Hopefully some readers can benefit from my close call this morning. Let me preface my story by detailing my stand set-up. I have a hang-on stand about 20 feet up in a big walnut tree that has many big branches, lots of Y’s, coming off the main truck. I have a total of 9 screw-in steps in the main trunk, 6 to reach the first big set of branches, and 3 farther up as needed. Once I reach the big branches it’s a pretty easy climb up to the stand. There’s a small dead branch on a bole next to my stand that I hang my back pack on, a dead branch that I’ve caught my self reaching for, but never grabbed because I knew it would not hold my weight.
Well climbing into my stand in the dark this morning I grabbed the small dead branch to pull my self up that last step and the branch snapped off. I fell backwards, about 8 feet down; my left ass cheek landed on a solid branch throwing me to the right where my right elbow slammed into another branch and somehow I managed to hang-on between the two branches and right myself. As odd as it sounds I had some very distinct thoughts in that split second from the time I started falling to the time I caught myself. My first thought was “I’m falling, I can’t believe I’m falling.” The second was “This can’t happen to me.” It was almost like I was watching the fall in some detached sense, a very odd feeling. After I steadied myself (still in the tree), I did a quick self-assessment, all my limbs and fingers were functional, but I did have some blood flowing from the middle finger of my right hand (wasn’t wearing gloves). I climbed down, dug the flashlight out of my backpack and surveyed my damaged digit, nothing serious, just a fair amount of skin missing. No bandages in the pack, so I flicked blood, slipped my fingerless mittens on and hoped the wounds would clot. Standing at the base of the tree I thought about what had just happened and what I should do. I wasn’t particularly shaken up or injured (though all my fingers felt like they were on fire), so I climbed back up into the stand and started my morning hunt. Also, in case you’re wondering, I always where a safety harness while on stand, but not while climbing that particular tree because it’s just not practical with all the big branches.
Why did I fall?
1. I was in a hurry to get into the stand. The night before I had seen a shooter on the edge of a field not far from my stand. He was hooked up with a doe and would not come to my grunts, though he looked my way. All I was thinking about was getting into the stand and hoping the pig would come by.
2. Familiarity; I’ve climbed into that particular stand dozens of times. I was climbing into the stand, but not really thinking about climbing into the stand.
3. The dead branch, it was handy to hang my pack from, but the first time I caught myself reaching for it I should of cut/broken that branch off. I distinctly remember reaching for it one time while climbing out of the stand earlier in the year, catching myself, and thinking if I would of grabbed that branch I would of fallen. I should of broken that small dead branch off right then.
Post-script… As the today has progressed I’ve gotten more and more sore, I’ve got some substantial bruises on my left ass cheek, the right elbow/arm, and I must of pulled a muscle in my left shoulder as it pains me to raise and lower my left arm. The middle finger cleaned up nicely and is bandaged up. I don’t know why just the middle finger on my right hand got tore up. I’ll take the bumps and bruises over what might have happened had I not landed on those branches. On a happy note an hour after falling I filled my second antler-less tag with another nice healthy doe.
Let's be careful out there, especially when climbing in and out of stands.
Bugs
Well climbing into my stand in the dark this morning I grabbed the small dead branch to pull my self up that last step and the branch snapped off. I fell backwards, about 8 feet down; my left ass cheek landed on a solid branch throwing me to the right where my right elbow slammed into another branch and somehow I managed to hang-on between the two branches and right myself. As odd as it sounds I had some very distinct thoughts in that split second from the time I started falling to the time I caught myself. My first thought was “I’m falling, I can’t believe I’m falling.” The second was “This can’t happen to me.” It was almost like I was watching the fall in some detached sense, a very odd feeling. After I steadied myself (still in the tree), I did a quick self-assessment, all my limbs and fingers were functional, but I did have some blood flowing from the middle finger of my right hand (wasn’t wearing gloves). I climbed down, dug the flashlight out of my backpack and surveyed my damaged digit, nothing serious, just a fair amount of skin missing. No bandages in the pack, so I flicked blood, slipped my fingerless mittens on and hoped the wounds would clot. Standing at the base of the tree I thought about what had just happened and what I should do. I wasn’t particularly shaken up or injured (though all my fingers felt like they were on fire), so I climbed back up into the stand and started my morning hunt. Also, in case you’re wondering, I always where a safety harness while on stand, but not while climbing that particular tree because it’s just not practical with all the big branches.
Why did I fall?
1. I was in a hurry to get into the stand. The night before I had seen a shooter on the edge of a field not far from my stand. He was hooked up with a doe and would not come to my grunts, though he looked my way. All I was thinking about was getting into the stand and hoping the pig would come by.
2. Familiarity; I’ve climbed into that particular stand dozens of times. I was climbing into the stand, but not really thinking about climbing into the stand.
3. The dead branch, it was handy to hang my pack from, but the first time I caught myself reaching for it I should of cut/broken that branch off. I distinctly remember reaching for it one time while climbing out of the stand earlier in the year, catching myself, and thinking if I would of grabbed that branch I would of fallen. I should of broken that small dead branch off right then.
Post-script… As the today has progressed I’ve gotten more and more sore, I’ve got some substantial bruises on my left ass cheek, the right elbow/arm, and I must of pulled a muscle in my left shoulder as it pains me to raise and lower my left arm. The middle finger cleaned up nicely and is bandaged up. I don’t know why just the middle finger on my right hand got tore up. I’ll take the bumps and bruises over what might have happened had I not landed on those branches. On a happy note an hour after falling I filled my second antler-less tag with another nice healthy doe.
Let's be careful out there, especially when climbing in and out of stands.
Bugs
