I have encountered 21 deer so far this year on the roads of Central Pennsylvania,several close calls, after having no encounters in 15 years. Number 21 was unlucky. Face plant right into my passenger side window. Horns scratched up the window, passenger door mirror broken off, door dented. Fortunately this was on my beater, so only the mirror really needs to be fixed. Its a forty dollar part and a 10 minute job on a 2005 civic. The deer didn't even go down. Deer are responsible for more human deaths in Pennsylvania than any other animal, due to traffic accidents. No matter how careful and observant you are, sometimes they're just nothing you can do.
Finally got my deer
- Thread starter dlayman
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That deer probably ran away thinking he won!
JHZR2
Staff member
Sorry to hear that.
I once saw a deer jump over the high barriers on the PA turnpike, bounce right into a Saturn (in front of me), and explode in air. Yuck.
I once saw a deer jump over the high barriers on the PA turnpike, bounce right into a Saturn (in front of me), and explode in air. Yuck.
Exactly
It's so bad here at night I hate to drive.
It's so bad here at night I hate to drive.
Originally Posted By: dlayman
I have encountered 21 deer so far this year on the roads of Central Pennsylvania,several close calls, after having no encounters in 15 years. Number 21 was unlucky. Face plant right into my passenger side window. Horns scratched up the window, passenger door mirror broken off, door dented. Fortunately this was on my beater, so only the mirror really needs to be fixed. Its a forty dollar part and a 10 minute job on a 2005 civic. The deer didn't even go down. Deer are responsible for more human deaths in Pennsylvania than any other animal, due to traffic accidents. No matter how careful and observant you are, sometimes they're just nothing you can do.
People need to train themselves to brake and possible slight steering to avoid, but many wildly swerve off the road to avoid the deer.
Now a moose might be a different story.
I have encountered 21 deer so far this year on the roads of Central Pennsylvania,several close calls, after having no encounters in 15 years. Number 21 was unlucky. Face plant right into my passenger side window. Horns scratched up the window, passenger door mirror broken off, door dented. Fortunately this was on my beater, so only the mirror really needs to be fixed. Its a forty dollar part and a 10 minute job on a 2005 civic. The deer didn't even go down. Deer are responsible for more human deaths in Pennsylvania than any other animal, due to traffic accidents. No matter how careful and observant you are, sometimes they're just nothing you can do.
People need to train themselves to brake and possible slight steering to avoid, but many wildly swerve off the road to avoid the deer.
Now a moose might be a different story.
Sorry to hear that.
My wife bagged two, about a week apart, a couple of years ago.
Number one, with her car. A lot of front end damage, new radiator, new AC condenser, new bunch of stuff.
Number two was with the rental while her car was getting fixed. The damage was less, just a bunch of cracked plastic pieces. Fortunately we didn't have to return it, as they would not loan her a replacement until the first rental was fixed.
Our insurance covered them both. Oh, and she's actually pretty attentive about deer, but they get crazy in the fall.
My wife bagged two, about a week apart, a couple of years ago.
Number one, with her car. A lot of front end damage, new radiator, new AC condenser, new bunch of stuff.
Number two was with the rental while her car was getting fixed. The damage was less, just a bunch of cracked plastic pieces. Fortunately we didn't have to return it, as they would not loan her a replacement until the first rental was fixed.
Our insurance covered them both. Oh, and she's actually pretty attentive about deer, but they get crazy in the fall.
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Sorry to hear - I used to think that down here in the Texas Hill Country we had the worst deer problem, until I read that Texas isn't even in the top 10! According to this - http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/top-states-most-likely-to-hit-deer-11.aspx PA is number 4.
I've never hit a deer, but have been hit by 3 deer over the years.
My Mother had a friend that hit a deer.
Came thru the windshield and landed in the back seat (DOA).
My Nephew had a deer run into his side door.
The window exploded and my Nephew thought he got shot.
I've been more lucky.
Came thru the windshield and landed in the back seat (DOA).
My Nephew had a deer run into his side door.
The window exploded and my Nephew thought he got shot.
I've been more lucky.
I got off pretty easy, in comparison. The window took the brunt to the hit, its scuffed but intact. I think the deer tried to stop before the collision, so it didn't hit with as much force as it might have. I don't know why I'm encountering so many this year, no other years have been anything like this. If anything, I would have expected a decrease in their numbers because we have had brutally cold and snowy winters the last two years, I would have thought that might have thinned the herd.
