5?]

I don’t know any details about what their stand looked like, but my son-in-law’s dad fell when the homemade tree stand in their back yard broke. He died within a few days from massive internal injuries suffered during the fall. I will still use an enclosed tower blind with a ladder on the side which are pretty common here in Texas, but only if it’s well anchored by guy wires. No more rope ladders and makeshift arrangements out on a tree limb for me.

 

[Brians356]

With 7 broken ribs, I don't suppose he'll be watching any Benny Hill Show reruns for a while.
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[284winner]

Backstraps.

That may be a well-built rig, but I wouldn't want to try getting from the ladder onto the platform, and back again, it looks very awkward. He's lucky he didn't puncture a lung with a rib, or worse.
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Picture may be deceiving but it's a very short and easy step into the stand from the stick. Plain and simple, his tree stand days are long gone. A ladder stand would have suited him better the last several years of his hunting.

 

[Immike]

Picture may be deceiving but it's a very short and easy step into the stand from the stick. Plain and simple, his tree stand days are long gone. A ladder stand would have suited him better the last several years of his hunting.

I think there’s a point where stairs are the best choice. A buddy just built a set with a landing half way down, that may be the best way.

 

[Dgd6mm]

7 broken ribs, no punctured lung, very blessed. I hope he heals quickly.

 

[powderbrake]

My grandson went deer hunting this past weekend with his uncle, who is around 60 yrs old. He tried to tell his uncle that he needed a safety harness, but his uncle "had always hunted without one" and didn't need a safety harness.
The uncle fell out of the tree, about 20 feet to the ground. Broken leg, broken pelvis, injured kidney. He is now in the hospital, having been screwed back together by an orthopedic surgeon.

I had dinner Sunday night with my son and his wife who related the story to me, and I commented that I had read about a similar accident on this forum.

The uncle is going to be OK, and I credit my grandson with the smarts to have advised him, and to recognize the 3 shots he heard as a request for help. He also called 911, and then insisted on a helicopter after the paramedics got the ambulance stuck in the mud on the road in.

Whoever said "Safety First" knew what he was talking about.

 

[snert]

Here you go. Just removed his stand this afternoon. As you can see in the picture, it's a very well built and solid tree stand.

MY Lord!
I am 55, and I don't climb those kinds of things anymore. He is a stud for sure, even though he took the fall, he has my admiration for even trying! hope he heals soon.

 

[284winner]

MY Lord!
I am 55, and I don't climb those kinds of things anymore. He is a stud for sure, even though he took the fall, he has my admiration for even trying! hope he heals soon.

Tough getting old and admitting you shouldn't be in a tree hunting anymore. As I get older, I continue staying in the best physical condition I can. Climbing into tree stands is pretty normal for me as well at 25 years younger than he is. I definitely want to be doing it at his age BUT with safety devices keeping me safe. I hang tree stands for many of my friends that do not feel comfortable doing it. Us younger hunters in camp hang the stands for those older hunters. There would be no way for them to hunt in a tree stand if we didn't. The climbing part isn't tough, it's the wearing safety gear and being safe that needs to sink in for them. A mind like a 20 year old and a body like an 80 year old is what got him in trouble.

 

[Just Say Moe]

I think there’s a point where stairs are the best choice. A buddy just built a set with a landing half way down, that may be the best way.

We just finished building stairs with hand rails to all the tower stands my 84 year old father uses. He shot a nice 6pt from one last week.