Ahhhhhhhhkkkkk. Oh MY GOD!

That's what the lady told me this morning who hit the deer.

I watched it go down in real time.

She was scared [bleep], and shaking like hell.

"This was the first time I ever hit one."

"Good. Glad you got it out of the way. I've hit so many, I lost count."

she was OK, her car was fine, still running, and didn't appear to have major issues.

I told her I'd go check on the deer.

Pretty sure it was toast; it did a triple axel with a half gainer, with multiple parts in motion.

Visual inspection revealed it had been field dressed on impact.

Surprised there wasn't more on the car.

My first was running about 105 in a Chevy ambulance.

never have hit one, have come close but my cat like reflexes saved me.

Yup, the first one actually hit me! Broadside right behind the driver's door. I saw the SOB come down the hillside, so I slowed down. That gave him time to swerve right into my damned car.

Remember the first[as I with 'the other first ]
But the last was good one.
I had slowed to 20mph or so knowing it was going to dart in front of me. It barely was clipped by the front of my car[no damage], but it landed in the oncoming traffic lane and was sitting on it's butt. The oncoming SUV never slowed. It was ugly.

I had two run into the side of my truck back in GA.

One of them must of gotten a snout or leg jammed between the bed and cab. Was quite the trick as I was going around 50-60 mph. Made a hell of a mess.

Hit one in the fog one morning.

Another time I had an axis doe hit the side of my horse trailer.

I was driving an E250 and had just left the house, headed for work. I was in a 35 mph zone, so was going slow. I had just looked and reached toward the console to grab my coffee mug and had it about halfway to my mouth when the world exploded.

I couldn't tell what the hell had happened until I got pulled over and stopped. There was glass and white hair everywhere. I knew then that I'd hit something or something had hit me. I looked in the rear view mirror, but couldn't see due to the cargo in the back. I looked to the driver's side mirror, but it was gone. I hopped out to look around, still trying to figure out what had happened and spotted a good sized doe flopping around in the roadway a hundred feet behind the van.

She had apparently come out of the brush along the road on the driver's side at the same time that I glanced over while reaching for my coffee. Her head hit the lower left corner of the windshield, cracking it. She then knocked off the side view mirror, sending it through the closed driver's window. The mirror somehow ended up on the floor of the passenger side. How it didn't hit me either in the head or my partially raised coffee arm, I don't know.

The damage to the vehicle was only halfway over at this point because she then tumbled and banged against the side of the van, denting it in waves from front all the way to back.

I ended up making it to work after waiting for the deputy sheriff to arrive and take the report and put a bullet in the doe. I was shaking safety glass cubes and deer hair out of my clothes all day and I don't think I ever did get all the glass and hair out of that van.

I've hit a few more deer since that first one, thankfully they all came while driving older work vehicles.

Only once - $7K damage on my '04 F-350... Hope to never have it happen again..

Taken out 3 so far. First one was on a gravel road one spring morning about 2am and wouldn't leave the gravel. That one ended up with me in the ditch backwards, and started my deer hunting. If she'd been dead after I stopped being a Pinto pinball in a deep ditch I'd have called it fair, but she got up and ran away so that fall I took revenge.

Last one was stupid.. going 30 down a sandy country road in the sandhills and a buck came from behind and tried to cross in front of me.

Hitting deer sucks, but hitting elk sucks more!
Hit the first and only deer at about 5mph on the way to work one morning. It was freezing rain and I saw the deer crossing the road and tried to stop. Car just slid down the slight hill and tapped the deer just hard enough to knock it off it's feet. No damage to the car or the deer so far as I know. The first and only elk, I was coming back into Jackson and there were two elk in the road. One on the center line and one on the shoulder. I tried to split the two but the elk on the centerline started running away from me into the travel lane. I hit her in the rear at about 45mph. I ended up putting her down with a 380 to the head. The van had about 3000.00 worth of damage.

Center punched a bull elk just after leaving Old Faithful in Yellowstone. ABS brakes on a Audi Quarto got the speed down to the point that the air bags didn't deploy. However, it still totaled the Audi. Not a scratch on the wife or myself. Totaled the bull elk too, the park rangers had to shoot him, once shot he went into the Fire Hole River to die... $700 in towing - one very long night! Ya, I remember it like it was yesterday.

+1 I'm always aware of what could be popping into the road and aways looking

I've never hit one either but I've sure come close. The worst was a winter night with snow covered roads. I came over a low hill and there were 8 deer across the road, nose to tail, barrow pit to barrow pit. There was no way I could stop on the slick road so I chose the smallest one to hit. When I was 5 yards away, they separated right in front of me and I slithered through the hole missing them all. I know I brushed hair with both mirrors.