Originally Posted By: dlayman
I have encountered 21 deer so far this year on the roads of Central Pennsylvania,several close calls, after having no encounters in 15 years. Number 21 was unlucky. Face plant right into my passenger side window. Horns scratched up the window, passenger door mirror broken off, door dented. Fortunately this was on my beater, so only the mirror really needs to be fixed. Its a forty dollar part and a 10 minute job on a 2005 civic. The deer didn't even go down. Deer are responsible for more human deaths in Pennsylvania than any other animal, due to traffic accidents. No matter how careful and observant you are, sometimes they're just nothing you can do.
What time of night did that happen?
Glad to hear you are ok. I hit a deer on I81 in Upstate NY, just south of the Canadian Border back in 2002. Scared the daylights out of me.
The guy in front of me was only doing 55, I didn't know why. Went to pass him since the passing lane was clear. Once I got into the left lane, standing in the middle of the left lane with his head turned around looking at me was a deer. I swerved out of the way back into the right lane and got away with only a broken rear view mirror. The car was a 94 Honda Accord.
I have encountered 21 deer so far this year on the roads of Central Pennsylvania,several close calls, after having no encounters in 15 years. Number 21 was unlucky. Face plant right into my passenger side window. Horns scratched up the window, passenger door mirror broken off, door dented. Fortunately this was on my beater, so only the mirror really needs to be fixed. Its a forty dollar part and a 10 minute job on a 2005 civic. The deer didn't even go down. Deer are responsible for more human deaths in Pennsylvania than any other animal, due to traffic accidents. No matter how careful and observant you are, sometimes they're just nothing you can do.
What time of night did that happen?
Glad to hear you are ok. I hit a deer on I81 in Upstate NY, just south of the Canadian Border back in 2002. Scared the daylights out of me.
The guy in front of me was only doing 55, I didn't know why. Went to pass him since the passing lane was clear. Once I got into the left lane, standing in the middle of the left lane with his head turned around looking at me was a deer. I swerved out of the way back into the right lane and got away with only a broken rear view mirror. The car was a 94 Honda Accord.
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Originally Posted By: JC1
Originally Posted By: dlayman
I have encountered 21 deer so far this year on the roads of Central Pennsylvania,several close calls, after having no encounters in 15 years. Number 21 was unlucky. Face plant right into my passenger side window. Horns scratched up the window, passenger door mirror broken off, door dented. Fortunately this was on my beater, so only the mirror really needs to be fixed. Its a forty dollar part and a 10 minute job on a 2005 civic. The deer didn't even go down. Deer are responsible for more human deaths in Pennsylvania than any other animal, due to traffic accidents. No matter how careful and observant you are, sometimes they're just nothing you can do.
What time of night did that happen?
Glad to hear you are ok. I hit a deer on I81 in Upstate NY, just south of the Canadian Border back in 2002. Scared the daylights out of me.
The guy in front of me was only doing 55, I didn't know why. Went to pass him since the passing lane was clear. Once I got into the left lane, standing in the middle of the left lane with his head turned around looking at me was a deer. I swerved out of the way back into the right lane and got away with only a broken rear view mirror. The car was a 94 Honda Accord.
This happened about 5:00 this morning. I leave for work at 4:30 AM, and about half of the deer I've encountered have been between 4:30 and 5 AM, but others have been at all different times including mid-day and in areas that aren't rural. Besides this collision I've had two other close calls that I was able to avoid by driving slowly, being observant, and being lucky. The others I've seen standing in or crossing the road or highway some distance ahead.
Originally Posted By: dlayman
I have encountered 21 deer so far this year on the roads of Central Pennsylvania,several close calls, after having no encounters in 15 years. Number 21 was unlucky. Face plant right into my passenger side window. Horns scratched up the window, passenger door mirror broken off, door dented. Fortunately this was on my beater, so only the mirror really needs to be fixed. Its a forty dollar part and a 10 minute job on a 2005 civic. The deer didn't even go down. Deer are responsible for more human deaths in Pennsylvania than any other animal, due to traffic accidents. No matter how careful and observant you are, sometimes they're just nothing you can do.
What time of night did that happen?
Glad to hear you are ok. I hit a deer on I81 in Upstate NY, just south of the Canadian Border back in 2002. Scared the daylights out of me.
The guy in front of me was only doing 55, I didn't know why. Went to pass him since the passing lane was clear. Once I got into the left lane, standing in the middle of the left lane with his head turned around looking at me was a deer. I swerved out of the way back into the right lane and got away with only a broken rear view mirror. The car was a 94 Honda Accord.
This happened about 5:00 this morning. I leave for work at 4:30 AM, and about half of the deer I've encountered have been between 4:30 and 5 AM, but others have been at all different times including mid-day and in areas that aren't rural. Besides this collision I've had two other close calls that I was able to avoid by driving slowly, being observant, and being lucky. The others I've seen standing in or crossing the road or highway some distance ahead.
