Any close calls? Did you fall?

[Cut N Run]

This happened in N.C. in the Fall 1985.  I had taken some time off work to do some deer hunting and had logged about 8 hours a day on stand for two consecutive days.  I'd seen some small bucks, but no shooters.  On the afternoon of the third day, the temperatures were getting warm and I was getting sleepy.  A few of my hunting buddys were hunting the same piece of land at the same time and were less than 400-500 yards away.  Along about 3 in the afternoon, I started to nod off to sleep.  I was on a LocOn stand with a belt-type safety belt.  I caught myself tipping to one side a few times which woke me up temporarily.  Finally, I woke up when I was at the "point of no return" falling sideways off the seat of my stand. I managed to hang on to my rifle as my momentum was stopped when I came to the end of the safety belt.  It snatched the air out of my lungs and I made a strange guttural niose when that happened.  Needless to say, it woke me up in a big way.  I scrambled to grab and put my feet on a few of the screw-in steps and managed to get back on stand rather quickly. Surprisingly,I didn't add any scratches to the rifle either.  No shooter bucks passed that evening either.  When I got back to the cabin, the guys who were also hunting there that day asked me what that noise was they'd heard from over near where I was hunting at about 1500 hours.  I had to come clean and admit my error.  The end of the story would have been much different if I hadn't been wearing a safety belt.
 
Jim

[Walking Crow]

I fell while climbing a ladder stand a few years back. I had a late start getting to my stand and was rushing. When I arrived at my stand I hurridly set out my buck lures. Now normally I pull my bow up on a rope. But this time I held onto my bow in my right hand. My backpack was slung over my right shoulder. So I climbed my stand using one hand. When I got to the top my muddy boot sliped off of a rung. Because I only had one hand free I tried to grab my stand but all I got was air. I was about 15' off the ground. I started to fall backwards. All I could think was F%%$K I am going to die. I was afraid I was going to fall on my bow and quiver and end up with a bunch of arrows in me. Here is the weird part everything was in SLOOOOW Motion. I had enough sense to throw my bow away so I would not land on it. I also rotated to my right so I could land on my back pack. Which I did.
It coushioned the fall. Which was good except that I also landed on a bottle of Snapple in my backpack. Which broke a couple of ribs. The other weird part was as soon as I hit the ground  Everything speeded up to regular time space continuum thing weird!! I am sure evdery critter in the woods were calling out "Hunter down hunter down" I joke now about it but I was lucky that I only broke a few ribs. I did however climb back up in the stand and hunted the rest of the day. I won't do that anymore.
 
 
Bob D