The interview was emotional. I asked the burley man named Mike in the wheel chair if he had anything he would like to say to other hunters. His lip quivered and we both choked up. I could barely see him through my welled up eyes as I watched him through the view finder of my broadcast camera. I knew that this was especially hard for him as the message he was trying to give to others would have changed his life…had he heeded it 12 years earlier.
"The best advice I can offer" he said, "is this…don't think it can't happen to you", he choked. "I was hunting the same treestand I had hunted for 5 years. It was like an old friend. I had so many good memories from the stand…I was eye level with the platform when my foot slipped off of the step. I only fell 15 feet. Somehow I landed on my neck". He paused to catch his breath and continued, "That day, when I walked those last few yards to my stand… is the last time I walked. I run this chair with my mouth. I require help to do everything except breath and swallow".
He explained that, you and I are only a split second from an accident and our own wheel chair, if we don't prepare to be safe. Mike continued, "Don't underestimate the risk that treestand hunting brings", It takes no time and little money to treestand hunt safely. Wear a full body harness and stay attached".
I was working on a DVD for the Physically Challenged Bowhunters of America when I conducted that interview. Since then I have worked with the NBEF as their manager for the Safe Treestand Hunting Strategies DVD. I talk to dozens of hunters who fell from their treestands each year. The common denominator…they weren't wearing a full body harness and they weren't attached to the tree. The fact is that if we follow safe treestand hunting practices we dramatically reduce our risk. The rule is to wear a TMA certified full body harness and be attached to the tree from the moment you leave the ground until you return to the ground. There is a few ways to do this. One way is to use a lineman's style belt while climbing and then use the double attachment method when boarding and exiting the stand.
Another method is use the FallGuy retractor and vest. A few guys from the auto industry in Detroit came up with the system 3 years ago. We have been using them at our Whitetail University outdoor writer camps for as long. The principal is simple. They use seatbelt technology. It is a system that allows the user to attach a retractor to the tree above his treestand and then, with the use of a small cord pull out up to 20 feet of sturdy webbing, while still standing on the ground under your stand. Just hook your carabineer onto the extended tether and then start climbing. The webbing retracts while you climb and then stays attached throughout your hunt. When you climb down the webbing feeds out as you descend until you get to the ground…and you are still protected. At any time, if you fall, it catches and arrests your fall…within inches. It works just like your seatbelt.
Scott Harper recently represented FALLGUY at a whitetail hunt I was on in Illinois. Scott explained and demonstrated the system to the crew…and caught everyone's attention. "The FallGuy system includes a full body harness that is incorporated into a vest", Scott explained. "Unlike some of the other safety vests, ours is hunter friendly at half the weight of the Hunter Safety System vest". Scott continued, "Ours is designed for hunters who understand that scent control is an issue. The harness actually snaps out of the FallGuy vest so you can wash the vest and then re-snap the harness in. And it is still easy to put on and off".
Scott Harper of FallGuy shows how to treestand hunt safely. The key to safety is to ramain attached to the tree throughout the hunt. The FallGuy vest when combined with the 20-foot Retractor is the lightest treestand safety vest available for hunters.
Scott pulled down the webbing from the 20-foot FallGuy Retractor and hooked the carabineer from his vest to the webbing. As he climbed the retractor quietly sucked in the webbing, keeping it taught as he climbed. Scott explained, as he climbed to the top of an 18-foot Gorilla ladder stand, that "most treestand accidents occur going up and down plus getting into and out of a stand, and that is when the FallGuy Retractor is protecting you. Plus you are protected when in the stand because the retractor insures that there is no slack in the connecting tether. This eliminates the free-fall option that is ever present with other systems".
Then someone asked if the tether interrupts the hunter's ability to draw their bow or shoot around the other side of the tree. Harper answered that, "unlike fixed tether systems that the competition offers, the retractor will allow you to slowly move and change positions in your stand because the retractor will feed out webbing slowly as you turn. The mechanism activates only in the event of a fall and when there is 1-G force applied.
When in the treestand, the FallGuy Retractor and Vest protect you against falls while not restricting your shooting ability.
Scott began to climb down as we watched. He was still talking…then he shouted as he slipped off of the second to top rung and was launched into the air. The FallGuy retractor went to work (just like your seat belt) and locked the webbing before Scott had fallen a few inches, arresting his fall. He sagged into the harness and spun around smiling. He said, "I wanted you to see it in action. The retractor caught me as I began to fall and the FallGuy vest distributed the force of the fall across my legs and waist. It really is the answer to treestand safety" Scott said through his smile.
The seatbelt technology in the FallGuy Retractor arrests your fall instantly. Harper demonstrated the system to the group by staging a fake fall.
Emotional moments are etched deep. My interview with the wheel chair bound hunter Mike was one of those moments. I still remember his words. I have taken them as a hunter's gift. "Don't think it can't happen to you" he said. Well it did happen to me about 20 years ago. I limped for 6 months. God was with me that day. Today I preach treestand safety everywhere I go. And with Christmas coming up I am going to make a suggestion for you. For about the price of a tank of gas you can buy a FallGuy retractor or vest that can make a difference for the rest of your life. Instead of a silly box of sausage or a donut maker buy dad or your hunting buddy something that will make a difference this year.
If you are feeling lucky you can go to www.whitetailu.com and enter the Christmas Sweepstakes… while you read great articles that will make you a better whitetailer.
