How To Avoid Deer?

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Originally Posted by Kawiguy454
My brother only saw a flash and hit a deer on his ZX-11 ~35mph with the daughter on the back. The deer wrapped around the front completely crushing all the plastics and a hoof hit and broke his toe. he stayed up and the deer was dead.. Most people that get killed get killed by trying to avoid the deer. If you see it coming just brake and let it happen ...don't drive into the ditch or over the cliff.


Hit one with my 2013 Ducati in 2015, riding during tail end of their rut season. Bad risk management on my part, as a rider. Totaled bike but walked away from the accident. Was going a few clicks slower than your brother. Upright "dirt bike" seating posture of the Multistrada contributed to controlling the bike after the collision, that and fact I hit him in his frontal zone and spun him counter clockwise (he came from left) and I veered rightward from impact. His hind quarters struck my left leg knocking it back off foot peg. He was also a young male not a larger full buck, that was a big factor in my lack of injury as well. Low speed small deer, but still a very alarming experience that will forever make you hyper vigilant driving or riding in areas with wooded property on one or both sides of road.
 
I have a herd of about 10 deer that sleep on my front lawn, and about 20-30 on my street. About a 50% chance of encountering them after dark when driving. Fall is the worst, and it makes riding my motorcycle interesting. I have only hit one in 35+ years and that was in a car on a major highway at night.
 
Move to Phoenix where we have no deer
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Originally Posted by Fawteen
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Slow down. If the deer pops out, quickly assess if you can pull into the next lane. A head on collision is far worse than a deer hit. Try swerve a bit if you have to but don't head for the ditch.Take the deer out if you have to.

I had to slam on the brakes for a deer back in July. I smoked the tires and flat spotted them. At least is was cheaper than a hit. The last I saw of the deer was it's rear hooves just cleared the driver's side fender as it leaped into the oncoming lane. Luckily there was no car approaching.


Bad advice. You don't have time to "quickly assess" if you can pull into the next lane. A real deer strike happens so fast that it's over before you see it coming.

Or you can move to the south with us Alabama folks where they put fences along the high speed routes to prevent wildlife from getting onto the highway.

Fawteen, are the folks from Alabama having trouble with quickly assessing things? As for moving there, why not ask my neighbours in Norhern Idaho how badly they'd like to move to Alabama.
 
Originally Posted by Elkins45
. I've hit six and
Drive slow, keep your eyes peeled.


Same.

I have killed mayve a couple more than that.

I even killed a deer on my Harley-Davidson in Conroe, Texas over 20 years ago.

Drive slow, keep your eyes peeled = the only thing that helps.
 
Originally Posted by Kawiguy454
Most people that get killed get killed by trying to avoid the deer. If you see it coming just brake and let it happen ...don't drive into the ditch or over the cliff. .


I hit that deer with my Harley head on.
Bent all the front headlight, fender, signals, etc...... but I kept it upright and drove right over it.
 
Originally Posted by walterjay
Be alert and on guard. Slow down.
Use Deer Alert whistles on your car. They do help a lot but are not foolproof.
If you see them close to the road lay on your horn.


There are so many different brands of deer whistles out there that some brands don't even emit any sound whatsoever. Got any proof that they work? Do any insurance companies give you a discount on deer whistles?
I live in an rural agricultural area that has a surplus of deer. We have out-of-state hunters that come to bag the big bucks. (Deer, not money) So when I say I see deer on the road, right now it's several times a week.
This time of year, the deer have really only two things on their mind: One, it's time to mate, so they are not thinking about avoiding a deer whistle and they couldn't care less about an oncoming vehicle. THEY WANT TO MATE!
Two, we are in a full swing of harvesting right now, so the corn fields have have given them food and shelter for the last several months are getting disturbed and cut down to size. They will be running from area to area because of large harvesting combines and trucks are in their home area.
The only way to lessen the chance of hitting a deer is to slow down, but they pop out of roadside cover so fast, sometimes you can't avoid them.
 
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Originally Posted by Fawteen
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Slow down. If the deer pops out, quickly assess if you can pull into the next lane. A head on collision is far worse than a deer hit. Try swerve a bit if you have to but don't head for the ditch.Take the deer out if you have to.