I've had two run into the side of my car, and hit one that ran across in front of me. Minimal damage all three times, thankfully. The one I hit broadside went out in a field and laid down. Somebody saw it happen and called it in. Sheriff showed up shortly. Didn't have a rifle with him, and wouldn't let me go get one of my own. He tried to get close enough to the deer to shoot it, but never got close enough to take a shot. The deer would get up and move off every time he closed up on it. Pretty sure that one didn't make it, but have my doubts that it died quickly.

I think I've killed two deer with cars.

The first was in HS. We lived about 40 miles from town. I drove in to watch a football game. On the way home I was rounding a corner, met a dump truck, flipped the lights down, passed it, flipped them back up, and they went clear off. I hit the switch madly about twice, they came back on, and I had a nice view of a deer just going under the front bumper. Guess it must have been stretched out running 'cause it went under the car instead of hitting the radiator. When it went under the rear axle it lifted dad's old Chebby Impala clear off the ground. Tha-THUMP tha-THUMP ... and that was it. Scrambled the crap out of the deer, didn't even knock the dust off the car.

The second was about 5 years ago. I was driving a Nissan Frontier. 55 up a back 2 lane. That truck had wildly sensitive ABS which would lock up on gravel and I'd completely lose control. I didn't have time to realize I was on pavement, I could have hammered the brakes. On pavement it'd stop so fast it's shadow would have to stop and back up. Instead I tried to drive around it. Nope. The deer got sucked up around the passenger side front tire and went clear around before being spit out on the ground. It was scrambled, insides on the outside, outsides on the inside. I dragged it off the road. I guess I was more jacked up than I thought. The front bumper was bent into the tire. I just put my foot on the tire and gave a big pull bending the bumper out of the way so I could drive home. When I got home, I couldn't any more bend that bumper than anything. Funny thing, the whole drive home I'd swear I smelled backstrap cooking. I don't know if it was psychological or if some spray of parts had hit the exhaust manifold and was cooking.

I've also hit a couple black bears but no damage from those. No elk yet. Fingers crossed. Elk, cows, and horses are BAD. I knew a guy who hit two geese head on with the same jeep ... 65 in the fog, geese flying right at him. Didn't do the jeep any good.

Tom

I've hit 3, one per year in my last 3 years living in Wisco. The deer up there are pure hell on vehicles. Haven't hit one since I moved to Texas, although my ex-wife (She Who Must Not Be Named, as my kids refer to her) nailed a couple down here in the 11 months she was resident in this Great State.

Total cost of vehicle damage by those 3 cervids was about $12,000. There was no way I could've avoided those collisions. Suicide deer.

FWIW, about 400 Americans die in their cars every year due to deer. The vast majority of those die in rollovers after they lose control trying to miss the deer.

Knock on wood, I haven't hit anything bigger than a coyote. Yet.

and on purpose

Slightly off topic. I worked with a woman who had 4 deer jump through her living room window and make a total mess out of her house. Cops shot the buck in her living room. The others went out through a different window than the one they came in. Rut was on, freezing rain/snow storm. Windows were probably reflecting the outside surrounding. I took two of those deer home, and they tasted horrible. Adrenaline?

Yeah, but how many deers?

Been lucky here, had one scratch a pickup door with his antler, as I dodged him. Nearly hit a huge bull elk in NM, near the Quemado gathering, but luckily he was smart and spun a 180 rather than try to beat me across the road. Missed him by maybe 3 feet.

Had one spike buck jump out one afternoon, near our lease. I was on the brakes immediately, and he turned and ran beside me for a few yards. I came to a complete stop so he could go whichever way he wanted. He angled down the road for maybe 150 yards, then cut across and disappeared behind a cedar tree. I drove on, and saw him crumpled at the fence. I got out to check on him, and it was clear he'd run into the fence and broken his neck.

At some point I guess I'll have to put a grill guard on the truck. From what I hear they don't eliminate the risk of damage, but help prevent the vehicle being disabled in the middle of nowhere, which gets real expensive.

Same here, but probably only because there weren't any in my part of the world when I crazy-redneck-young and driving a Mustang...or a GTO...or a Trans Am...or a...

One dark night my wife and I hit a moose, centerpunched it at 55mph with a Toyota FJ40 Landcruiser, killed the moose and the Tojo both instantly, don't know why it didn't make road kills out of us, both came out without a scratch.

