Oh Deer

I’m not bothered by idiot car drivers, I’ve got a good handle on reading road conditions, if anything takes me out on a bike it’s gonna be a deer.
 
I just had a deer accident a few months ago. I got slowed down, but they were not crossing the road, but running down the road towards me and in a big pack of 20 or more, one jump out of the pack and ran headfirst into me. It ran off, but cars these days are mostly plastic and it all cracked, the headlights were still working but the mounting points cracked…about $1500 just to replace them.
 
Be glad it wasn't a Roosevelt Elk. Those suckers are BIG and they are tall enough that clipping their legs with the car will send their body through the windshield. 1,100 pounds of bull elk in your lap is not a good way to end the day!
 
Flyhound said:
Be glad it wasn't a Roosevelt Elk. Those suckers are BIG and they are tall enough that clipping their legs with the car will send their body through the windshield. 1,100 pounds of bull elk in your lap is not a good way to end the day!
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Similar problem with moose. Those long spindly legs put the torso at windshield height. And those suckers are ALSO big.
 
Bill said:
I’m not bothered by idiot car drivers, I’ve got a good handle on reading road conditions, if anything takes me out on a bike it’s gonna be a deer.
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I don't ride motorcycles, but a small patch of sand or leaves in an inconvenient place could ruin a high speed bicycle ride.
 
kyleb said:
I don't ride motorcycles, but a small patch of sand or leaves in an inconvenient place could ruin a high speed bicycle ride.
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Indeed, I’m so used to reading corners and debris at motorcycle speeds that doing it at bicycle speeds is a piece of cake. Still, in a paceline you’re putting an lot of trust on the person pulling to properly read the road and call/point out hazards.
 
I have two autos that required MAJOR work after forest rat attacks....sigh.
 
A professor of mine hit a moose while riding his touring bike in Maine. He was hospitalized for over a month but made a full recovery.
 
So many deer around here I don't consider motorcycles safe on the streets anymore. I have hit 2 over the years and 1 has run into the side of my wife's car.
I watched a deer ram the side of the car while it was stopped at a light. It was so injured.
The officer shot it. Should have seen a lady freak out when she witnessed that.

Countless deer have been hit on our road over the years.
 
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My last truck (2005 Toyota Tundra) got a large buck run into the side of it. I decided there was no point in putting money into a 15 year old truck at that point and traded it in on my new one.
My old Nissan Stanza Wagon got hit by two deer but kept on ticking other than one cracking the windshield. It was very odd seeing a deer head suddenly appear in front of me on the other side of the glass. There was deer snot all over my hood and fur in the crack in the glass.

Of course, my Suburban got struck by a moving truck. It didn't fare as well. I was on my way to work wondering if I should trade the ten year old thing in on something more fuel efficient and decided that I'd just run it until it died. Little did I know that was only going to be another mile. The investigating police officer said my truck was driven backward 30 feet and spun around by the impact leading him to believe the moving truck was well in excess of the 25 mph speed limit on the road right in front of my office.
 
I hit a deer once on a dark deserted state road at about 5 in the morning in a company owned work van at close to 90 mph. I was crossing over into Indiana from Ohio and I was bit late going to Ill for work. That deer went flying into the woods so far that we couldn't find it until day light. My boss was starting to doubt my story. Then the state trouper asked me to help load it in his trunk of his cruiser after he asked and said I didn't want it.
 
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Gary Ward said:
So many deer around here I don't consider motorcycles safe on the streets anymore.
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Yeah, my friend and next door neighbor got absolutely scrambled by a deer riding his moto home about a year ago. He's decided to hang it up.
 
Gary Ward said:
I watched a deer ram the side of the car while it stopped at light. The officer shot it as it was wounded. Should have seen a lady freak out when she witnessed that.
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My wife hit one on her way to work, in a fairly populated area of NJ some years back. It was in bad shape, so the responding officer had to shoot it, after first putting a black hood over it's head.

My wife thought that was a thoughtful touch. I'm still wondering why the NJ cop had an executioner's hood with him.
 
Too much has been developed and there is very little green space left for them.

It has been going on for 25 years around here. The wildlife has become much more normal in our backyard. We watch the baby's become mothers and the cycle repeats. Been living here for 42 years.
We just recently bought a house out in the country in Indiana. Big time change for us. A lot more open land. Might be a little safer for a bike?
 
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hmmm there I was just last week contemplating getting rid of the truck and moving into something smaller - then you guys start this thread.
I guess I'll keep my 3/4 ton with the Ranchhand a while longer.