I had to slam on the brakes for a deer back in July. I smoked the tires and flat spotted them. At least is was cheaper than a hit. The last I saw of the deer was it's rear hooves just cleared the driver's side fender as it leaped into the oncoming lane. Luckily there was no car approaching.


Bad advice. You don't have time to "quickly assess" if you can pull into the next lane. A real deer strike happens so fast that it's over before you see it coming.

Or you can move to the south with us Alabama folks where they put fences along the high speed routes to prevent wildlife from getting onto the highway.

Fawteen, are the folks from Alabama having trouble with quickly assessing things? As for moving there, why not ask my neighbours in Norhern Idaho how badly they'd like to move to Alabama.



Truth, Driving down I-65 in Alabama at night during this time of year is freaking scary because there are so many deer walking along the side of the Interstate.
 
There aren't many around me since I live in such a populated/suburbanite area but when I'm out on roadtrips in national parks I pretty much follow what everybody else here says. Drive cautiously and keep alert. I try to keep my eyes peeled for any movements or the reflections of their eyes if I can. I haven't hit any yet thankfully since I would probably be thousands of miles away from home but I've come inches close to hitting one at 80mph on the highway in Montana (also 1,500 miles away from home.)
 
Here in Colville, Wa, the area body shops number one business is deer strikes. Personally most of the time the deer hit me. Like a suicidal thing for running into the side of my truck and impossible to avoid. I have never hit one head on.
 
Originally Posted by Passport1

I hit a deer a few years ago with my Ford minivan and it made a mess of the front end. This time of the year in eastern North Carolina the deer are hyperactive. Deer are crepuscular. Sometimes I can't get around driving at dusk or at night. There are 'Deer Crossing' signs on the roads everywhere but apparently the deer don't pay attention to them. Maybe the hunters drive them out of the woods.

What is your strategy for avoiding these potentially suicidal creatures?



Know deer behavior...

If a deer is standing perpendicular at the edge of the road and looking... That deer is coming out very soon... Slow down and if enough time.. stop...

If a deer is one one side of the road and another deer is on the other side of the road... Guaranteed something is going to happen.... Slow down and stop of possible...

In the above circumstance.... If a doe is on one side... There's a good chance a buck is trailing her this time of year... I saw a monster 10-12 point buck the other night near Greensprings .. . In a field... Doe to the west... And the big boss buck to the east of the road in that field... Just two nights before I saw just the big buck and he was awesome... Huge antlers... And his body size was big too.

If a deer is farther away from the road.... And eating something... That deer is really not likely going anywhere... Those deer don't concern me. On Rte 199 in my area that is a common phenomenon. And that doesn't worry me.

Also remember deer that are used to a lot of traffic around.... Are not likely to be skittish with vehicles passing by. That is true on average on Rte 199. Now on Rte 60 out farther west of me I noticed those deer are MUCH more antsy with cars passing by them... Because they are not used to it... Unlike Rte 199...

Remember deer are like you and me.... They have their places aka territory... If you see one in a area... You WILL see them again in that same area. That's exactly what happened in the above circumstance with my big deer. In northern Gloucester I had seen a big beautiful 10 point buck in a field... And I continued to see him there for 5 plus years after the first sighting... Until a hunter got him. Which I was ok with that because he was a really great deer who worth taking.
 
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Originally Posted by qdeezie
Passport1 said:
Sometimes Bambi and the fam will literally run into your car even if you come to a complete stop for them to go. They'll look at your car and run into the door (at times).

While driving in North Dakota, right near the Minnesota border, I had a deer run into the side of my car. I didn't hit it, it hit me. I was going about 60 - 65 MPH and it wiped out the whole side of the car. It ran out from a deep ditch covered with tall grass. I saw a blur off to my left side followed immediately by a loud clunk. That's not much warning.

We were lucky. There was lots of damage but no one was hurt and the doors and windows and the fuel filler door all still worked. The front and back ends were completely intact. After filling out a police report, we carried on with our trip. Having body work 3,000 miles from home is far from ideal.
 