It's a huge problem here. We have our share of Coma-cozy Deer. I've hit 2 and had 1 hit me.

The first one was out of no where, a whole string came running out of the brush and I ducked and dodged in between them, but a doe slammed into the side of my truck and knocked off a piece of trim.

The second one happened when I was on my way home from muzzle loader hunting. Came around a corner and a line of them were walking nose to tail with nowhere to go. I slammed on the brakes and almost stopped but punted one doe about 30 feet. She laid in the street, still alive. So I grabbed the gun and when I stepped into the light, she saw me and ran off. $1300.00.

Number 3 was similar. A doe and a Bambie ran across in front of me. I missed the doe, but punted the Bambie in the same fashion. Another $1300.00.

I've not hit a coyote yet.

Not due to lack of trying, though...

I have never hit a deer with a vehicle. Came close a time or two, like the time in SW Virginia, driving on US 58 out of Damascus. Damn thing jumped right over my car as I drove along a cut.

I had a friend back in Maryland who owned a black truck and worked nights. His truck was hit by more deer than I can remember. The last time it was hit the insurance company told him he had to put marker lights down the side of it or they'd drop him.

My first was a hog...wait what we talkin' bout here?

The EMS company I worked for spec'd a new rig (Ford Turbo Diesel) with a HUGE deer guard on the front.

Just for me.

Never did get to test it though.

Wait a minute, I did have a number 4 two years ago.

Coming back from hunting again, it was snowing pretty good on a narrow back road. Popped over a little hill and an 8 pt. jumped over the guard rail, I hit the breaks to no avail. Hit it's hind quarter and spun him around and his head hit my side view mirror. He got up and ran off. He think he lived, but I'm sure he was pretty sore. No damage to the truck.

Hit a goose on time coming off an exit ramp doing 55. He was flying quartering away and bounced him off the grill and then off the windshield and he kept on flying. No harm, no fowl.

Hit an owl about a month ago, again coming home from hunting. He was flying straight across in front of me and I hit him hard and bounced him off of the windshield. I came back through there the next day and looked for him, but didn't see him. I'm sure he died.

I'm still a virgin.

Got to second base once........

I've got a neighbor that's a cop and works nights. He's got a lead foot and haul azzes everywhere he goes. Who knows how many he's hit, but I'm sure he gets at least 2 or 3 every year. He's always complaining about the f__king deer. I told him to slow the f__k down and keep your eyes open. I should ask him sometime how many he's hit. He probably doesn't even know. More than you could count.

Har!!

The first and only deer I've hit so far was late at night going home from work 20 years ago.

Driving a '94 Explorer Sport, running 55-60 mph, straight stretch, nothing in view on or to the sides of highway. All of a sudden out of nowhere there the deer was not even 5 yards directly in front of my vehicle. Impact, and off it went flying and spinning through the air.

Small to medium size younger looking doe, deader than a door nail, but surprisingly, not as much external damage as I would have thought to the deer or my vehicle, though it still cost insurance close to couple of thousand in body and paint work to repair.

Threw her in the back of my vehicle, called and reported to KYSP when I got home. I don't know if they still do but back then KYSP had a call list for folks who wanted salvageable road killed deer. Not really feeling up to dressing out the doe as late as it was so I just donated it.

Not more than maybe 20-30 minutes a local man I already knew pulled up in my drive way, loaded the deer up in his truck and thanked me.

A few years later one of our daughters hit a deer head on with her Pontiac Grand Am. Car was so badly damaged that insurance totaled it out.

Moose are far worse than deer or elk and not just because of the obvious size difference... their eyes do not glow like deer...

Had an idiot pass me on a blind corner at Cooper Landing and nearly got us into a head-on with a truck. Less than a mile later he pasted a moose and we got to have a discussion about the passing on the blind corner.

Riding around out in the hills one cold winter night drinkig with my old uncle in his late 70's ford ltd and out of the ditch pops up this yotie.

Snow packed roads we average about 20 mph on these journeys more because we're drunk than because it's slippery. (you can still drive around out there and only see another motorist about every halh hour).

He gripped the wheel, started laughing, and accelerating.

Between bright headlights and snow banks blocking exit ramps it just ran full speed ahead right down the center of the road.

We chased that dog half a mile before it finally disappeared below the hood ornament and went thump thump thump underneath.

It looked over its shoulder as it disappeared.
We still laugh about that one.

