[HoytHunter84]

Started in the woods @ about 10:00 a.m. today. Windy and partly sunny. Then the clouds rolled in and a few drops of rain fell. Wasn't until a huge lightning bolt no more than a half mile away and I'd say that was enough for me. So now it's raining cats and dogs and i'm scrambling to lower my bow and get my butt back to the truck, swing my leg over my hang-on stand and onto the tree pegs, grab on to a solid branch that's never failed me in the past and wouldn't you know it, it gave way. A good 8-10 ft. straight down onto my butt and back, not to mention the nice smack of the back of my melon hitting God's lovely but not forgiving earth. Funny, never thought it would happen to me. I've had enough with tree pegs. I'm either going to get a solid ladder stand or good set of tree sticks. :mg: :mg: :mg:

 

[sidekick101]

Or a safety vest. Glad to hear you are ok. Some are not as lucky as you

 

[Bird Levron]

Lol, you will laugh in a couple weeks but this already happened to me and sucks, i lost my breath without anyone around, i thought i was gonna die out there and no one to find me lol, then i caught my breath, i fell from 6 feet and was horrible

 

[jth091]

Atleast you werent hurt.

 

[bagel77]

Started in the woods @ about 10:00 a.m. today. Windy and partly sunny. Then the clouds rolled in and a few drops of rain fell. Wasn't until a huge lightning bolt no more than a half mile away and I'd say that was enough for me. So now it's raining cats and dogs and i'm scrambling to lower my bow and get my butt back to the truck, swing my leg over my hang-on stand and onto the tree pegs, grab on to a solid branch that's never failed me in the past and wouldn't you know it, it gave way. A good 8-10 ft. straight down onto my butt and back, not to mention the nice smack of the back of my melon hitting God's lovely but not forgiving earth. Funny, never thought it would happen to me. I've had enough with tree pegs. I'm either going to get a solid ladder stand or good set of tree sticks. :mg: :mg: :mg:

little confused...how is the branch breaking the pegs fault?

don't get me wrong glad your okay

 

[fishcatcher]

glad you are ok. go get a climber instead.

Bill

 

[swbuck]

good thing that lightning bolt didn't hit you. July 31st of last year i was on a mountain cutting shooting lanes when a little afternoon thunder storm came through. I was using a 10ft electric saw pole with a chainsaw on the end of it and hooked to a generator. Sat down and rested for a while until i thought the cloud was gone. picked the saw pole up and proceded to cut a limb down when BOOM. Lightning struck the end of my pole. Blew the pole about 10ft out of my hands and knocked me to the ground. It made me scream like ive never screamed before. i didn't mean to but it made me.I felt like I was on fire for about two minutes, let alone i was completely paralized for 30 seconds. After five minutes i got feeling back in my upper body and began crawling up the hill with my elbows to get to my phone. After about 10 minutes i got to where i could pull my legs up, to pull my boots off to see if my feet where still there. when i got my boots off my feet where still there and no blood. By this time I could almost stand up and knew i was gonna be okay. As I layed on the ground i started laughing thinking this really didnt happen. Most horrible pain i ever felt, it was like a bomb went off. Im a die hard hunter but when rain is in the forecast im staying home. G

 

[CarpCommander]

little confused...how is the branch breaking the pegs fault?

don't get me wrong glad your okay

That's what I'm wondering.....


I would say the moral of the story is don't grab branches?

 

[Dthbyhoyt]

Good deal you aren't hurt , I use a screw in step as a handle to hold on to while stepping from my platform to my ladder steps .

 

[staggyd]

glad you are ok. go get a climber instead.

Bill

Best advice you're going to hear....climbers are so much safer.....IMO

 

[lakota234]

That's why I always wear my vest,going up and coming down.I've had two friends that had accidents and are now paralyzed.Scares me to think about it!

 

[jca]

Sorry to hear that, but at least you're ok. But PLEASE dont climb again without a harness! We don't need another hurt hunting friend. PLEASE!

 

[GaryinOK]

It was not the branch, nor the weather, nor the stand, nor the pegs thats were the problem here. The problem was you were off the ground and not hooked into a harness. I am glad you are alright. Some folks don't get a second chance to do it right. I would keep the pegs, and get a harness.

 

[Skeeter 58]

Glad you are okay. Really need to use a harness. I did my first and only thunderstorm tree stand ride about 25 years ago. It was before daylight and I was in the mountains and it came up so fast. Saw the flashes of lightning but thought it would go around. All of a sudden all he** let loose. That tree was rocking like crazy so I just hung on for all I had. Rain and lightning was bad but only lasted about 10 minutes. I will never do that again.

 

[Mathias]

You caught a break on that one. Live and learn. I did the same thing awhile back, had to carry my new compact .45 for some darn reason and fell quite a bit further than you after the "trusted" branch gave way. After an hour or so on the ground I crawled to my truck and drove myself to the ER.

 

[XTECshooter04]

little confused...how is the branch breaking the pegs fault?

don't get me wrong glad your okay

my thoughts exactly. Also seems like you weren't using much precaution when getting out of the stand. I realize that up in a tree is not the place to be when a storm rolls in, but always make sure you use the same precautions when getting down as you would any other time.

 

[Fritzzer]

Glad you are fine. It doesn't take much of a fall, just landing wrong will do it. When I was a kid my science teacher fell 6 ft off of a small ladder while trimming branched at his house one weekend. Only 6 ft. He never walked again. Stunning wife, happy, fit guy. Been in a wheelchair for decades now. Only freakin feet.
There are no ordinary moments in life, lets be careful out there friends.

 

[ks_kiwi]

good thing that lightning bolt didn't hit you. July 31st of last year i was on a mountain cutting shooting lanes when a little afternoon thunder storm came through. I was using a 10ft electric saw pole with a chainsaw on the end of it and hooked to a generator. Sat down and rested for a while until i thought the cloud was gone. picked the saw pole up and proceded to cut a limb down when BOOM. Lightning struck the end of my pole. Blew the pole about 10ft out of my hands and knocked me to the ground. It made me scream like ive never screamed before. i didn't mean to but it made me.I felt like I was on fire for about two minutes, let alone i was completely paralized for 30 seconds. After five minutes i got feeling back in my upper body and began crawling up the hill with my elbows to get to my phone. After about 10 minutes i got to where i could pull my legs up, to pull my boots off to see if my feet where still there. when i got my boots off my feet where still there and no blood. By this time I could almost stand up and knew i was gonna be okay. As I layed on the ground i started laughing thinking this really didnt happen. Most horrible pain i ever felt, it was like a bomb went off. Im a die hard hunter but when rain is in the forecast im staying home. G

Wow!
That's amazing. Glad you're OK and the original poster too.

 

[outback1]

Yes he should have had a harness conected but I'll bet he was in a hurry to get down and tried to take a short cut getting down,maybe that's why he grabed the branch? Glad your ok