Safety harnesses and other safety

[jagermeister]

I definitely get more paranoid about this stuff as I get older and the more times I hear of others falling from trees. I used to do some really dumb shit when I was a younger deer hunter. Climbing without a harness, climbing way to high, hanging stands at ridiculous heights, not checking straps, etc etc etc. Nowadays I pay a lot of attention to my safety gear. I use a Muddy Safeguard harness and a lineman's rope with 5000# carabiners at all times. Despite the precaution I still realize it's may or may not save my ass in the event of a fall, so I make it a point to let someone know where I'm hunting EVERY time I go out into the woods. Having a little boy at home has definitely made me a more safety conscious deer hunter these days.

 

[jagermeister]

In regards to gutting deer, one thing our group does (when at deer camp) is we don't ever gut a deer by ourselves. We typically wait for another person to join in on the track job and gut the deer with an onlooker. In the event a knife slips and hits something major, we have help right there at our side. Now obviously this isn't a foolproof plan either. So in my pack I always carry a pouch of Quik Clot gauze. Between that and the paracord hoist ropes I carry, I feel like I have enough to stop or slow down a pretty significant bleed.

 

[Dustinb80]

Back to the gutting thoughts. I explained to my old man what I thought would be a perfect gutting knife and he found a guy that made custom blades. They came up with this. Works great, but I never seem to have it when I need it.
View attachment 68514View attachment 68515

Well now you have it and don't need it.

 

[giles]

Well now you have it and don't need it.

I wonder how well it’d work on a pumpkin roll...

 

[Dustinb80]

I wonder how well it’d work on a pumpkin roll...

Lol probably pretty good

 

[hickslawns]

I'm slowly adding lifelines to all stands. Majority have them now. A few I rarely hunt do not yet.

I feel I'm pretty cautious. Even so, things happen. I've had feet slip. I've had climbing sections shift while climbing. I've hunted less than 10 times this year. While swapping a stand in preseason I used the supplied strap. Put my second strap on (which was used on the old stand I was swappingpoing out. While cleaning up shooting lanes I reached out and the stand shifted. The old strap had broken. All was well. Stand still had one strap. I was also strapped to the tree. I had a buddy with me. BUT. . .it happens. What if old strap broke AND new strap was faulty? Now I'm relying on my harness.

I also had the bottom of my climber fall once this year. It was tied off. What if it wasn't? I'd have been left sitting in a tree making a plan on how to get down alone or how to direct a buddy to me. Simply retrieving the bottom while I was sitting in the top was a bit daunting. Probably "dumb" is a better word to describe it.

Good thread Dave. Have a plan. Have a backup. Be prepared to implement them.

 

[giles]

Here’s a picture one of our members sent me about a month ago. What do you do in this case?!

That’s not something I went and searched for. I went into our text and pulled that out. Tell me that wouldn’t hit home if he was in that tree.

 

[OO2]

Dave or Cole for that mater, could you post up a link for that GPS?

I have the Garmin inReach.
Here is the one I have:
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/561286


I haven’t had to use it (thankfully) but I pay for the monthly fee to use during hunting season then cancel when I am done. It allows me to send SOS signal with no service. Also, I can send pre-programmed texts out to contacts such as, “I just shot a deer...”. Seemed like a good investment considering I am going out of cell service and hanging and removing a stand one of those times being in the dark. A little piece of mind Incase linesman belt or harness fails or I get caught not being able to get myself out for whatever reason.

 

["J"]

I have the Garmin inReach.
Here is the one I have:
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/561286


I haven’t had to use it (thankfully) but I pay for the monthly fee to use during hunting season then cancel when I am done. It allows me to send SOS signal with no service. Also, I can send pre-programmed texts out to contacts such as, “I just shot a deer...”. Seemed like a good investment considering I am going out of cell service and hanging and removing a stand one of those times being in the dark. A little piece of mind Incase linesman belt or harness fails or I get caught not being able to get myself out for whatever reason.

Cole, thanks for posting. What’s the monthly service charge for it?

 

[OO2]

Cole, thanks for posting. What’s the monthly service charge for it?

It comes out just shy of $16. The intial investment is kinda expensive, I got my unit for $299 on amazon and had a $40 activation fee. But after that it hasn’t been bad.

