shooting with safety harness

[stinkbelly]

I had a lot of trouble this past weekend shooting with my safety harness on. I am right handed. I set up my stand so that everything would be on my left side. All the deer and hogs showed up on my right side. I stood up and turned around to face the tree so that my left arm would be towards the target. When I went to draw the bow, the safety harness strap kept getting tangled around my arm. I could never get the proper form.

What do you do to make sure this doesn't happen?

[Sleepy]

You need to move it up higher on the tree where you connect it. This does two things: less shock if you fall, and gets your lanyard out of your way

[bowhuntntxn]

I agree with sleepy. Higher lanyard with less slack will allow you to turn all directions. I have shot deer behind me and never had an issue get tangled up. I've even left mine hooked to my life line to keep it off to the side and out of the way.

[LeanMachine]

Start using a rock climbing harness and it is no longer an issue. I will never wear a hunting harness again. This is the primary reason that I made the switch.

A higher attachment point with standard hunting harness will only make the described issue worse. I always use a lifeline. When I used a standard harness and I knew a shot was about to happen to my right, I would slide the prussic down the life line closer to waist level so it wouldn't be int he way of my draw arm.

[stinkbelly]

Doesn't a climbing harness only support you around the waist? If so, I would think you could break your back if you fell from a treestand.

[WCB]

Start using a rock climbing harness and it is no longer an issue. I will never wear a hunting harness again. This is the primary reason that I made the switch.

A higher attachment point with standard hunting harness will only make the described issue worse. I always use a lifeline. When I used a standard harness and I knew a shot was about to happen to my right, I would slide the prussic down the life line closer to waist level so it wouldn't be int he way of my draw arm.

Sliding the prussic knot down to your waist level is not a safe alternative to keeping it as high as possible. Sometimes safety should come before shooting an animal...

[LeanMachine]

Doesn't a climbing harness only support you around the waist? If so, I would think you could break your back if you fell from a treestand.

Common misconception. A treestand harness is designed to be fallen in MAYBE one time in it's life. Some are supposed to be retired after a fall. Rock climbing harnesses take thousands of falls. Some from considerable distance. A 3 feet fall from a treestand is a joke. No you will not fall out of the harness because it is not full body. Go watch some rock climbing fall videos. People climb 2000 foot faces in rock climbing harnesses, typically falling several times along the way. What was your concern about being 30 feet up a tree again?

Do a google search. Lots of folks are using them and all say they will never go back to a hunting harness.

Need i mention that a hunting style harness compresses your femorals and can cause serious injury from suspension? Not the case with climbing harnesses due to anterior attachment point.

[Felix40]

Rock climbing harness for me too. More comfortable and more safe.

[stinkbelly]

So you just use a rock climbing harness with a lifeline? Do the attachment goes from your lap to around behind you to the lifeline?

[Traxx]

Mmkayyyyy, Soooooo. I guess that I have been wearing some style of safety harness since 1996. The standard hunting harness looks very similar to the OSHA requirements for a fall protection harness. I also remember something very similar to the climbing harness from way back in the day working in the derrick. Those are outlawed now by the way. Something to do with if you hit your head when you fall and go inverted. The full body harness is designed to keep you upright if you hit your head. That is why the attachment point is high and between the shoulders. You know the whole life over limb thing. Another point is to look at fitment and self rescue. The harness should be tight, as in i can't wiggle my finger between the strap and thigh. Also a provision for stirrups to stand on built into the harness is a plus. That way if you do fall you can get the weight off of the straps. The straps will act like a tourniquet if you just hang there. Have a plan for self rescue, winging it is not good enough.
Looking at the 2, the climbing harness looks much more comfy and like it won't interfere with your draw. The hunting harness is more like what I wear at work but with out provisions for self rescue and I don't see a shock cord style lanyard. It looks like it will mess with the draw.
I ain't wearing either one.

[stickbowcoop]

You need to move it up higher on the tree where you connect it. This does two things: less shock if you fall, and gets your lanyard out of your way

Agreed. When you sit down you want the lanyard just taut. That keeps you from falling below the deck but also helps keep the lanyard out your way for your shot.

I tried a rock climbing harness about 5 years ago and hated it. A lot of people absolutely love them but it just wasn't for me.

[MetalMan2004]

I had something similar happen last weekend because the attachment was too high on the tree. I was rifle hunting though.

Hunting my usual spot in SHNF and hadn't seen anything come down the usual trail so I moved my stand to the left a ways to get a better view of some scrapes. Turns out a buck walks down the usual trail that is now to my right. I decided I could shoot it left handed if I could get settled properly. Unfortunately I just couldn't get settled because I didn't have enough play where I was attached. He ended up catching me moving around and busted off.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want it to be too low either. This is the first time I've had this issue and it won't be happening again. Live and learn I guess. When I set it up properly my harness is pretty comfortable (of course I'm not using a bow). It also has a line of webbing attached to one side at the hip and folded up in a sheath to act as the stirrup if you fall and have to hang for a bit.

[meltingfeather]

What do you do to make sure this doesn't happen?

Practice taking shots the same way you're going to be when you're hunting.