My girlfriend and I just got back from our annual hog and deer hunt in Oklahoma. Overall id say we had a wonderful time, I did however learn a very valuable lesson the first night we were there! I decided that night i would sit and video my girlfriend in a "hang on" style tree stand while she hopefully arrowed her first archery hog. The stand was hung directly behind her ladder stand and off to one side slightly, perfect for videoing the action! I was also 20' up in a cedar tree I should add. Somewhere around two hours into our sit, and after watching a very sketchy doe walk directly below and all around our stand for some time, the bottom dropped out, literally! The strap that goes around the tree and holds the seat part of the stand in place broke and sent me tumbling to the dirt! It happened so fast, all i can remember was trying to grab the large branch in front of me and then seeing ceder branches flying by my face as i plummeted to earth. The branch I was able to get a slight hold on actually flipped me around and made it so I fell directly on my upper back. Im not sure how or why, but besides having the wind knocked out of me, I walked away from that fall completely unscathed! LESSON LEARNED! From now on you can bet I will have some sort of safety harness to protect myself. Ive hunted from tree stand for five years now and never have I even considered using a safety harness, my tough guy, it'll never happen to me attitude prevented that. Just last night i watched a show about a guy who fell asleep in his stand and is now paralyzed from the waist down, it sent chills down my spine. I feel very lucky.
The hunting went very well though, we brought a total of 12 hogs down to stick and string and I took a management doe for my friends farm. The wild hogs in Oklahoma and other places are running wild, reproducing faster than they can be managed and as long they keep making arrows you can bet my girlfriend and I will keep going back for more. They make for a great way to hone those bowhunting skills, there is no license required on private land, and best of all they are great to eat!