Oh, forgot to mention - when you see a deer HONK YOUR HORN!!! That's saved me many times - usually they immediately run away from the sound.
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
Oh, forgot to mention - when you see a deer HONK YOUR HORN!!! That's saved me many times - usually they immediately run away from the sound.
Used to work at a rocket engine plant out in the middle of nowhere, which is a good place for a plant that works with high energy propellants. It was a long commute and there were a lot of employees. Many employees had the little whistle devices that are intended to startle deer away from the highway, mounted on their bumpers. The company collected and compiled data from the employees. When all the data had been reviewed, it raised more questions so they did some more study.
What they found is those drivers who had the deer whistle devices on their cars were more likely to hit a deer than those who did not have the devices. It was found that while the whistles startled the deer, more often than not, rather than running away from the car, the deer would freeze in place, and thus get hit.
I've been pretty fortunate. Going on 43 years of driving, and have only had one deer hit.
Oh, forgot to mention - when you see a deer HONK YOUR HORN!!! That's saved me many times - usually they immediately run away from the sound.
Used to work at a rocket engine plant out in the middle of nowhere, which is a good place for a plant that works with high energy propellants. It was a long commute and there were a lot of employees. Many employees had the little whistle devices that are intended to startle deer away from the highway, mounted on their bumpers. The company collected and compiled data from the employees. When all the data had been reviewed, it raised more questions so they did some more study.
What they found is those drivers who had the deer whistle devices on their cars were more likely to hit a deer than those who did not have the devices. It was found that while the whistles startled the deer, more often than not, rather than running away from the car, the deer would freeze in place, and thus get hit.
I've been pretty fortunate. Going on 43 years of driving, and have only had one deer hit.
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
Oh, forgot to mention - when you see a deer HONK YOUR HORN!!! That's saved me many times - usually they immediately run away from the sound.
Used to work at a rocket engine plant out in the middle of nowhere, which is a good place for a plant that works with high energy propellants. It was a long commute and there were a lot of employees. Many employees had the little whistle devices that are intended to startle deer away from the highway, mounted on their bumpers. The company collected and compiled data from the employees. When all the data had been reviewed, it raised more questions so they did some more study.
What they found is those drivers who had the deer whistle devices on their cars were more likely to hit a deer than those who did not have the devices. It was found that while the whistles startled the deer, more often than not, rather than running away from the car, the deer would freeze in place, and thus get hit.
I've been pretty fortunate. Going on 43 years of driving, and have only had one deer hit.
I read somewhere, so take that for what its worth, that deer have a very limited frequency range of hearing, so the ultrasonic whistles were inconsequential.
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
Oh, forgot to mention - when you see a deer HONK YOUR HORN!!! That's saved me many times - usually they immediately run away from the sound.
Used to work at a rocket engine plant out in the middle of nowhere, which is a good place for a plant that works with high energy propellants. It was a long commute and there were a lot of employees. Many employees had the little whistle devices that are intended to startle deer away from the highway, mounted on their bumpers. The company collected and compiled data from the employees. When all the data had been reviewed, it raised more questions so they did some more study.
What they found is those drivers who had the deer whistle devices on their cars were more likely to hit a deer than those who did not have the devices. It was found that while the whistles startled the deer, more often than not, rather than running away from the car, the deer would freeze in place, and thus get hit.
I've been pretty fortunate. Going on 43 years of driving, and have only had one deer hit.
I read somewhere, so take that for what its worth, that deer have a very limited frequency range of hearing, so the ultrasonic whistles were inconsequential.
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
Oh, forgot to mention - when you see a deer HONK YOUR HORN!!! That's saved me many times - usually they immediately run away from the sound.
I would think so too. But earlier this year, a parade of five or six of them were just walking slowly across the road in front of me. I had plenty of time to stop and watch them. Blew the horn several times and they just stopped, stood there, and looked at me. Of course that was a Honda Civic horn, lol.
Oh, forgot to mention - when you see a deer HONK YOUR HORN!!! That's saved me many times - usually they immediately run away from the sound.
I would think so too. But earlier this year, a parade of five or six of them were just walking slowly across the road in front of me. I had plenty of time to stop and watch them. Blew the horn several times and they just stopped, stood there, and looked at me. Of course that was a Honda Civic horn, lol.
I almost creamed one with my '04 about a year ago or so. Saw it just in time and darted around it. I have a habit of checking the bottom of that hill with my spotlight, now, whenever possible.
Originally Posted By: dlayman
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
Oh, forgot to mention - when you see a deer HONK YOUR HORN!!! That's saved me many times - usually they immediately run away from the sound.
