Deer vs vehicle thread.

[Hem]

I have hit probably 6 or 7 deer over the years with dozens of near misses. This past weekend was one for the books, and fortunately a miss for me and my family.
Driving South in Paradise Valley on Saturday I spied a whitey eye balling a crossing. Split second, gun it or hit the brakes. Stepped on the brake pedal and sure enough that doe jumped the fence and bolted to get across. She made it across my lane but got creamed by a van coming the opposite direction. Try to imagine a direct impact resulting in the deer imploding. Then in slow motion the entire contents of the stomach hurled through the air and pasted the whole front half of our car, and skis up on the roof rack, with a tremendous splat. Deer took out the front end of the van, possibly the windshield, and ended up piggy backing on the roof.
Pure carnage. Nice patina for us...green on silver.

 

[MO Betta]

Haha, been there unfortunately. I've hit 4 deer in my life, the first incident was 3 of the 4. Was driving from Andover Kansas back home for a bachelor party + get fitted for a tux for a friend's wedding, got about halfway back to Pittsburg on 400 hwy, had just thought to myself "no cell service here, be a bad place to hit a deer going 70" when a doe and two fawns ran out in front of my 88 GMC. One fawn was split in half and slid probably 80 feet east down the highway - blood and guts the whole way, other fawn was crumpled in the ditch 20 yards from mom who was struggling with a broken back. Had to dispatch the doe. I'll say one thing for that gas guzzling GMC, the only damage was the bumper being bent just a bit. I love all steel rigs.

Last incident was in a company car, 2015 Toyota Rav4 (a whoooole lot of plastic). I was coming back home one evening after dark on 65 hwy from one of my stores up in Sedalia, MO when I saw a a landowner down in a depression clearing brush with a skidsteer. I decelerated because I knew there was a decent chance he'd push some deer out of there and sure enough a nice whitetail buck comes bounding over the shoulder and crosses right in front of me and I smack him in the rear, hard, with my bumper. Spun him real fast into the brush on the opposite shoulder, he got up and took off. Front right side of the SUV was pretty well demolished cosmetically, that cost 7 grand.

 

[R.K.]

From last Saturday. Little muley bolted from a coulee right in front of the truck, pretty well mangled, and it kinda popped... Took two trips through the car wash. Looking for a place to fix it up today.

 

[Panda Bear]

we have twice a many moose/vehicle collisions than deer. I have not done so but a friend hit a moose with his snowmobile. The snowmobile was damaged but it threw him off with no injuries .

Hem and Jeff and R.K. and and

 

[Hem]

From last Saturday. Little muley bolted from a coulee right in front of the truck, pretty well mangled, and it kinda popped... Took two trips through the car wash. Looking for a place to fix it up today.

View attachment 129769

Hmmmm....serious guts.

 

[MO Betta]

From last Saturday. Little muley bolted from a coulee right in front of the truck, pretty well mangled, and it kinda popped... Took two trips through the car wash. Looking for a place to fix it up today.

View attachment 129769

With the green and red spatter that could be a modern art masterpiece.

@Panda Bear I don't think I'd like to face a moose no matter the rig.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Instead rust undercoating you need a hood coating for rumen content.

I hit two black angus at 75mph just outside of Whitehall once.

 

[Fullquiver]

My cars have killed more deer than CWD.. I can't even begin to say how many deer I've hit over the years but I live in a deer park and have to say that i drive very regularly through areas with deer densities over 100 dpsm and years ago some of these areas had deer densities over 200 dpsm.. Lots of deer and lots of road time and being on tight schedules with work added up to hitting lots of deer. I've had herds run through on our tight roads and killed multiples several times the most ever was 5 with one hit.. Just a part of where I live and worked..

 

[Randi]

I dont know if this is still true or not but at one time Texas lead the way in deer/vehicle deaths

Those stupid Armadillos can also screw up tires, alignments . The old joke in West Texas was . Have you ever seen an Armadillo ? "Not Alive !"

 

[Jape]

Never hit a deer yet, knock on wood, but we did hit a couple horses on prom night about 20 years ago. May still be the worse thing I have ever smelled.