I've had a similar deer "strike".

Deer leapt from the brush on the right side of the road as I was going about 45 MPH (speed limit, at night, suburban Connecticut)

His hooves impacted the right front fender, leaving grooves. His shoulder took off the passenger mirror. There was a side window full of deer face for a split second as his body rotated and dented the right rear fender.

Insurance company said, "you hit a deer".

"No", I said, "he hit ME"...

I've seen deer, avoided deer, slowed down for deer, but this one sprang from cover at full speed and hit the side of the car.

Not much you can do about that.
 
Originally Posted by Astro14
I've had a similar deer "strike".

Deer leapt from the brush on the right side of the road as I was going about 45 MPH (speed limit, at night, suburban Connecticut)

His hooves impacted the right front fender, leaving grooves. His shoulder took off the passenger mirror. There was a side window full of deer face for a split second as his body rotated and dented the right rear fender.

Insurance company said, "you hit a deer".

"No", I said, "he hit ME"...

I've seen deer, avoided deer, slowed down for deer, but this one sprang from cover at full speed and hit the side of the car.

Not much you can do about that.


Perfect example of what I said earlier - 45 mph is faster than the deer's normal predators, it was startled and instinct made it think it could get across the road before you got there.

And notice most deer strikes occur at night, when both people and deer can't see as well.

When there's one, there's more than one. Almost always.
 
I had a bit of an interesting experience probably a month and a half back.

I was out driving the MG, and ended up being out after dark. It was probably ~10:00. I was driving along one particular narrow, wooded 2-lane road with a posted 45mph limit. I frequently see deer all along this road, and this particular evening was no exception. I'd pulled into a church parking lot to turn around, and as is often the case at that particular church, I saw a cluster of probably a dozen off in the grass. I'd seen several others at various other spots.

So, in deference to that, I dropped my speed down to ~25mph for probably about a mile until I got out of this particular tight, wooded stretch of road. Shortly after doing that, I saw what looked like a Crown Vic run up on me and nearly hit me from behind.

Once the road opened up a bit and I started to speed up(after stopping at a stop sign)-sure enough blue lights came on in my rear view. I was given the 3rd degree about why I was driving so slowly, and apparently deer on the side of the road wasn't a satisfactory answer. In fact, I was told that I needed to drive the posted limit and if I hit one "that's what insurance was for." My explanation of being in a tiny low convertible and that if I hit one, I was probably dead fell on deaf ears.

I honestly wish I'd been given a ticket or at least a warning. It shook me up enough that I didn't think to ask for the officer's badge number or card, as I would have liked to have complained to his agency. I don't see how reducing my speed after dark on a stretch of road with visible deer on the side is anything other than a smart, responsible thing to do, but oh well.
 
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Slow down. If the deer pops out, quickly assess if you can pull into the next lane. A head on collision is far worse than a deer hit. Try swerve a bit if you have to but don't head for the ditch.Take the deer out if you have to.

I had to slam on the brakes for a deer back in July. I smoked the tires and flat spotted them. At least is was cheaper than a hit. The last I saw of the deer was it's rear hooves just cleared the driver's side fender as it leaped into the oncoming lane. Luckily there was no car approaching.


Opportunity to assess depends on what mode the deer in question is in. If it's the rut season, you likely won't have time to assess or maybe time to react. They can be fast and furious then. I've had them bust out of a woodline in a full sprint across road in front of us around here during the rut. I agree though that other times when they're less animated an alert driver can have some moments to assess potential manuevers.
 
There is no way to avoid deer. You just have to look out for them.

The rut is coming up soon. A male will chase a female for miles and only be paying attention to one thing. At this time, if you see a female running during the day, you'll most likely see a male right behind her.
 
Two years ago there was a really tragic deer collision incident here in eastern NC. A car going down a country road in early morning light hit a deer and the creature was catapulted into the air. It came down and through the windshield of a vehicle going the other way at that exact moment.

The driver was killed. This was witnessed by one of my coworkers and she was very shook up when she got to work. I've heard that deer are the most dangerous animals in North America.
 
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