I would think so too. But earlier this year, a parade of five or six of them were just walking slowly across the road in front of me. I had plenty of time to stop and watch them. Blew the horn several times and they just stopped, stood there, and looked at me. Of course that was a Honda Civic horn, lol.
Yes, the result might have been different with one of those 500db+ locomotive air horns.
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
Oh, forgot to mention - when you see a deer HONK YOUR HORN!!! That's saved me many times - usually they immediately run away from the sound.
I would think so too. But earlier this year, a parade of five or six of them were just walking slowly across the road in front of me. I had plenty of time to stop and watch them. Blew the horn several times and they just stopped, stood there, and looked at me. Of course that was a Honda Civic horn, lol.
Yes, the result might have been different with one of those 500db+ locomotive air horns.
I hate deer. I have not hit one yet, but have come within inches of them about 20 times. My off road lights on the Jeep that are tied into my high beams have saved me probably thousands of dollars in damage because they light up the sides of the road. I usually see them right as they begin to dart into the road.
Friends and family have not been so lucky. One friend has been hit by 3 deer on the same side of his vehicle. Each one ran into the side of his vehicle, one while he was stopped at a stop sign.
It is only getting worse around here since there are less people hunting with the whole "save the animals" group who believes it is better for them to starve than to get shot. With a lot of the suburban areas containing gardens and things that attract them, they are less afraid of people. I find that I am seeing more and more of them during the day.
Friends and family have not been so lucky. One friend has been hit by 3 deer on the same side of his vehicle. Each one ran into the side of his vehicle, one while he was stopped at a stop sign.
It is only getting worse around here since there are less people hunting with the whole "save the animals" group who believes it is better for them to starve than to get shot. With a lot of the suburban areas containing gardens and things that attract them, they are less afraid of people. I find that I am seeing more and more of them during the day.
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
I hate deer. I have not hit one yet, but have come within inches of them about 20 times. My off road lights on the Jeep that are tied into my high beams have saved me probably thousands of dollars in damage because they light up the sides of the road. I usually see them right as they begin to dart into the road.
Friends and family have not been so lucky. One friend has been hit by 3 deer on the same side of his vehicle. Each one ran into the side of his vehicle, one while he was stopped at a stop sign.
It is only getting worse around here since there are less people hunting with the whole "save the animals" group who believes it is better for them to starve than to get shot. With a lot of the suburban areas containing gardens and things that attract them, they are less afraid of people. I find that I am seeing more and more of them during the day.
The situation is much the same here. They seem to be moving more and more into suburban areas,where hunting isn't possible anyway. And more and more people are feeding them, drawing them even more out of the deep woods.
The very next day after my incident, another vehicle hit a deer in the same spot. He hit it head on with a van, and looked like he was totaled. I wouldn't doubt it was the same deer. With all the safety sensors that can be put in cars now, you'd think something could be invented that would detect large animals within a relatively short radius of the car, possibly based in some sort of infrared camera that would detect the body heat. There would be a lot of false positives unless you were in a rural area, so it would have to be able to be turned off, but would be very useful when driving through woods and fields.
Part of the problem also is that we have hunted most of their natural predators into extinction. Another example of humans interfering with the course of nature, leading to unintended and negative consequences.
I hate deer. I have not hit one yet, but have come within inches of them about 20 times. My off road lights on the Jeep that are tied into my high beams have saved me probably thousands of dollars in damage because they light up the sides of the road. I usually see them right as they begin to dart into the road.
Friends and family have not been so lucky. One friend has been hit by 3 deer on the same side of his vehicle. Each one ran into the side of his vehicle, one while he was stopped at a stop sign.
It is only getting worse around here since there are less people hunting with the whole "save the animals" group who believes it is better for them to starve than to get shot. With a lot of the suburban areas containing gardens and things that attract them, they are less afraid of people. I find that I am seeing more and more of them during the day.
The situation is much the same here. They seem to be moving more and more into suburban areas,where hunting isn't possible anyway. And more and more people are feeding them, drawing them even more out of the deep woods.
The very next day after my incident, another vehicle hit a deer in the same spot. He hit it head on with a van, and looked like he was totaled. I wouldn't doubt it was the same deer. With all the safety sensors that can be put in cars now, you'd think something could be invented that would detect large animals within a relatively short radius of the car, possibly based in some sort of infrared camera that would detect the body heat. There would be a lot of false positives unless you were in a rural area, so it would have to be able to be turned off, but would be very useful when driving through woods and fields.
Part of the problem also is that we have hunted most of their natural predators into extinction. Another example of humans interfering with the course of nature, leading to unintended and negative consequences.
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