Please Be Careful

[RockRiverTiff]

After 25 years of driving roads bordered by woods and corn fields, I hit my first deer Thanksgiving night. I was driving a very windy road and came around a curve to find a whole family spread across both lanes. Fortunately I was already going pretty slow, so no one in the car was hurt. I have only had my new car for two months, so the shattered headlights and cracked bumper are hard to look at, but as an animal lover, it was a terrible thing to look those deer in the eyes the moment before I hit them. I cried for a solid hour and had to have someone else drive home. That's all the details I can offer without getting weepy again, but PLEASE--for your, your passengers', and the deer's sakes--be CAREFUL this time of year!

 

[Alex]

I so sorry for you and the deer! Be safe!!

 

[wildoak]

Glad you are okay and no people injured - lots of deer country down here too, I took a new road into Austin yesterday and saw at least 3-4 dead deer along the road. They are not the only things out there, either - my daughter hit a coyote on I 35 the other night going back to Dallas!

Jan

 

[Minimor]

For sure the deer are a problem here this fall--much worse than they've been for the last few years. There was a bad accident on our road (2 lane highway) one morning last week. About 7 am a fellow pulled out to pass another vehicle and as he pulled out there were 2 deer standing in the road right in front of him. He hit both deer, lost control of his car & veered across in front of the other car & down into the ditch & rolled the car. When I came by over an hour later the tow truck was just setting the car back down on its wheels--there was gore all over the road & one eviscerated deer carcass was still lying on the shoulder. I heard yesterday that the driver is being charged, something to do with passing when it was unsafe to do so--I'm not sure of the exact charge, but I'm glad the guy is being charged with something.

The thing is, in this particular case, that driver had to be really smoking when he hit those deer--just judging by the gore on the road & the distance it is spread over, the distace the car travelled before entering the ditch, and the distance it travelled once it was in the ditch--I know that guy had to be well over the speed limit. The fortunate part is, he didn't wipe out the car he was passing at the time. I assume that driver had seen the deer & slowed down, and the other driver just flew on past without having any clue that there was maybe a reason the other car was going so slow.

On that road, at that time of the morning, it is foolish for anyone to be driving 20 or 30 km over the speed limit, but there are so many that do it.

Anyway, I'm glad you weren't hurt; it's too bad about the deer, I'd be crying my eyes out too if I were to hit one.

 

[MInx]

Deer always a problem this time of year..I worry about it too. Glad you're OK..the car can be fixed..

Maxine

 

[Sterling]

I'm so sorry you hit the deer...how shocking and scarey that must've been. But I'm glad you nor your family members were injured. We have deer running down our roads constantly here....we have to have eyes in the back of our heads to watch out for them.

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

OMG!!!! I know you must be devastated. Glad no one was hurt.

 

[maplegum]

We have a similar problem here in Australia, except its kangaroos! My father hit one and it wrecked his car.

I'm sorry you had to go through that. Big hugs to you.

xox Leonie xox

 

[sfmini]

Gun season opens today here in Ohio so the deer are likely to really be stirred up this week. Oh happy day. I know the population has really boomed, on our 70 acres alone there have been 10+ deer 'harvested' off of our pest permit. That permit allows you to hunt 24/7 with any weapon you wish. We have to do this as they do so much damage to our Christmas trees. This year, hunters are allowed 3 deer, only one can have antlers, they are trying to thin out the does. Our game warden says for every doe you kill you are really killing 3, her and her twin fawns. Sad, but since they have no natural predators, it is a necessary evil.

So far I have hit one deer, a huge buck. I was lucky that day, for a rare occasion I was driving my dually and not my minivan. I could see that buck's back over my bug shield and he had quite a rack. I was kind of mad he got away, I kind of wanted a picture like those hunting pictures, holding the buck up by the antlers and one hand on my 'weapon', the dodge. $2,000 dollars damage to my truck, I can't even begin to imagine what would have happened if I had been in that minivan.

 

[RENMACMINIS]

I read in our newspaper here about a month or so ago that one of the insurance companies had done a survey and compiled all the stats from every state of vehicles hitting deer and WV was the worst state.

I think everyone in my family has hit one or more. I have not been driving while hitting one but have been a passenger several times. My husband has a blue truck and has hit 5 with it.. well actually he has hit 4 and one ran into the side of it. The first time he hit one with his truck was actually a two for one deal as it was dark and we came around a turn and there was a 6 in the road we had no choice but to hit the brakes and hope they moved. We hit 2 that night both does, killed them instantly but luckily it only broke the grill and busted a headlight. Second time he hit one it was a small deer and it didnt do any damage other than bent the bumper. Didnt kill the deer. The third time he hit a deer it almost totaled the truck. He was going to work and it was just turning daylight and was foggy and a deer jumped down off a bank into the road right in front of him. Killed the deer instantly. That time we had to replace the passenger side fender, the bumper, the grill, headlights, radiator, fan, a/c compressor, and the list went on and on. The last deer he hit we were going camping over labor day weekend and we seen the deer in a field on the passenger side and seen they were running but we didnt see the one that must have been right beside the bank and it ran right into the side of the bed. Scared the daylights of me as all that flashed thru my head was the deer was coming thru my window. It didnt kill that deer just had to have given it one heck of a big headache. I told my husband when he sells that truck and buys another one.... its not going to be on another blue one!!! My sisters significant other has also hit 3 deer with his blue Durango. So I swear deer here look for blue vehicles.. lol. There was also a story here a few years ago about a guy who wasnt more than 16-18yrs old hitting a big buck and it was the biggest he had ever seen and he took the deer home (in WV you can take the deerl to be used as long as the proper authorities have been notified and yes he notified the game warden and state police) was going to mount the deer and the game wardens found out how big it was and they came and confiscated the deer to use in their educational programs about poaching and the dangers of wildlife etc.. Thought that was pretty dirty of them. We have deer in our yards in our fields and just a couple of years ago we had a set of fawns living in our barn after their mom got killed on the road. They were cute would wait until dark and come out and go into our barn and lay in the aisle and as soon as first light came they would leave. They did that until late summer and then we never seen them again.

