Man Falls 30 Feet from Tree Stand; Rescued by BCSO Helicopter

[FrankT]

Be safe and use your safety equipment!

A man is Injured after falling more than 30 feet from a tree stand miles from the nearest passable road.

The situation forced Bay County Sheriff's Office to put their helicopter in the air to rescue the man who was hunting near Fountain.

The hunter fell from his stand in a wooded area near the Jackson and Washington county line in Bay County.

He called his wife who made the call to 911, but when deputies arrived they could only locate him after trekking through the woods on foot.

Lieutenant Kevin Francis says it could have been possible to get an ATV back in the woods, but they chose to call in their helicopter.

"Luckily where he was hunting was a pretty cleared out area so we were able to land within about 50 feet of him,” said Francis. “Moving him otherwise would have been extremely tough with the back injuries being a concern to EMS.

So, moving him at all was not an option for us."

The man suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries. Authorities encourage anyone with access to a cell phone to call 911 themselves so that dispatchers can pinpoint their exact location.

 

[donr101395]

An app that will text GPS coordinates in the event of a fall.


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iter.falldetector

 

[Ric-san]

Dont fall out of your tree stand and you wont need to call 911...

 

[FrankT]

wear safety gear Please!

 

[fishingjean]

I keep saying this about treestand safety , if you fall from a treestand an have your harness an safety rope to tree on, you have about 30 minutes at most before you will start to become dizzy from loss of blood circulation to major parts of your body. Next you pass out an possibly die, hunt with someone, or better get one of the devices that will let you down to the ground at 5mph. an save your life or serious injury, I am getting one for just in case I climb, hope the hunter that fell gets better soon!!!!

 

[Brandon_SPC]

Fell out of my stand this year and my safety harness snapped. Granted it was only at 7 ft but it knocked the wind out of me. Glad this man is okay.

 

[Brandon_SPC]

I keep saying this about treestand safety , if you fall from a treestand an have your harness an safety rope to tree on, you have about 30 minutes at most before you will start to become dizzy from loss of blood circulation to major parts of your body. Next you pass out an possibly die, hunt with someone, or better get one of the devices that will let you down to the ground at 5mph. an save your life or serious injury, I am getting one for just in case I climb, hope the hunter that fell gets better soon!!!!

There also is a little foot stirrup you can use on your safety harness and it is like you are standing in mid air. It is so the blood doesn't stop circulating. Pretty cool.

 

[FrankT]

Is he OK, I have not heard...they said non life threatening, but paralyzed or broken back would really suck

 

[knapp5356]

Never get into a tree without your safety harness!!!!!! Deer, hog ect.. not worth not being able to walk or worse

 

[budbreak96]

To think I used to jack up the tree so high I could see my house from Andalusia, Al. Lucky and God watching out is all I can say, no one can say they are the best using a climber, they might be the one's to fall out of the stand or something happen. A guy that used to hunt at my uncle's lodge would always say "why does it take you so long to get up the tree or get down at night" Because its not a race getting up the tree or getting down and I jack up the tree two to three times as high as you do. I can see twice as far as you and a deer will have to break its neck to see me, smell me, etc....