Close call

[kenporider]

I don't typically think about deer too much this time of year, but I was cruising down I91 this morning in CT between Hatrford and New Haven and saw a dead Bambi on the side of the road. At about 2:30 this afternoon on rt. 15 around North Haven Bambi's dumb ass cousin jumped a guard rail right in front of me and kept going.

After doing a quick sniff test on the drawers, I started thinking that if I'd been a second ahead or in the left lane instead of the right I'd be toast right now. Time to get a CalSci and mount a rifle through the cut out. :trinibob:

 

[phil]

Lucky miss! Here in the South, most deer activity in the Spring and Summer is at night, so it's very dangerous to ride after dark in Oklahoma. Also, there's the risk at night for opossum, raccoon, armadillo, coyote, and the occasional fox and cougar. There all out to commit suicide, it seems.

 

[fretbender]

Lucky miss! Here in the South, most deer activity in the Spring and Summer is at night, so it's very dangerous to ride after dark in Oklahoma. Also, there's the risk at night for opossum, raccoon, armadillo, coyote, and the occasional fox and cougar. There all out to commit suicide, it seems.

I was in the MSF Experienced Rider's Course last weekend, and the instructor stated that by the time your 40 years old, you have about 1/2 the night vision that you had at 18. Couple that up with all the night time critters and it makes me think twice about riding at night, or at least slowing things down considerably.

 

[cctxfjr]

I don't typically think about deer too much this time of year, but I was cruising down I91 this morning in CT between Hatrford and New Haven and saw a dead Bambi on the side of the road. At about 2:30 this afternoon on rt. 15 around North Haven Bambi's dumb ass cousin jumped a guard rail right in front of me and kept going.
After doing a quick sniff test on the drawers, I started thinking that if I'd been a second ahead or in the left lane instead of the right I'd be toast right now. Time to get a CalSci and mount a rifle through the cut out. :trinibob:

deer and feral hogs are a serious risk to bike riders in Texas we are over run with both the hogs are such a problem they are not regulated by Game and Fish and some landowners are using AR15's on them and leaving them where they fall. lots of guys I know quit riding at night because of the risk. I live out in the sticks and see one or the other (or both) every time I happened to be out late or early.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Over Memorial Day weekend, there is a bike run in Red River NM. Red River is way up in the mountians of northern NM and the only road in or out goes through tree lined canyons. We rode up on Sunday becasue my brother is stationed up there and we thought we'd pick up a shirt, say hi, and ride home that evening. We rolled into Red at 2:30pm and 20 minutes later, a guy on a Harley on the West side of town hits a deer. Hurt pretty bad, but he'll live. What I don't get is there had to be a bazillion bikes, most cruisers with open pipes and that f-ing animal still decides to cross the road in the middle of the day.

On Monday, my brother was having some issues, so I decided to make the 3 hour trip from my house back to Red on the bike to hang out. I left my house at 10pm. Just south of Taos I saw the first Rat and I slowed way down. Must have seen 35 deer and 2 coyotes between Taos and Red. They are everywhere, but every year at hunting season, I think they all move to Switzerland.

 

[JRO]

Deer fright?

Welcome to my world. Deer are vermin. I used to have a 7.62 minigun mounted on my last bike. It worked, and was a lot of fun, but the recoil really slowed me down. The FJR's luggage is smaller, making for lighter ammo loads, and I didn't want to have to cut any body panels, so I let the gun go with the bike. So sad...

I have to deal with deer, all the time. I know where they are likely to be on the roads I frequent, but they can come from anywhere. It's best to know the animal populations, where you ride. Around here, there are accidents and fatalities, every year.

Night is the worst. I have to travel often, after dark. I rarely don't see deer at night. I love the big, wide headlights on my FJR. After dark, you simply must limit your speed. SLOW is good. The cruiser guys can pass me. Let 'em laugh. They're just out for the weekend. I've got more night-miles, than they've probably got on the pick-up trucks.

A deer's nervous system works a little like a jackrabbit. When initially jumping into flight, they don't have complete control over direction. That's why they'll sometimes jump right at or in front of you, from feeding on the side of the road.

I hate those Red Deer that got transplanted here, from Texas. They're big, and they're stupid. They'll feed right beside the road, and they aren't afraid of vehicles.

Armor is good to wear, in deer country. I never had any, until a few years ago. My wife and oldest got me a set of racing leathers. The security is more than worth it.

Stock is also bad. Worse, if you hit them. Horses are the very worst.

Cougars don't bother me, unless I'm sleeping on the ground, out by Atoka Lake.

I sympathize with your deer scare. I hope you live where that isn't common. It certainly can take away the pleasure of riding a bike.

 

[cctxfjr]

The thing that concerns me about deer/hog strikes is some very experienced safe riders have had some very bad accidents. Not the newbie kind of rider that makes the typical nimrod mistake like crashing in a corner or crashing on a slippery surface. It causes me to believe that deer strikes are sudden and hard to avoid on bikes for even for the most experienced riders. I have hit them in trucks but never on a bike. I have a full replacement winch bumper on my truck (like many other Texas drivers) and they wont damage your vehicle. I try to avoid driving when they are most apt tp be out and have been lucky so far, but always think about it when riding. Hogs have poor vision and often run into the side of vehicles rather than the vehicles hitting them.

 

[Crash Cash]

Hogs have poor vision

And so do the riders!! Oh wait, not that kind of hog....

Anyways, I was surprised a couple of months ago to see a deer on the road where I work near Orlando International Airport. I saw it a couple of blocks away and thought "that's an awful big dog... hm, that dog sure does walk funny... WAIT! that damn dog has ANTLERS!!"

Seeing a deer like that in an industrial area so close to the big city sure was a wake up call. And he went right across the road in front of oncoming cars with lights on like they weren't even there.

 

[cctxfjr]

Hogs have poor vision

And so do the riders!! Oh wait, not that kind of hog....

Anyways, I was surprised a couple of months ago to see a deer on the road where I work near Orlando International Airport. I saw it a couple of blocks away and thought "that's an awful big dog... hm, that dog sure does walk funny... WAIT! that damn dog has ANTLERS!!"

Seeing a deer like that in an industrial area so close to the big city sure was a wake up call. And he went right across the road in front of oncoming cars with lights on like they weren't even there.

and dont assume because they are heading towards the ditch they will continue they may spin and reverse course 180 they generally are not alone they tend to travel in small groups if you see 1-3 there are probably more in the group

 

[spalkin]

At least at night you can see their eyes. They usually hear you and look. It's right that if you see one, there are more nearby.

I saw a story about Austria where they have 'green bridges'. Grass covered overpasses for the animals to use. They work! I wish we had them here.