 

[Dave N]

Think I've hit 6 deer so far. Worst part was it seemed like whenever I bought a new truck I would hit a deer! Had one truck for a week, had just added camo accents along the bottom, and popped a deer going to work. Later on had one run into the side of it about 5 miles down the road from the first hit. My current truck was even worse. Bought it Saturday afternoon, went bow hunting Sunday, hit a deer heading to work Monday morning. Had 81 miles on it and the body shop had to order the paint special as it was a new color for the year. Think it was a little over $7K in damage. Made my first payment before I was able to drive it again!

 

[jabber]

I have only hit one deer so far. On my way to work one morning, in an area where I have never seen a deer before or since, very seldom even meet another vehicle. This time, I had just seen an oncoming vehicle and put my headlights on dim and out of a small gravel side road a deer comes hauling but across the road. I hit him about the same time I hit my brakes. After the impact at about 75 or so, the deer just did cartwheels flying through the air and into the ditch. This was on a 2001 Chevy 2500HD. Both the bumper and the hood were fine with no damage whatsoever. Can't say the same about the grill area. The grill and all of the coolers behind it were toast. $8k dollar repair job. After a month in the body shop and then a month on the road, I got T-boned by a lady who ran a stop sign. Insurance said that with 243,000 on the dial, it was totaled this time.

 

[chuckchili]

I was the second vehicle to hit a deer last November near Kremmling. She was dead in the middle of my lane, I should have missed her but didn’t. Loud clunk on my bumper/cross member but thankfully no damage. My wheels and undercarriage were colored red though.

 

[Slm864]

I hit a rut crazed buck in a beater Hyundai 4 cylinder that was my work car. It was around 3 am and approximately 80 mph. The airbag put my arm out through the windshield and knocked me out. When I came to I was in oncoming traffic and the fire sirens were going off in the nearby town. The car still fired up and I got to a nearby pull off but ultimately the car nor the buck survived. I got away with a busted up arm and some glass cuts. I thought for sure he was going to end up in my lap when I hit it.

 

[Gellar]

I drove 53 miles one way for 6 years to work through prime Iowa deer country and never hit a deer. Since August I have only had to drive 4 miles each way and have hit 2 deer. Both were in the drivers side causing damage to front quarter, drivers door and rear passenger door.
On a side note, I got 1 speeding ticket/warning in that period of driving. My wife now drives to the town we used to live in for work 2 times a week and has gotten 3 warnings since August.

 

[Nick87]

Instead rust undercoating you need a hood coating for rumen content.

I hit two black angus at 75mph just outside of Whitehall once.

I'm guessing calves or smaller feeders? That could have been bad!

 

[BrentD]

I drove 53 miles one way for 6 years to work through prime Iowa deer country and never hit a deer. Since August I have only had to drive 4 miles each way and have hit 2 deer. Both were in the drivers side causing damage to front quarter, drivers door and rear passenger door.
On a side note, I got 1 speeding ticket/warning in that period of driving. My wife now drives to the town we used to live in for work 2 times a week and has gotten 3 warnings since August.

Iowa highways, shown only be deer-vehicle accidents. I wrote a paper on this once (twice actually, with some other folks). Iowa was/is actually on the low side of this problem. And, just so you know, speed is not a contributing factor to DVA's oddly enough.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

I'm guessing calves or smaller feeders? That could have been bad!

No.

 

[Nick87]

Yikes

 

[Hem]

I hit a rut crazed buck in a beater Hyundai 4 cylinder that was my work car. It was around 3 am and approximately 80 mph. The airbag put my arm out through the windshield and knocked me out. When I came to I was in oncoming traffic and the fire sirens were going off in the nearby town. The car still fired up and I got to a nearby pull off but ultimately the car nor the buck survived. I got away with a busted up arm and some glass cuts. I thought for sure he was going to end up in my lap when I hit it.

Yikes...bad encounter.
I hit a muley years ago at 78 mph. Impact on front left quarter panel of a different Subaru. Deer spun over hood, across my side of the windshield, and then catapulted down the driver's side of the car....damage front to back. Another 2 feet and probably through the windshield.
All my others have been with a full size truck and reinforced bumpers.
Wait...did run over a yearling in an old beater Toyota station wagon with no damage.
Wait...2nd deer with the first Subaru ...broke its leg. Let me tell you....3 young guns cant catch a 3 legged deer at 3 a.m.
Alot of reasons for that.