Scary

[Witty]

Yesterday afternoon around 4pm I decided to get into my stand after it had finally cleared up. On my way to my stand I have a doe and her twin fawns cross my path at 60 yards, now I'm pumped the deer should be moving after a crapy day. Anyway I get to my stand a few minutes later and climb up the 12 feet to my stand. Something isn't quite right as I'm standing in the stand. I decide to climb out to check it out as I swing my leg out of the stand I hear a snap/pop and I knew it wasn't good. At this point if I hadn't been hooked up to life line I would have been laying on the ground and my hunting season would have been over or possibly worse. Instead I was able to get back on the climbing sticks and make it home safely with just a very sore back and shoulder. I feel very lucky today, it was my third time hunting out of this stand and I'm not sure what happened. My dad and I will be going out to inspect this stand sometime in the next few days. These life lines are the real deal, I owe my dad a lot for insisting that we use them over just the conventional saftey ropes.

[phade]

Very good to hear that it ended better than it could have.

[Lawdwaz]

Safety lines are the real deal.  Glad your doing fine!!

 

Details please.......what kind of stand?  what kind of life line? what kind of harness?

[Witty]

HSS life line, HSS harness and it's a field and steam stand we have used for at least the last three seasons. Pretty sure the strap slipped from being put on the wrong side of the posts. That would make it a human error and not a stand issue. Either way I'm just glad I got to see my fiance and daughter last night.

[growalot]

So a hang on?...eegads my hang ons scare me...I chain them...and double retchet them...glad you are safe...

[Cabin Fever]

Props to you and your Dad for using a lifeline! Sure gives you peace of mind... and saves your ass! 

[Witty]

Yea it is a hang on, It was double ratched. It is still hanging sideways in the tree. I think the top hook slide off where it was suppose to be because it was on backwards and it was wet.

[Catskill Hunter]

HSS life line, HSS harness and it's a field and steam stand we have used for at least the last three seasons. Pretty sure the strap slipped from being put on the wrong side of the posts. That would make it a human error and not a stand issue. Either way I'm just glad I got to see my fiance and daughter last night.

Won't go off the ground without one. thanks for posting, I hope a lot reads this and gets the point

[Doewhacker]

Yikes, thankfully you are here to tell us the story.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Glad to hear you are ok.

 

Just curious, did one of the straps break? Do you guys loosen the stand straps at the end of the season and replace the straps every couple of years? I have had the straps break on me before because they were left tight, and the tree basically over tightened them as it grew and pushed out on the strap.

[phade]

Here's the problem with most hang-ons, that double ratchet strap - if placed at the bottom - likely contributed to the mishap, even if wet and the hook put on wrong. There's a reason the stands come with one strap. By cinching down the post at the bottom, it can cause the upper to fail, and if the upper fails, you are still going for a spill - and that's apparently what happened. The lower strap does nothing, really. It's one of those things where less is more, because the lone strap cam locks to the tree set, and it can't do that with two straps.

[Witty]

We put the stand up this year. The strap didn't break, the hook was placed on the wrong side and the rubber hook slid up being wet and the stand went sideways. It should be fixed and ready to go by the weekend.

[growalot]

all my straps and chains are up under the upper bracket...not taking any chances on something deciding they wanted to chew on the straps at night...