 

["J"]

It comes out just shy of $16. The intial investment is kinda expensive, I got my unit for $299 on amazon and had a $40 activation fee. But after that it hasn’t been bad.

Still a fairly reasonable insurance policy....

 

[Sgt Fury]

When ladder stand climbing always use the three point contact with the stand. Both hands and one foot minimum. Always think about your next move and play out what would happen with a slip.... Don’t overload yourself with gear that would take away from your ability to maintain contact with that stand......

That stand should be rock solid with no side too side movement when ascending or descending....

I like the wrap around shooting rail as well, just another item to keep you from falling out if you have a misstep.....

I once (stupidly) climbed a 22 foot ladder stand in the dark after freezing rain had fallen overnight. 3/4 of the way up, I didn’t think I was going to make it. My hands couldn’t get a good grip and I had to wrap my arm around each ladder rung on the way up. Entire stand had about 1/4” of ice on it. Lesson learned!

 

[Sgt Fury]

Ladder stands are my elevated hunting preference. Each attaching point gets two ratchet straps offset from each other. Ratchets would be 180 degrees from each other. Some have 4 some have 6 depending on the attach points. I look them over at he beginning of each season and all hardware is swapped out with grade 8 bolts and locknuts. No pins left in the stands, everything is bolt and locknut....

I do the same...I also inspect the straps at the beginning of every season. Weather and squirrels do a number on them. I also replace my rope that I use to pull my equipment up...getting your stuff half way up then watching it fall back to the ground is not a good way to start a hunt!

 

["J"]

I once (stupidly) climbed a 22 foot ladder stand in the dark after freezing rain had fallen overnight. 3/4 of the way up, I didn’t think I was going to make it. My hands couldn’t get a good grip and I had to wrap my arm around each ladder rung on the way up. Entire stand had about 1/4” of ice on it. Lesson learned!

We had freezing rain last week, lots of limbs and trees were down on the drive down.... I brought a small widow scraper with me as I was thinking ahead and was able to scrape the ice climbing up for a better climb down....

 

[Sgt Fury]

I saw this on Steve Bartylla's FB page earlier this year and just remembered it when I started reading this thread. It is only $50 at Wal-Mart (not sure if in all stores). It is designed to slowly lower you once you have fallen. Not a bad price either for peace of mind and a great stocking stuffer! LOL!

At that price, I may get one for the bedroom!

 

[cspot]

Ok so who has a solution for this. My son will be able to hunt on his own next year. At camp many of our spots don't have cell coverage. I know we could use 2 way radio's to communicate, but do they make any that you could text? This way it wouldn't be noisy. Or does anyone have any other solution? With him using a climber, I would rather he be able to get ahold of me somehow.

 

[giles]

Ok so who has a solution for this. My son will be able to hunt on his own next year. At camp many of our spots don't have cell coverage. I know we could use 2 way radio's to communicate, but do they make any that you could text? This way it wouldn't be noisy. Or does anyone have any other solution? With him using a climber, I would rather he be able to get ahold of me somehow.

If an emergency occurs, who cares about noise.

 

[jagermeister]

Ok so who has a solution for this. My son will be able to hunt on his own next year. At camp many of our spots don't have cell coverage. I know we could use 2 way radio's to communicate, but do they make any that you could text? This way it wouldn't be noisy. Or does anyone have any other solution? With him using a climber, I would rather he be able to get ahold of me somehow.

Radios aren't all that loud. If you turn off the "Roger" beep, you can barely hear anything other than the person talking. And you can use an earpiece mic if you're really concerned about noise. I'd go with radios. But if there are hills, you might struggle to get good signal with one another.

 

[steveOh]

These are great

These straps are great! The best 20 bucks that I ever spent. They make the climber rock solid. Next to a safety rope and harness they are a must!

 

[bowhunter1023]

Ok, I'll say it. Some people should not climb trees period. They're too fat, too weak, and/or too incapable of recovering and helping themselves when they're at the literal end of their rope. If you can't do one pull up, you shouldn't be 20' up a tree. That's my "safety nazi" opinion. I personally feel you shouldn't put yourself in physical situations for which you're not prepared.

How's that for a strong opinion?!?