Beep! Beep! Beep!...went my alarm exactly on time—5:30a.m. I got up out of bed and stretched, ruffled through my hair and went to the bathroom. I washed my face, brushed my chompers, and went back to my room. I couldn’t believe I was getting up this early just for deer huntin’!

It was a calm, cool, peaceful morning. The dew was on fairly heavy and a low-laying fog set everything to perfection. I slipped on my camo pants over top my shorts, pulled my camo shirt over my head and tucked it into my pants. I grabbed my belt and ran it through my belt loops and then through my knife case, pulling it tight and buckling it. I grabbed my keys, wallet, phone, coveralls and my Mathews Z7. I turned my light out in my room and went to the laundry room. I slipped my rubber boots on and walked out the door, locking it behind me. Everything seemed so perfect, but things would take a turn for the worst…soon.

As I backed out of my driveway, I noticed something missing from the things I had grabbed. I had grabbed everything except my saftey harness, to strap myself to the treestand. I threw the truck in park and ran back inside to grab it. Boy, oh boy, am I ever so glad I did. Most people don’t use one and accuse them of being pointless, but I would soon come the to find the point of a safety harness.
I made it to my aunt’s farm around 6:15 a.m. I unloaded the four-wheeler, got my bow out of the truck, and put my saftey harness on under my coveralls. I locked up the Dodge, sprayed down with scent killer to hide my odor from the deer, and took off for the stand.
I got back in the field and I had a bad wind to hunt the stand I had planned to. So, I played the wind and changed routes to another stand. I parked the four-wheeler behind some hayrolls and took off walking for my other stand. I got to the stand and by then the horizion was breaking daylight. I looked up the ladder and shook it left and right to ensure my rachet straps weren’t loose on the tree or stand. I moved quickly but safely as it was still dark in the holler I was in. I got up to the top of the stand and strapped myself to the tree via safety harness. I leaned over the side of my stand and pulled my bow up with a rope, to ensure no accident occurred while climbing the 17.5 foot stand with my bow in hand.

I got my bow up in the stand and put an arrow in it and detached my quiver. I hung my bow on a tree within reaching distance and I layed my quiver on the treestand platform, behind my feet so it wasn’t in the way. I put my release strap on my wrist and settled in.

I reckon it must have been around 8:30 or 9:00 a.m when I heard leaves and twigs crunching and snapping. I slowly looked up, trying to avoid any fast movement to alert the deer that was only 19 yards away from me. I reached for my bow slowly and then slowly clamped my release onto the D-loop. It wasn’t the monster buck I had hoped for since I had awakened hours earlier, but it was a nice doe and I had my mind set, I was going to put one through her pump station.

I slowly started to stand up and draw back my bow. Upon reaching a full standing postion and a full draw, I went to set my feet aligned with my shoulders and to make me aligned with the deer. As I did this, the stand kicked sideways and it sent me under the rail of the stand and over the edge. My bow smacked the ground with a thud. My saftey harness kept me from doing the same.

I hung under the stand for a couple minutes, in shock. When I finally got my head and thoughts back in order, I grabbed the platform of the stand and pulled myself back up into it. I sat back down. I had a million thoughts running through my head. I actually feared for my life, the first time ever had I done that. Looking back at it now, I’m so glad I took the extra 2 minutes to stop the truck and go get my safety harness, or now as I call it, “my life saver.” That hunt could have been my last. So, with this all being said, I encourage people that hunt in the air to ALWAYS wear a saftey harness!