Heading out to Lake McConaughy about 10 years back or so, doing 75 down I80 about 11pm in my Cherokee pulling my 17' Tracker and a coyote pops out of the median and I hit him dead center. I think the boat bounced 2' in the air when he hit that axle.


Coyote smoothie.. underside of the boat was covered in red and gray. No damage to the Cherokee or boat trailer tho.

I've had two hit me, but I've never hit one. The first one, I was creeping down a sunken road in the fog at 0400 when I saw some legs on the embankment over me. She jumped down, landed on my hood and bounded off. I was heading out deer hunting and that was the only one I saw that day. The second hit me as I was bringing my largest buck ever to the processor, she came into the highway, I swerved, and she hit the right rear quarter panel and took off. No damage in either case. I've missed a few, though.

1964 in a 56 Chevy. Going to graduation at Penn State,State College PA. A deer jumped off the left bank, cleared the opposite lane and landed o my hood ornament. Half went down the grill, half back on the hood. Blood came in the front windows. I had no extra clothes. I attended graduation with the gown covering the blood ,but all that sat next to me commented on the smell.

Worst thing I ever hit was a skunk with a 53 Chevy.It must have jumped at the last minute, and stuck on the grill,right in front of the fresh air vent. I had to buy the girl I was dating a a new suede coat. Never did get all the smell out of the car.

I hit my first (and last) freight train broadside in 1977. It never felt a thing.

1976 Chev police car was fixable - no injuries to me

Never have hit a deer or a train . . . yet, anyhow . . . I ain't complaining at all. I have seen the aftermath of both and it ain't pretty.

Coyote smoothie.

Lmao!

I've jumped my boat off bigger boat's wakes.
I've jumped my boat off logs.
I've jumped my boat off rocks.

But I've never jumped my boat off a coyote smoothie!

2 ft of air.
I'm still laughing about this and have to ask, how much hang time did ya get?

tff.

I've hit three. The first two ran into me. The road was not wide enough to get away from them. The last one slipped in the road in front of me and I ran over it. Had it kept it's footing, it would have gotten past me as I rapidly slowed down. That one did the most damage.

My experiences tell me there is a tremendous suicide problem in the deer community.

My daughter said they are deer jihadist.

Trying to take me out so I can't shoot them anymore.

It was one of those moments where everything was going in slow motion. Hitting the coyote with the Jeep was no biggie, but when I felt the bump from the boat and looked in the rear view to see the front of the boat rising up everything just slowed down... I was waiting for that moment when it would pop off the hitch and I'd be doing 75 pulling the boat down the interstate by it's chains. Laughed about it the next day, but wasn't that night..

Oh, God.
Muslim deer... on suicide missions.

That's all this country needs.
Probably refugees emigrating from Deerborne MI.

You read my mind.
lol

Hang time...
Slow motion!

Too funny.
I almost typed "slow motion" earlier in this thread, couple of times.


The image of that yotie looking over his shoulder as he disappeared is frozen and emblazoned in my memory.

Timeless.
And hilarious!

After living almost 20 years in big elk country, I've almost forgotten about the earlier deer smacks. Some of those did a bit of damage here and there over the years - most involved deer running into the side of the vehicle.

However, having a crash with an elk - particlarly a mature bull - can be serious stuff. The local tow service drags a lot of elk-ruined vehicles onto their lot and many of those hulks look scary. We have learned to slow w-a-y down when driving in this country at night and I normally ride the center line, as possible, to get a better view of both road shoulders.

I just missed the same bull elk that tex in cal missed on the way to Quemado last year - and can vouch for the "monster" part! We figured I was only a minute or so ahead of him.
I DO have a steer, a deer, and a horse under my belt, though.
(the horse lived - the others didn't). I've come so close to hitting elk that on the first occasion, you couldn't have fit a pack of cigarettes between her butt and my grill guard. The second time, we missed by about 3 feet. Missed that big bull by about 5 feet - man I'm glad he didn't jump into the headlights!

few years ago i was coming out of meeker, colorado at night in a blizzard, couldn't see hardly in front of me, and a herd crossed the road. I nailed a doe with my 3/4ton dodge diesel. It did kill her. I stopped to pull it off the road and inspect damage. Another guy said i had to report it so i drove back into meeker to get the popo, who turned out to be a lady. We went back and she said, yep, you killed it, it's yours if you want it. She turns the flashers on, we pull the deer back on the road, she puts rubber gloves on, and helps me gut it. I fell in love. Cept i was married, she owned guns, and had a boyfriend. Over my desk right now i have framed a certificate that says roadkill wildlife possession, signed by her.
So, couple of days later i am sneaking into arizona at night with one headlight and damaged grill, dead deer in the back, and crossing the injun navajo rez at about 80 i get lite up by the resident highway patrol. I told him why and what i was doing, and he felt sorry enough, no ticket.
That 35pounds of processed deer cost me about 3500 in damages. Who says hunting is cheap.

