Deer in the headlights

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 02-03-2007 07:33

You're not going to believe this but anyway here goes...

Way back in 1979 when I still was riding my 1967 Triumph Bonneville up in Uncasville, CT one night...
I was hummin around 80 or so down route 32 towards New London when I saw the Buck at the last second and thought ohhhh SH*T!!!! This is the end of me!!! All of a sudden I'm still on my motorcycle with blood all over me and yet - I'M STILL RIDING!!! The next oh - second and half, I decided it was time to pull over and find out if this was just some crazy sort of flashback going on inside my head if you get my meaning!!!

Much to my surprise, I had blood all over myself, the bike had blood & some pieces of deer stuck in between spots all over the "Bonny" and it smelled real rank!!! So I hopped back on me "Bonny" and continued to ride down towards New London where I stopped at this "Watering Hole" where a bunch of my friends were hanging out on a saturday night, and I showed them what happened, and all of them told me that I just experienced a miracle!!! I said: "Do ya think???" meaning "Duhhh???" That was the first miracle on that motorcycle although not the last but hey, that's another story!!! To this day I still have a hard time understanding why I did'nt get hurt at all, and how the "Bonny" did'nt even as so much have a dent or a scratch which is even harder to believe!!! I must've hit that buck just right!!!

Sorry to hear about your Duramax there Sourdough!
Respectfully,
Henry

By Logan Mayfield (**)

Date 02-07-2007 14:11

I hope I never hit a deer on my bike, I keep an eye out for them all of the time. The problem I have is with squirrels and rabbits. Those little critters are fast and most of the time you don't see them until its to late. Even something that small can be disasterous on a bike.

By rebekah (**)

Date 02-13-2007 18:15

I live where there are lots of deer and have luckily not hit one yet with the bike (I got three with my car). The only living thing I ever hit was a dog that I T-boned. I managed to stay up but couldnt control the tank slap and jack knifed. Didnt hurt my bike much. I was on a BMW and the cylinder covers punctured but I just flipped it over so the hole was on the high side. Enjoyed all the free drinks that go with eating asphalt on the way to a biker bar and welded her up the next day. One of the benefits of metal working and riding!

By Sourdough (****)

Date 02-13-2007 23:45

You go girl!

By Logan Mayfield (**)

Date 02-14-2007 13:58

I would say that experience was definately worth a few free drinks.

By jwright650 (*****)

Date 02-03-2007 11:43

I "missed" one of three that crossed in front of me by merely inches, I even stopped and looked to see if any deer hair was on the front of my truck(it was that close). Those ABS brakes are wonderful when it is slick out and you need to stop like that. Without ABS, I may or maynot have been able to get whoa'd up in time to miss them. My kids thought for sure I had hit at least one of them.

By Sourdough (****)

Date 02-05-2007 02:44

I hit a moose at 80 on my snowmobile. Fortunately the tall bastared gave me plenty of overhead....

By new tito (***)

Date 02-05-2007 15:35

My wife was driving me and the kids in a mitsubishi galant travelling about 65. Out of the corner of my eye I see this deer just to the side of our lane, when all of a sudden....BAM!!!!! It walked right in front of the car...no brakes, no swerve, no nothin!!! just BAM!!! The hood flew up and shattered the windshield so my wife had to look thru the little crack between the dash and the hood where it was flipped up. I got out of the car and and saw that the front bumber was almost ripped off, the roof was smashed from where the deer rolled over it, and buckled a bit from when the hood slammed open. Oh and then came the crying from the kids cause we hit a deer, and I was pissed cause the car was wrecked.

Turned out to be a blessing though. My ex- wife screwed me on that car when she agreed to a lease, so I was looking at paying 40,000 for a 18,000 car if I decided to keep it. But this little mishap caused the insurance company to "total" it, plus I had gap insurance, so my slate was wiped clean on the car.

So, thanks to that deer for making the deadly mistake of playing chicken with a mitsubishi......on the other hand, I guess they both died!!!

By MBlaha

Date 02-10-2007 05:10

Has hit 2 at 75 a couple at 55. I am in the lead for right now in the race with my wife. I have 4, she has hit 3. The last one hit, totaled out my 93 silverado 1/2 ton. Not alot of difference in damage between 55 and 75.

By XPERTFAB (**)

Date 02-14-2007 05:20

Sourdough! I have not hit a deer yet!! Lived in Austrailia for a long while working on a couple of racing teams. Just unlucky enough to be able to drive the team's race transporter (Ford LN 8000). Found out those damn kangaroos make a real mess of a truck. Especially the Red Roos who are about as tall as the hood on that LN 8000 tractor. Giant Roo Guards and all do little to stop those guys as they decapitate rather easily with the cranial portions making a rapid traverse across the hood of the truck and through the windshield. Messy!! Worse yet is the dingos whom, when you stop the truck to assess the damage, come out the bush and dine happily on those portions of Roo "distributed" down the length of the truck and trailer. Not uncommon to hit several roos in sucession over a few kilometer stretch. They just hop right out in front of you from the bush. Unlike deer or elk, the roos just don't taste good like chicken.
PS Ever see the front bumper of the Timberline Steel delivery truck they run between Grand Junction, CO and Craig, Co? One giant deer/elk deflector . 1/2 inch steel plate from the bottom of the normal front bumper location to the top of the hood on a newer Sterling Daycab tractor. Driver says there is so much there that the big elk just bounce off with nary a thunking sound. Seems to me like it takes a little out of the sport of wildlife bowling but I am sure he scores a "STRIKE" everytime.

By Sourdough (****)

Date 02-14-2007 17:43

Actually I used to see that truck every wednesday when I was helping my father-in-law catch up in his machine shop in Glenwood Springs! Next time I'll pay close attention to the bumper!!