Dropped weapons out of a deer stand?

[parallaxbill]

Fortunately, in 40 years of deer hunting from elevated deer stands I've only dropped one firearm. And that was my 35 Remington Super 14 which slipped out of my Uncle Mike's bandolier holster from about 30'. I apparently had it unstrapped while bending over for some reason, but it fell out, rattled around through my foot climber before sticking itself muzzle first in the ground.
No damage was done but it ended my hunt until I cleared the dirt out of it later.😁

Anyone else willing to admit an incident like that?

[stetson1956]

Wasnt from a tree stand ,but had a 20 in. barrel shotgun used for predator hunting slung muzzle down to avoid tree branches.Slipped going down creek bank and filled barrel about 6 in. with mud .Ended hunt early and quite a job to clean out.

[junebug]

I've dropped everything else I ever took up a tree multiple times hats, gloves, ammo, backpack, but so far no guns.

[kevshell]

I consider myself to be quite careful when it comes to getting in and out of the tree stand with my firearm. I had one mishap in my early twenties where my pump shotgun with a slug barrel fell out of the tree stand. I can't remember the circumstance but I do remember it was something stupid. The shotgun fell butt first and the rear sight caught a limb and bent the rear leaf sight at about a 90° angle from the barrel. Needless to say I needed a new rear sight. And yes the gun was unloaded for climbing up into the tree stand. Knock on wood that's the only one.

[bigbore5]

That's why I have always hunted from the ground. If I drop something I don't have far to climb.

[parallaxbill]

Aug 11, 2023 16:23:25 GMT -5 kevshell said:

I consider myself to be quite careful when it comes to getting in and out of the tree stand with my firearm. I had one mishap in my early twenties where my pump shotgun with a slug barrel fell out of the tree stand. I can't remember the circumstance but I do remember it was something stupid. The shotgun fell butt first and the rear sight caught a limb and bent the rear leaf sight at about a 90° angle from the barrel. Needless to say I needed a new rear sight. And yes the gun was unloaded for climbing up into the tree stand. Knock on wood that's the only one.

Something stupid was involved when I dropped mine.😁

[pacecars]

Aug 11, 2023 16:26:08 GMT -5 parallaxbill said:

Aug 11, 2023 16:23:25 GMT -5 kevshell said:

I consider myself to be quite careful when it comes to getting in and out of the tree stand with my firearm. I had one mishap in my early twenties where my pump shotgun with a slug barrel fell out of the tree stand. I can't remember the circumstance but I do remember it was something stupid. The shotgun fell butt first and the rear sight caught a limb and bent the rear leaf sight at about a 90° angle from the barrel. Needless to say I needed a new rear sight. And yes the gun was unloaded for climbing up into the tree stand. Knock on wood that's the only one.

Something stupid was involved when I dropped mine.😁

Who was she?

[pacecars]

I dropped a brand new Shiloh Sharps .45-100 on the first time I took it hunting. Luckily it landed in some bushes and only had one little dent but it sure hurt

This one to be exact. This was the next day

[bigbrowndog]

Silliest thing for me was deciding to climb out of my stand and lowered my bow down first by means of a hook on a ratchet strap. Loosened the hook and pulled it back up to lower my pack and at that moment. a sounder of pigs came by and started rolling in the mud of the pond I was perched above. They were less than 20 yards away and I was trying to lower the hook and rebook the bow to haul it up. I fumbled around for close to 5 minutes and they finally strolled off. After that i always lowered the bow last and left it attached to the rope just in case it was needed.

I did have a friend drop a nice Win70 264wm from a 30 foot tower stand, speared the muzzle into the ground but only after snapping the butt off at the pistol grip when it hit a steel foot rung on its way down.

Trapr

[parallaxbill]

Aug 11, 2023 16:41:10 GMT -5 bigbrowndog said:

Silliest thing for me was deciding to climb out of my stand and lowered my bow down first by means of a hook on a ratchet strap. Loosened the hook and pulled it back up to lower my pack and at that moment. a sounder of pigs came by and started rolling in the mud of the pond I was perched above. They were less than 20 yards away and I was trying to lower the hook and rebook the bow to haul it up. I fumbled around for close to 5 minutes and they finally strolled off. After that i always lowered the bow last and left it attached to the rope just in case it was needed.

I did have a friend drop a nice Win70 264wm from a 30 foot tower stand, speared the muzzle into the ground but only after snapping the butt off at the pistol grip when it hit a steel foot rung on its way down.

Trapr

In a similar story to yours I shot a big doe, climbed down and in the process of field dressing her, two very nice bucks showed up at 20 yards. Apparently she was hot. My Winchester 1894 XTR in 307 Winchester was propped up against a tree about 10' from me and the doe. Needless to say they didn't allow me to get my rifle.

[gnappi]

I'll bet in many cases there was that little voice in the back of the head whispering...

[woody]

Aug 11, 2023 15:48:34 GMT -5 parallaxbill said:

Fortunately, in 40 years of deer hunting from elevated deer stands I've only dropped one firearm. And that was my 35 Remington Super 14 which slipped out of my Uncle Mike's bandolero holster from about 30'. I apparently had it unstrapped while bending over for some reason, but it fell out, rattled around through my foot climber before sticking itself muzzle first in the ground.
No damage was done but it ended my hunt until I cleared the dirt out of it later.😁

Anyone else willing to admit an incident like that?

I did the exact same thing with my Magnaport Stalker .44 30 years ago. Didn’t snap the flap on my uncle Mikes bandolier holster when I sat down after getting in the stand it flipped down and slid out. It was painful watching it hit the ground. Dinged the finish and broke the scope at the eye piece threads. I sent It back to Magnaport and they fixed the finish and Leupold warrantied the scope!!!!! Made me a customer for life!!!!

[wendigo]

Never dropped one but I have plugged a rifle muzzle or two in the mud before I got smart and started taping them. When I was in my teens I did slip climbing down from a tree and ended up suspended upside down by the cuff of my jeans stuck between a limb and the trunk. How I still had a hold on the rifle I have no idea, but it was a good thing as I used the barrel to pry the pants free. Dropped me on my head, which some claim explains some things...

[gnappi]

Aug 11, 2023 23:06:21 GMT -5 wendigo said:

Never dropped one but I have plugged a rifle muzzle or two in the mud before I got smart and started taping them. When I was in my teens I did slip climbing down from a tree and ended up suspended upside down by the cuff of my jeans stuck between a limb and the trunk. How I still had a hold on the rifle I have no idea, but it was a good thing as I used the barrel to pry the pants free. Dropped me on my head, which some claim explains some things...

Off topic but You reminded me of a long forgotten incident when I fell on my arse once and plugged the muzzle of my Redhawk with mud.  Since then I prefer either a closed holster or one that the muzzle doesn't protrude from out of the bottom.

[drdougrx]

Ruger #1 off a bench at the range. A few scratches to the wood and a heart attack for me. Still don’t know how it happened.