From The "You Can't Make This Up" Department

[Stu Farish]

Think "stupid human trick" for things suitable for this thread, but I'll start with one a bit different.

Not the usual stupid human trick stuff but really bad luck

Alabama Student Killed in Hammock Camping Disaster

An American student was killed in a freak camping accident at a Georgia campsite in the early morning hours.

www.westernjournal.com

 

[GC]

Bad luck...

 

[bohunr]

wonder if that ever happened to a bowhunter, high up in the tree, strapped in so he wouldnt fall. then the tree falls instead

 

[Spurchaser]

Heck I was turkey hunting yesterday evening and a tree on the creek across a clearcut just split in half and came crashing down! We had a little wind, but nothing over 15mph. This was a leafed out tree too!!

 

[hm1996]

Ain't no guarantee on the back of our birth certificates.

 

[GC]

wonder if that ever happened to a bowhunter, high up in the tree, strapped in so he wouldnt fall. then the tree falls instead

About five years ago, my adult son and I went bowhunting in the national forest on a windy morning. It was cold, and the wind was blowing 15-20 mph with higher gusts possible. We walked in just before daylight and split up, both of us going down spur ridges about a 1/2 mile apart. Feeling the deer would be staying lower in the bottoms and knowing there was a game trail that skirted along the base of the ridge, I set up about 20 yards from that trail. I used a Summit climbing stand, chose a tree about 24" around, and scooted up about 16', where I had a good angle to shoot from and a bit of back drop cover. The wind was blowing hard enough that the tree I was in was occasionally swaying around. After being in the tree about an hour, I heard a sharp "pop" and what sounded like canvas tearing just behind me. I swung around and looked and watched a giant oak tree crash to the ground. Fortunately, the tree fell away from me. If that tree had fallen in my direction, it would most likely have swiped me clean off the tree I was hunting from. I always wear a safety harness and rope strap on the tree, but certainly, it would have been a rough experience. Even on a tree that big, the root ball is only about 6'-8' around and maybe 4' deep. The rocky soil doesn't give a tree much ground to grab onto. I stayed put and hunted until about 11:00 and then got the heck outta that tree.