On Tuesday, Tyler Claus, 18, fell a sleep and fell 20 feet from a tree stand while deer hunting in Newton county...He suffered a broken hip and contusions.......HE WAS NOT WEARING A HARNESS !!

I will say this one more time ... If you do not wear a harness while in a stand or a linemans belt while setting a stand, ANY stand, you are a friggin' fool !! Yea, I mean you !!

No, I do not know the kid, but this could have been prevented...... it pisses me off to no end when something like this happens

Anybody who hunts without one is a moron.

I have told friends who hunt with me, "if you hunt with me you WILL wear a harness. I don't want to find you dead or paralyzed at the bottom of the tree and have to make the call and tell your wife and family."

$60 bucks for a good HSS harness or $99 for a muddy harness. It's cheap insurance.

What does a few days stay in a hospital ICU, surgery to repair a broken hip, missed work, and rehab cost??

How does this continue to happen. Anyone reading this post listen to all said because there will be nothing but good advice! I broke my back. Wasn't from a tree stand mishap actually fishing accident. I have titanium all thru and vertebrae and bone gone if you want to see a horrible X-ray let me know. We are not indestructible. I am grateful I can even draw my bow and cast a rod but can only handle so much. Please wear your safety gear not only for you but your family and friends!

Skeeterowner: "Please wear your safety gear not only for you but your family and friends!"

That says it all.

This is at least the 3rd such accident this year. No fatalities so far but we'll get one yet.

Its just dumb.. but I've done it too when I was young.. my son thinks he is invisible too.. he's army.but when he hunts here he has to play on my rules. Wear the vest or sit your butt on the ground .

You can wind up screwed up for life or dead and there is no reason for it..

I always wear one. going to try and get ropes for my fixed stands so I can be hooked ground up

I put mine on before I transfer on to the stand.

I had a near fall from 27 feet in my climber. I hook up before I climb and I got up to my spot, stopped and noticed my cable wasn't all the way down so I tried to click it in and bam, bottom fell. Luckily I had it tethered but talk about puckering up the ol' keister. I grabbed the top part of the climber and got on it, pulled the bottom up, attached it above the top part, then stood on the bottom part and moved the top back on top again. All the while I dropped just about everything I had. So down I go, back up again.

I was sweating like a pig, made a ton of noise and thought " I'll never see a deer today" right after daylight I text my wife and when I looked up there was a doe standing there.

I guess God rewarded me for my morning LOL, was my first deer on video.

Gundude - Your son thinks he's invisible? Like, people can't see him? He may need to talk to someone about that! Haha

Come on people! You have to be just plain stupid to NOT wear a safety harness!! And, I always use a HSS Life Line on EVERY stand. $40 is cheap NOT to be dead or paralyzed.

The reason, I push safety is it happend to back on Oct. 16th 1996....at Jasper Pulaski F&W area..... in the early Am backed packed a stand in with climbing stick and I didnt put the no skid strips on the steps.....got the sticks up, went to put the stand up, the strap got hung up and as I reached to untangle it, my foot slipped of a rung and back I went....about 20 ft....landed on my left ankel half sitting...knocked mny azz out for about 5 minutes....as I layed there and woke up gasping for air, all I could think of was how the **** was I going to get back up and hunt....I used the bow as a crutch to get out, I was about a half mile from my truck and no one else around.....I drove myself to the ER in Valparaiso, using a clutch(That hurt). When I got to the ER, I couldnt move, my back had stiffened up, I layed on the horn till the ER people came out, got a back board, put me on it.......broke the left ankle and 2 vertabea and pulled about every muscle in my back....my back has never been the same...luckily I still run and work out but I learned a lesson and now will use a linemans belt and harness.....

Invincible... sorry.. spell check and a stupid phone

Maybe we can start a campaign for treestand safety awareness. I know I have 2 or three harnesses that came with treestands I have bought over the years. If we have several donations of harnesses they could be passed out to those that need one. I know it's easy to say a hundred dollar harness is cheap insurance but to an 18 year that may be tough. So what's he do he hunts without one. So instead of calling them morons and stupid lets try to fix the problem. If anyone has extra harnesses please find someone who needs it and give it to them. If you don't know someone send it to me and I will find someone. Thanks

Aaron Collins
7428 E 500 N
Wilkinson, IN 46186

Crazy but true that some still go without. I know several guys who will not wear one to this day. You can make all the excuses in the world, but at the end of the day it only takes one fall for your family to be devastated. Sad.

Aaron - good idea. Maybe we could donate them via the Hunters Ed classes??

Jack

Very good idea jack. I was trying to thing of an avenue to promote it through.

Trust me, paralyzed will screw up your life.

I just picked up a 3 pack of Hunter Safety Systems Life Lines for $99 with free shipping on Ebay. Connect at the ground and be safe your entire hunt!

I just ordred a new HSS elite vest from amazon, $151 no shipping or tax. I was thinking it wsa about time to upgrade my harness system.