Safety reminder

[wordbird]

Hey guys. I'm new to the board and would like to start with this reminder to be safe out there this fall. I know a lot of you are getting out and hanging stands etc. and I want to relate a story about a fall I took in Oct. 2005. It's a little long so I'll post a link to the story as written by an east Tenn. writer and based on a journal I kept of the ordeal. I hope you'll read it and be inspired by it. God bless.
http://www.tnhunting.com/stories/garrett/billyword.html

[DeerCamp]

Bill, that is truly a encouraging story after hearing all you had to go through! I am glad that you have recoverd for the most part and are able to enjoy the outdoors again.  Im sorry that you had to experence such a thing. I plan on buying a Hunters Safety System this year. Wish you the best of luck this season.

Jerry

[bckklr]

the great creator had to be watchin over you that was a very inspiring story what part of giles co you hunting in? i hunt the hurricane creek rd area & close to the pulaski country club

[wordbird]

Ken, I hunt down near the state line on Sugar Creek below Minor Hill. My Granddad's old place borders all that crop land in the creek bottoms. It's my honey hole.[:)]

[shaman]

I remember this-- a bunch of us were all praying for you over on the 24hourcampfire. I hadn't realized it had been this long.  Crawling 400 yards with a broken back is one of those things that sticks with you.  You had a lot of guys -- I won't say "feeling your pain."  Let's just say we could see ourselves in your place and didn't like it one bit. 

I've done a quarter mile on my elbows, but it was by choice and it was done in the peak of health.  I used to be a caver.  It was hard to do in my prime, and it would never happen now.  Were I to fall like that now, I'd be mulch.  Your story was sobering to say the least.  If there is any comfort to be derived from all your suffering, it is that you made a lot of your fellow hunters think deep and long about what's at stake when they go up a tree.

I've always been strict about being belted to the tree. Since I heard about your problem, I've tried to be religious about letting folks know where I'm going to be. I'm also glued to either my cellphone or walkie talkie.

Thanks for letting folks know. You sobered up a lot of us.

[bckklr]

hey mr bird im glad you were able to join the ranks of whitetail chasers once again , that is some fine property in that neck of the woods & a nice buck in your story pic i recon that came from the giles co farm?

[fasteddie]

I havn't fallen from a stand but ......... I have had some close calls hanging a couple while doing it alone . If you put up a ladder stand alone , you should have ropes attached to the top , criss-crossed around the tree and tied off before going up the ladder .
If you hunt from a stand , don't leave your cell phone / walkie-talkie in your backpack . If you fall it won't do you any good being in the tree with you on the ground !

[howhill1]

thanks for the wake up call, you are a true example of perseverance as well as the grace of god. you hit the nail on the head about complacency. you do the same thing so often that you dont think it through any more and we all know where that gets us. i think weve all suffered from the "that wont happen to me " mentality. i like the statement " either youv'e fallen or know someone who has" im sure that probably fits us all. lets face it we're deer hunters somethings going to go wrong! at any rate welcome to the woods and welcome to the forum i think youll be right at home.

[wordbird]

ORIGINAL: bckklr

hey mr bird im glad you were able to join the ranks of whitetail chasers once again , that is some fine property in that neck of the woods & a nice buck in your story pic i recon that came from the giles co farm?

Yep. Both of those bucks came from the farm.