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I remember hitting an even dozen, and it's possible that there might have hit a couple more that didn't do any damage.
Of those, two were at dusk, two were at dawn, one was immediately pre-dawn (about 6 am in the winter) and the rest were at full dark, between 6 pm and midnight. In all cases I would have had the headlights on, and in most cases they were likely on bright although I do remember one that I probably hit because I had just dimmed my headlights for an oncoming car; it was a pretty open area so if I hadn't dimmed my headlights I probably would have seen the deer in time to react.
Three of them actually hit me in the side after I had passed them, in these cases the headlights didn't come into play at all.
It's pretty rare for anyone who lives in the Western US outside of the large urban centers to have not hit or almost hit a deer at some point in their lives. I've been in the car twice during hits as a passenger and my husband hit one recently when I wasn't in the car. I've had probably 50 near misses in my life where we've seen them on or next to the road, but not hit them. Every hit and almost hit I've had and all the people I know who have hit them, they have all taken place around dusk/dawn or at night. I've never heard of anyone hitting a deer during full daylight although I suppose it could happen occasionally. Hits are also more likely to take place in the winter since the animals are down at lower elevations where there tend to be more roads.
If you can't stop in time it's best to take the hit from a deer. It might badly damage the car, but unlikely to injure the passengers. This is true of most animals other than big ones like elk, moose, or bear. Those I would consider swerving depending on the size of the vehicle vs. the size of that particular animal. It amazes me the number of people who swerve and crash trying to avoid hitting animals; unless you can safely stop or get around with a small correction it's very silly to not just take the hit. I remember hearing one story of a woman somewhere in the Southwest who swerved into the path of an oncoming semi because she was trying to avoid running over a snake. She killed herself, her child, and another friend/family member because she didn't want to run over a snake.
Last edited by patches403; 02-13-2015 at 12:48 PM..
My husband has run over two dead deer. The first was in a Taurus, on the exit ramp of the highway with no way to go around the deer and there was a lot of mess caught up in the undercarriage, but no damage to the car. I had to get under the car with a long grilling fork and pry out pieces that I don't want to remember. There were a bunch of cats waiting to eat the pieces. The other deer incident was in a minivan, on a stretch of road with lots of dips and no streetlights so none of us saw the carcass. There was no damage and no mess.
One of his buddies hit a deer on the highway and totaled his truck. He was trying really hard to get my husband to go back with him so he could take the antlers from the deer, but neither of them are hunters and I managed to convince him that he wasn't going to get the antlers off with a pocket knife, so he settled for going down to the Dodge dealership and picking out a new truck he can't quite afford.
My dad hit a deer and somehow destroyed the motor of his car, without any real body damage (it was an old Volvo wagon). This was before cell phones and he was out in a part of west TX where there wasn't much traffic, so he was stranded for quite a while. I think it took a few weeks for his car to be fixed, and he had to fly home then fly back out to get it when it was done.
Do any of you have those little deer whistles you can mount in your grill to scare them off? I've wondered if those work.
Hit two
The first one was no damage. I saw her near the road and began slowing down when I was almost stopped she ran in front of me. Barely tapped her just knocked her down and she got right up and ran. Looked ok I was hardly moving and almost stopped
The second was a little spike horn I did not see he ran into the side of the car and actually embedded his antlers into the car and that flipped him under the car. Ran over him and he was quite dead.
Yeah, I hit one once at night when I was working over a year ago. I was driving back to the office after getting gas for the work vehicle I use, came around a curve and a deer was standing right in the middle of my lane. Stupid thing just stood there like the proverbial "deer caught in headlights". I swerved and just hit it with a glancing blow, breaking one of the headlights on the car but not much other damage, fortunately.
Either the deputy wasn't a hunter, or he thought you were a citidiot.
Leaving a wounded animal to die is inhuman.
You can rest your tender heart. The animal wasn't left to die. I turned around and went to the nearest town to call the law. They went out and euthanized her. The meat was donated to the local food shelf.
His main concern was for me and my son since a person had hit a deer in that county and gotten out to have a look. The animal bounded up and put the kind-hearted soul in the hospital. Hence the warning. I'm glad he told me as it's pretty much an automatic response for someone who cares about animals to do that.
Do any of you have those little deer whistles you can mount in your grill to scare them off? I've wondered if those work.
After I hit the deer I went out and bought a pair, mounted them on the motorcycle. They must work as I haven't hit a deer since. Haven't hit any elephants either.
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