Deer Experiences

[barney fife]

In 15 I sideswiped a deer in Eastern Washington doing about 55; saved it by going into ditch and almost got the bike stopped before I fell over.  In 16 I just missed one near Durango Colorado again at a slow speed.  Earlier this year near Abilene, Texas I just missed hitting one of 6 that I just saw out of the corner of my eye come running across the road in front of my buddy and I.  We were going 75 in a posted 75, all I had time to do was back out of the throttle and get back on it when I saw a gap between deer 2 and 3.  I was able to hit that gap thanks to the torque of the Valk.  I immediately looked in my rear view and was amazed that Larry missed them too.  Then a couple of weeks ago in Arkansas, again doing about 55,  I saw one coming from left at the last second.  She actually ran into the side of the Valk, making a small crack in the radiator cowling.  All of these occurred in the middle of the day and in only the first instance was I looking away from the road.  I asked my buds if they wanted to lead for awhile after this happened.  Their response was along the lines of thats ok.   I know I am lucky to be here.   

[Robert]

Glad your here to write this too but it seems you are a attraction to the problem varmints.

[ledany]

It's a deer plot, obviously !   

[Pete]

Hummmmmm. seems like an awful lot of instances for one person.

You my want to consider  that  something you are doing or not doing is contributing to the frequency and the closeness of these encounters?

Understand I am not being critical just asking a question that really you should be asking yourself.

Do I have an answer, no, as I was not there. Just a suggestion something needs to change before you get hurt.

[bscrive]

You live in Texas.  Put on a couple of mini guns to clear the way....

But seriously, that is a lot of occurances in a short time.  You either have a load of forest rats around you, or something on the bike may be attracting them.  I don't know what you could get to help you out.  All the crap they have to put on a bike, or car never works to scare them away.

In the 33 years I have been riding I have luckily never come upon deer in front of me.  I have had it happen one time in a car.  Nothing happened because I was driving a piece of crap of a car and would have gladly used that occasion to get rid of it.  But, my reflexes took over and I avoided the deer.

[Kidd]

I almost hit a Elk  about 10 years ago on my BMW , was doing 90 mph and the damn thing came out of nowhere  , if I had been 2 seconds faster , I would not be here today

[Pete]

In looking back at your Deer encounters some questions to consider:

Was each encounter a surprise?
Should or could you have seen them earlier?
Did you take evasive actions as soon as possible?
Were you traveling to fast for conditions and terrain and visual distance?

[barney fife]

Pete, appreciate you trying to help.  To answer your questions.
 
1. When it a deer jumps out in front of you at the last second, it is a little surprising, even if you are focused.  If I see one by the side of the roads I always slow down big time.
2. Hard to see a deer when they are in tall grass, shrubs and trees,  and them being brown they sometime just blend in.
3.  All of these instances happened very quickly, I sincerely believe that not reacting asap is not the problem.
4,  Three of these incidents I was between 45-60mph, so I was not going too fast.

In all 4 of the incidents described its not like of there is a deer up ahead in the road or by the side of the road and I need to slow down.  Its like old crap, a deer.

What needs to change; hopefully seeing less deer dash across the road from outta sight right when I am about even with them.
For whatever it is worth I am in my 52nd year of riding and 14th year of endurance road racing, so the reflexes are still pretty good.

[hubcapsc]

You know how when a bug suddenly goes SPLAT on your
faceshield?... that's what I think the deer Deputy Fife is
describing are like...

-Mike

[Jess from VA]

I've been very lucky with only a few Deer close calls, but no impacts.

On the other hand, my luck with Dears has been..... mild to moderately severe in the other direction.  

[barney fife]

You know how when a bug suddenly goes SPLAT on your
faceshield?... that's what I think the deer Deputy Fife is
describing are like...

-Mike

Thats pretty dang close to it, Mike.

[Pete]

Over the years, I have had a few encounters with various animals.
Deer, turkey, bear, elk, buffalo, possum, bull,cow, pig, canine, snake but contact only with the bear and possum and snake.

In the bear and possum and snake case they came right out of the woods next to the road running either to or from something.

In the case of the bear I had time to react and slip by with minor contact.
The possum no time to react hit it with both wheels front and back, it ran off.
Snake no time to react, again impact with both wheels, snake terminated.

The possum and snake were like hitting a large bump, bump and bump, bump, not a really big deal.

As for the deer, I live in remote area and encounter deer all the time, so far none have surprised me. But because I know they are here (lots of them) I am always actively looking for them.

I have turned into my driveway at night and had 12 pairs of (doe/fawn) eyes staring at me

[hubcapsc]

I was going up a curvy torn-up West Virginia mountain road
through the woods when I became aware that a deer was sailing
through the air over the guardrail to my right. We didn't collide, but it
didn't have anything to do with me.

I'm pretty satisfied with how much I pay attention, but when the
bug/deer splats, that's just how its going to go...

-Mike

[Adirondack Bill]

Wow, Barney do you have antlers mounted on your handlebars or do you use  "Buck Lure" for wax on your Valkyrie? I hit a deer on my bike back in 1978, it is a scary experience.

[idcrewdawg]

Not had the close calls described here. All the deer I've encountered have been standing roadside and not playing chicken with moving vehicles. I have encountered a dear though... However I wouldn't call that a bad experience.

[Avanti]

Choosing to go wide, leaving your line of travel in a curve to avoid an animal or other object may be choosing barbwire, power poles, and trees instead. In either of these cases a hit will require a very good set of full leathers, a full face helmet and of course your ride !! I prefer a miss, but if it is a strike, I choose the animal; it is softer.

[da prez]

  Only one deer hit. 1988 . The darn thing did not have insurance either. Hit a lot of other animals tho.

             I use deer whistles on my bike ,car and truck. When we were on a ride in Spearfish , we had some stop as I was leading ,and they gave us the right of way.

                                                       da prez

[da prez]

  Barney , if you have deer whistles on , turn them around , you are calling the deer to you.

                                                   da prez

[Shrubbo]

Man I thought 'roos and wallabies where bad. A deer you say! Man screw that

[Shrubbo]

Oh crap I just had a thought. We got wild dear running around here because some idiot imported them and let them go. So on consideration I might be able to belt one so I can join the club. Fun.

[barney fife]

Gonna try my best to keep my eyes on the road and hold my speed down.  May even slow down a little in the corners.  Seems like I have had my share of deer encounters in the last three years though.