We have deer (the stupid kind; what is with them ramming the side of a moving vehicle anyway, very common) and we have elk and the feral hogs / wild boars will absolutely demolish a small car - it's akin to running into a rock, they rip the front of the car to shreds.
So many stories here of wildlife v vehicle, vehicle often loses.
 
Gary Ward said:
We just recently bought a house out in the country in Indiana. Big time change for us. A lot more open land. Might be a little safer for a bike?
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The two deer we hit in three years and my moto buddy next door were all in very rural areas. YMMV.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
Does anyone hunt deer anymore?
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In many places even woodland hunting is being restricted. And, as deer have become accustomed to residential and urban development, they've moved back into habitats they abandoned decades ago. Unfortunately, it's dangerous and illegal to hunt deer in residential and urban environments, so they're breeding like rats. And with more deer come more tick-borne diseases.
 
We've only hit one deer. My wife tagged one with our minivan late one night. I woke up when she was standing on the brake pedal, and when I opened my eyes all I saw was "deer ass in the headlights". She was slowing, he was running like hell, then decided to turn - that's when the front bumper tagged him and knocked him down. I got out to check on the situation, and as I was pondering how to deal with a severely injured deer he got up and ran off. The only thing we found was a tuft of brown fur on the license plate bolt.

People have varying opinions on loud motorcycle exhausts. Ours were... somewhat louder than stock, but not truly obnoxious. You could, however, hear us coming. Maybe that's why our Gold Wing riding friends had too-close encounters every once in a while, but we never did. My wife was on full time critter alert. I would watch deer move toward the road, then turn and run the other way as we got closer.
 
Old explorer got totaled.

Last day of Ford employee pricing, plus first responder discount plus more negotiating and took home a new explorer for the wife. A bit of an upgrade too. Hopefully this one lasts longer...

20260706_161326.jpg
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Old explorer got totaled.

Last day of Ford employee pricing, plus first responder discount plus more negotiating and took home a new explorer for the wife. A bit of an upgrade too. Hopefully this one lasts longer...

View attachment 153225
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That was quick!

If you guys plan to do more deer hunting, a .30-06 would be a better choice.
 
Pugs said:
I do casually. Mostly taking an old rifle for a walk in the woods. I have that luxury since I have a moose, ducks and phesants in the freezer :p
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I've had duck, pheasant, venison, and bear. What does moose taste like?

Half Fast said:
...If you guys plan to do more deer hunting, a .30-06 would be a better choice.
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.30-06 kicks pretty hard.
Try .243 Win.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
I do
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Given the amount of deer I see lately (in NC), not enough of people do. I see them in neighborhoods, a few days ago had a young one take refuge in one of my bushes. Seems always to be young or females, I assume that’s because hunters prefer males (with racks) as trophies. Guess the few males left are getting around and keeping the population up.
 
What you see are deer hanging out in places they can't be hunted and with plenty of food and thus their natural predator is the Buick. For NC you can kill six deer a season, two bucks and four does and I'm sure if you have a farmer with crop damage permits a bunch more.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
Given the amount of deer I see lately (in NC), not enough of people do. I see them in neighborhoods, a few days ago had a young one take refuge in one of my bushes. Seems always to be young or females, I assume that’s because hunters prefer males (with racks) as trophies. Guess the few males left are getting around and keeping the population up.
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Depends on the hunter. I and many of my friends prefer yearling doe. They taste better.

It’s hard to hunt enough to reduce populations in neighborhoods. The areas where we can generally hunt don’t hold the populations eating people’s flowers.

The NCWRC does a great job of managing populations where people populations allow hunting to occur. I do have some suppressed rifles that I run subsonic ammo in that allow hunting closer to the transplanted *******s that don’t think it’s ok to hunt. The irony is not allowing hunting is very bad for the animal populations.
 
At a certain point in their population growth, Bambi and her ilk become vermin.
 
Domenick said:
At a certain point in their population growth, Bambi and her ilk become vermin.
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I know a guy that lives in Maryland. He makes a bunch of money removing deer from neighborhoods. Has to have a bunch of special permits from the state but it’s kind of a captive market.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
I know a guy that lives in Maryland. He makes a bunch of money removing deer from neighborhoods. Has to have a bunch of special permits from the state but it’s kind of a captive market.
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How does he remove them from populated neighborhoods?
 
Domenick said:
How does he remove them from populated neighborhoods?
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Bow hunting mostly - I have a friend who hunts in a pretty dense suburban neighborhood in MD. He did say occasionally has to clean off a neighbors pool deck but he does get them. I think he killed 19 last year.
 
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