I've hit probably 4 or 5 deer with my 4 Runner alone...

several were just small ones, that just pretty much got run over...

two were hit at about 55 to 60 mph that darted out of brush so fast, it wasn't even worth hitting the brakes...

I have a 31 x 10.50 spare time mounted on the front...
I just centered the impact to be on that and took my foot off the gas pedal...

That thing takes quite a wallop and doesn't really hurt anything but the deer... the tire is mounted onto a Brush Guard...

sure I might of had deer burger down both sides of the truck, plus on the hood and windshield.... but that washes off...

Funny, I've missed a couple in the Pilot just this past month... one going out to Burns, bailed out of a ditch and hit me in the drivers door, which didn't seem to hurt anything on the Pilot...I was only doing about 50 mph, and that was at night.. out on isolated US 395 NO of Lakeview..
where I passed a total of 3 cars in a 110 miles...

I could(if I tried to do a tally)could add up the deer, and to date only one antelope, but the moose was most memorable! Did a lot of damage to my girlfriends (she still married me) '88 Honda Accord.On our way back to Kemmerer,Wy. after spending a Feb. day in Jackson Hole. Along cold ride from Bondurant,missing the drivers side window and pretty much sitting on the console trying to see out of a very broken windshield! memtb

During the 2 years I was employed for a vending company, coming down the mountain around 5 AM, I clipped 4 or 5. Not hard enough to do any damage, just had snacks and soda cans all over the stinkin' place from slamming on the brakes.

Got broadsided by one in my old dodge van....Saw 2 coming over the hedges out of someone's front yard, hit the brakes, stopped and them boom...The third one put a pretty good dent in front of the rear wheel well.

The best one though was about 7 or 8 years ago, taking a coworker home. Country road...Woods and a bit of a bank on the left, a field on the right. 2 deer came off the bank and crossed the road about a hundred yards ahead of me...I slowed down a bit....All clear...Got back on the gas...up to about 45 or so. Zach said something to me and I glanced at him...At that instant, There was one heck of a bang, the passenger side of my windshield disintegrated and Zach basically dove onto my lap.

A third deer came off the bank, hit the road and went to leap across....I caught its rear legs with the fiberglass piece around the headlight on my '79 Nova. That deer flipped over the hood, the front half came through the windshield and blew out the passenger side door window...The rear hooves left rather clear deer prints on my roof and caved in the front of the roof at the top of the windshield about 2 inches.

I slammed on the brakes, causing the deer to slide the rest of the way through the windshield, and land half on the front seat and half on the floor.

It was a dang good thing Zach was looking at me because he saw the deer coming off the bank on my side....I didn't...and was able to dive out of the way.

Well, stopped the car...we both got out the driver's side...I walked around and reached through the hole where the right front door window used to be and grabbed the critters neck...It was deceased. Good enough. Open trunk...open passenger front door and transfer rather tasty and pre-tenderized venison from seat to trunk.

The fiberglass headlight bezel, windshield and door glass cost a total of 75 bucks at the junkyard. Took a bit to clean the blood and glass out of the interior but all was good in the long run. The deer was the only casualty.

The only one I've bagged with a car, so far, was coming back from an unsuccessful deer hunt.

Hit a few where I didn't do any damage. I remember one my dad hit when I was a runt and the officer had to put it down right there on the side of 41.

I do remember one I hit - a yearling. I was doing just under 100 on a Ski-Doo Mach III. Poor bugger stepped out and I never even got my hands to the brakes and it was all over me.

Hood destroyed, blood all over my helmet/back and sled.

Ran the rest of the day, come back through and there was nothing but a big pink spot on the trail and that was it.

My first was heading to work one morning at about 5 am on a highway. My buddy texted me and I look done at the phone in center console briefly. Looked up and a deer was standing about 6 feet in front of the hood. At 85 mph in a VW golf it was ugly ,but continued on to work. At a bodyshop. When I had stopped to assess the damage, a guy that was following me stopped and Said " Holy&*%&^&^* " He was more shaken then I and he had blood guts and deer remands all over the front of his car........ he must have been following to close.

Hit a very pregnant doe once with the L9000

All of 30 minutes after I put a new Texas bumper on it.