how many of us

[Lot to Learn]

Just reading online a 41 year old man from Hardin, IL died last night setting up a tree stand. Not many details to the story, www.thetelegraph.com.  I mention this only to point out how serious this issue actually is.

[dtrain56]

well where i am in PA the closest hospital is 30-40 minutes away and my camp is not easily found, it is on a right of way with only one nieghbor within ear shoot and cell phone service is spoty at best
 
If I were to fall form any distance or seriously get hurt i would be dead....the contingency plan is to not fall and to take every percaution possible..
 
I  wear a woodsman line around the tree...i could possibly slide down but hopefully i will catch myself or it catches on something
 
if the tree has lots of limbs then i have to disconnect from the tree i try not get attached asap 
 
 

[hunter480]

ORIGINAL: dtrain56

well where i am in PA the closest hospital is 30-40 minutes away and my camp is not easily found, it is on a right of way with only one nieghbor within ear shoot and cell phone service is spoty at best

If I were to fall form any distance or seriously get hurt i would be dead....the contingency plan is to not fall and to take every percaution possible..

I  wear a woodsman line around the tree...i could possibly slide down but hopefully i will catch myself or it catches on something

if the tree has lots of limbs then i have to disconnect from the tree i try not get attached asap 

 
There is a new unit, called SPOT. You can research it, but it`s basically a GPS unit that you can use to alert people to your situation and location from anywhere.
 
Neat device and not that expensive.

[dtrain56]

How does it work???? i have seen it advertised but don't know much about it..who does it alert ..is it a service..do you subcribe to it..it has a locatoer but how does your local hospital of police get the call out for help??????

[JOEL]

to add to the spot convo.almost all cell phones have a gps locator in them if you ever need help dial 911 and leave the phone on it will relay your gps #'s to the rescue personal 

[msbadger]

Worked for me...when neighbor nearly shot me out of my stand ...I was yelling and dialing 911 as I ducted...the operator had me pinpointed to with in a couple of hundred feet right away...........

[hunter480]

Can`t remember all the details exactly, but as I recall, the unit cost`s around $160, then there is a fee but it`s very nominal.
 
You program in the people you want to be notifed in the event you have an emergency and need to signal for help.
 
Tjere`s also a feature that allows people you`ve given acces, to track your movement.
 
A really neat unit I think.

[dtrain56]

does it work even if you don'r have cell phone serivce???

[GTOHunter]

From what I seen the GPS "Spot" system works without having to have a Cell phone or cell phone service,but you will be paying a monthly fee for the service/connection for the GPS system to a Satelite so it will be similar to having cell phone service! [&:] [;)]

[DeanoZ]

I know I harp on this a lot (and rarely get a response) but someone has to say it! We cannot spend our way around a reasonable level of fitness. That is not to say that a hunter who cannot muscle themselves up after a fall should not be hunting from a tree, but they should be very careful (ladder stands w/ railings) and they should work to improve their strength

 
Amen JPH, I really like that your harping on this.  I consider myself fairly fortunate to be in a relatively good state of fitness considering I'm 43.  Not that i think 43 is old or anything but you definately feel the aches more.  Ironically when I first started using my climbing stand that was one of the very things I wondered..can i pull myself back up in my stand if I fell out.  So I tried it, with the stand hanging much lower, and although it was awakward I did it.  But I'll be honest, if you cannot do a single pull up with relative ease your going to have a difficult time making it happen.
 
Not to preach, but pullups are one of the single best exercises you can do to develop upper body strength.  Make it a goal of yours this hunting to season to be able to do at least 3 of them from a chin-up bar before the 2008 season is out!  You'll be glad you did!