Deer Impacts

[srbmw]

Yesterday at 9:30 AM while driving my F150 4WD of Hwy 378 west of McCormick, S.C. a doe streaked accross the road in front of me, slammed broadside into an oncomming car. The impact knocked her back into my lane, I straddled her while running about 55 MPH (no time to slow). I pulled of the road at Baker Creek SP to check for damage to my truck. Bent license plate holder, thats all. While stopped 7 bikers on cruisers passed me. My GS was garaged a 100 miles away. I wonder if BMW could make a bike FORD TOUGH?

Not my time nor theirs.
Sam

[36654]

Yesterday at 9:30 AM while driving my F150 4WD of Hwy 378 west of McCormick, S.C. a doe streaked accross the road in front of me, slammed broadside into an oncomming car. The impact knocked her back into my lane, I straddled her while running about 55 MPH (no time to slow). I pulled of the road at Baker Creek SP to check for damage to my truck. Bent license plate holder, thats all. While stopped 7 bikers on cruisers passed me. My GS was garaged a 100 miles away. I wonder if BMW could make a bike FORD TOUGH?

Not my time nor theirs.
Sam

I know a doe can leave a nice dent in the hood of a 3-series.............and still walk away quite nicely

[mariettaman29661]

I don't see why we don't just increase the amount of hunting permits and thin the herd. There has been an explosion of the deer population in the last 20 years.
Why spend money building "underpasses", bridges, ect for deer.
Just thin them out.

Ken

When I was a young man in the 50's, if anyone mentioned deer around here (upstate SC) in the morning, then the deer was on the table by supper time! They were not trouble on the roads!

[arthurdent]

Go take a look at Jack's most recent entry on Twisted Roads. Seems the hurricane was pelting his house with "rats on stilts" during the peak of the storm. Seems an unusual way to have a deer impact, but not without it's own amusement.

[LuckyGrownup]

My take on deer is slow down when your vision limited or gun it. If you gun it, you may win with physics. If you slow down when your sight distance is limited, you might be able to react before you hit one. Ironically, it is when you don't expect to see a deer that they jump out. So, deer may be telepathic. I expect to hit a deer every night I ride. So far, the mind reading deer sense my fear and stay out of my way. On two way roads with a lot of trees, I get really nervous at night. If deer are telepathic They will hear my nervousness miles away. But, the population of deer is growing. For example that cornell paper mentioned that there were only 20,000 deer in NY state 1900. In 1990 we had wolves and they ate the weak deer while hunters ate the big ones. The problem is deer do not have enough predators, and there population is growing. So, get a shotgun or bow and hunting license. Killing deer can save a riders life. Killing deer will also ensure they fear people and stay away from the road.

[dwestly]

Given the assumption that this comment was made in jest, I would also adhere to the position that "you may win with physics" is a short-sighted thought. Yes, there have been instances of two-wheel encounters with the hooved ruminant menace wherein the mechanical side of the equation came out on top. The most memorable one that I personally know of was when a ride leader on a Kymco scooter hammered a deer on a demo ride, and came out upright with only a broken leg. However, the percentage of these "successful" encounters are rare, and I suggest if you just "go for it" in deer country then you are setting yourself up for an unwanted outcome. On the other hand, if anyone does intend to test the laws of physics, please do us a favor. Make sure your GoPro camera is running at all times. We can't wait to see the show...

[36654]

My take on deer is slow down when your vision limited or gun it. If you gun it, you may win with physics. If you slow down when your sight distance is limited, you might be able to react before you hit one. Ironically, it is when you don't expect to see a deer that they jump out. So, deer may be telepathic. I expect to hit a deer every night I ride. So far, the mind reading deer sense my fear and stay out of my way. On two way roads with a lot of trees, I get really nervous at night. If deer are telepathic They will hear my nervousness miles away. But, the population of deer is growing. For example that cornell paper mentioned that there were only 20,000 deer in NY state 1900. In 1990 we had wolves and they ate the weak deer while hunters ate the big ones. The problem is deer do not have enough predators, and there population is growing. So, get a shotgun or bow and hunting license. Killing deer can save a riders life. Killing deer will also ensure they fear people and stay away from the road.

What about your garden and shrubbery? That's all pretty tasty for Bambi, Thumper and friends. Of course, we all like to have some green space around us, so those cute suburb farms have to be planted with something that Bambi & Co. don't like to eat.

What 1900 had that we don't have today is subsistence farmers and laborers, that relied on game for the meat in their diet. Here in the east, the trees and predators were gone by that time (reference: Teddy Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot). It was uncontrolled hunting that maintained the game populations at basically zero population levels. With the advent of the T. Roosevelt Progressive movement (Pinchot created the US Forest Service), conservation became a popular cause ....... protecting the forests and wildlife.

If we want to control the deer herd, we need to develop an economic incentive that makes the hassle of gutting/skinning/butchering/packaging a deer equivalent to buying a piece of meat at the store. That wont be easy.

[Pauls1150]

Got this from the Sunday paper -

[04gt4me]

I was traveling on m32 in michigan on my '85 K100LT about 85 when a good size Doe ran in front of me. It was running with its head low, crossing the road. I had enough time to react with a little "body english" to swerve enough to where I hit the deers nose with the left fork leg. Its head made contact with the radiator scroud and the front of the motor. The motor pushed the head out of the way. The faring protected my leg from contact with the Deer, but it removed my left saddlebag and sent it down the road about 300 feet. It was the worst jolt I have ever experienced, but God must have been looking over me and I managed to keep the bike upright and safely stop. The Deer layed DEAD whear it landed but I was fine. The saddle bag stayed closed and my camera and everything inside was OK. Needles to say I NEVER go fast in DEER aerias any more. Ride with your high beam on and if you see ANY EYEBALLS reflecting back at you HIT THE SKIDS!!!!!! down to 40 mph or so, or slower. I learned by my mistake, please learn by my mistake too The local Harley riders called me "The Deer Slayer" for quite a while after the incident. There was deer fur in the cracks in the radiator scroud untill I repared it for proufe.