 

[Leeana]

The deer are getting bad over here. We were going to Indiana/Illinous this past weekend and we must have seen 10 deer running down the side of the road.

Something neat over in Indiana that i noticed, they have 'animal near road' signs and when there is something near the road within a half a mile or so the sign starts blinking to let you know there is a animal by the road. They have them every mile or so next to the road. A cop had someone pulled over and the sign was blinking to let you know so they must work lol.

Im sorry that happened and im glad you are okay, a little shaken probably

 

[Shelley]

After 25 years of driving roads bordered by woods and corn fields, I hit my first deer Thanksgiving night. I was driving a very windy road and came around a curve to find a whole family spread across both lanes. Fortunately I was already going pretty slow, so no one in the car was hurt. I have only had my new car for two months, so the shattered headlights and cracked bumper are hard to look at, but as an animal lover, it was a terrible thing to look those deer in the eyes the moment before I hit them. I cried for a solid hour and had to have someone else drive home. That's all the details I can offer without getting weepy again, but PLEASE--for your, your passengers', and the deer's sakes--be CAREFUL this time of year!

Yep my husband got himself a big buck a couple of weeks ago too...

With my 2006 Mustang Convertible. :-((

The important thing is that we were all in the car and everybody was ok! Hubby felt sooo bad...

the car was supposed to be in storage as of November 1, but he hadn't gotten it there yet. It

was a nice night so he decided we'd take the Mustang and put some gas in it before we put it

in storage.

He was a wreck, I was the voice of reason telling him that it is just a car...WE are what's important...

So it will go get it's $3,050. worth of damage fixed later this week, and because it was a deer

the insurance company waives the $250. deductible.

It was the first deer hit for us, too.

Shelley

 

[Basketmiss]

Thank goodness you were ok!

I dont like to drive at night this time of year, I am scared I will hit a deer..

Last Night our Chow Bryson started crying at the door so my husband let him out and then he see 10 deer standing just out of the fence! He got Bryson back in quick, but was astounded there were so many just standing there!!

 

[MiniforFaith]

So glad to hear everyone was alright.. I haven't personally hit a deer yet, but i did take out a whole raccoon family and cried over that one.(I was 16, a long, long time ago.) Hubby hit a bambi about two months ago with my car. Bambi died instantly. Hubby thought I would be mad, I was just glad he wasn't hurt. And after about 2300.00 in repairs, the car is good as new.. I almost watched a buck get killed out on our road last night, on my way to check on my mini's.. Not sure if it was because the buck was fast, or the truck had good brakes, but he made it across.. My husband has lifted trucks, and bigger tires.. When we are driving one of them, I think the tires scare them away, as the deer don't run out in front of us-- they run the other direction.. Hubby is thinking of a way to put a lift kit and big tires on my Sebring..

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I know I'm definitely not alone. A few years ago I lent my car to a friend and THEY totalled it hitting a deer. I've always been very careful; I guess it was just my turn.

It was scary though how many people zipped on by while we were on the side of the road waiting for the deputy.

So I swear deer here look for blue vehicles.. lol.

Yep, my car is blue. Maybe when I have the hood and bumper replaced I should just have the whole car repainted... Has anyone hit one in a hot pink car?

 

[TangoMango]

Not hot pink, but my husband has hit 3 this year, 2 in my red F150 and one in his black mustang.

Coming home from the movies on Saturday night, came over a hill close to our house and sure enough, deer in the road, I managed to miss the one in the road and avoid the one on the shoulder by swerving justa bit. Flashed my lights at the oncoming car, but he kept right on going, he hit the one that I swerved to miss, it had continued into his lane. He never braked or anything until he hit it.

I dont know about everyone else, but when someone flashes their lights at me, my first reaction is to slow way down and look around... OH!

Yep, my car is blue. Maybe when I have the hood and bumper replaced I should just have the whole car repainted... Has anyone hit one in a hot pink car?

 

[Shelley]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I know I'm definitely not alone. A few years ago I lent my car to a friend and THEY totalled it hitting a deer. I've always been very careful; I guess it was just my turn.

It was scary though how many people zipped on by while we were on the side of the road waiting for the deputy.

So I swear deer here look for blue vehicles.. lol.

Yep, my car is blue. Maybe when I have the hood and bumper replaced I should just have the whole car repainted... Has anyone hit one in a hot pink car?

Hey my Mustang is blue, too!

Shellee

 

[mad for mini's]

It isn't just at night that you need to be worried about , we hit one last week or should I say she hit us ! It was broad daylight, middle of the afternoon . We saw her standing a little ways out in a field headed away from the road and just as we were coming up to her she spun around and ran straight for the road . It was kind of like slow motion , couldn't stop in time so tried to outrun her , cars coming at us so no where to go to . She ended up broadsiding us which left her spinning in circles in the middle of the road , God only knows how she didn't get hit by one of the other cars, when she stopped spinning she hopped up and took off , crossing the road and bounding through the next field and into the woods! When we turned around and went back to see where she went, a hunter came out of the ditchline in the field that she had tried to cross , that is what scared her and made her turn back , we told him about her and he was going to see if she was down or not , never found out if he got her or not. There wasn't much damage to our van, we are going to live with the small crease that she left us .

First deer in at least 20 years that we actually hit, lots of close calls though .