I hit a deer this afternoon 2 up in N. AZ

[ray h]

Originally Posted by tundradirtbiker

http://www.etrailer.com/Electronics/...HM27512VA.html

Friend uses an electronic deer 'whistle'. Claims it will drive the deer lying next to the road away from traffic. Advantage (he says) is sound projection in front of the bike. He mounted it on the front fork of his 1200 GS. Don't know the brand, but if I rode da road, I would look into it. Too many deer in our area.

I've been looking at those and at one time was going to start a thread discussing them and asking if they work but I decided it would be a waste of effort because who, besides a deer, would know if they work?

[slide]

Originally Posted by ggrimes2

Glad to see You're OK.
Years ago my dad was killed in his truck on the same road I suspect very near where you met Mr. Deer. He collided with a couple of them, lost control and went down the embankment.

I now live in northern NM and had a close call last year up near Silverton, CO after a long day ride. I was following the wife on her Harley near sunset and we needed to get to Durango for the night. Getting late and the sun just going down so the deer start to get active. Three or four deer bounded in front of her so fast wife could not even hit the brakes. I'm hauling hard on the brake lever when three more passed between her bike and mine so close I could have kicked one of them. Made the rest of the trip into town at 30 mph as they were everywhere as the sun went down.

Maybe I'm being a wimp but I now try and plan my rides so I get back to the superslab or find a place to camp at or near sunset if possible because I have had just too many close calls in the past few years. There is no shortage of deer in the northern part of AZ or NM

Sheesh. I think if I were following my wife on her bike & that occurred, I'd have had my heart come out my mouth in anxiety for her. I know I'd have peed myself in relief when she came out of it OK.

BTW, I'm with you 100%. I avoid rural areas during those deer active times. Even so, I once almost got taken out by one of the vermin at about 1300h on the road north of Zozo.

[LuluOfDenver]

Originally Posted by slide

Sheesh. I think if I were following my wife on her bike & that occurred, I'd have had my heart come out my mouth in anxiety for her. I know I'd have peed myself in relief when she came out of it OK.

BTW, I'm with you 100%. I avoid rural areas during those deer active times. Even so, I once almost got taken out by one of the vermin at about 1300h on the road north of Zozo.

When I stopped after hitting a buck, I said I was fine: My hand hurt, my handguard was f-ed up, and I screamed in my helmet. The person behind me said he screamed too. Whether that's true or not, I think I would have FREAKED out if I had been following and it had happened to the other person.

I'm going to look into one of those whistles. I find, as the days get shorter in the fall, that I forget its happening and tend to be further from home than I expected to be when it becomes dusk. That usually means the mountains somewhere, and a crap ton of deer/elk. It might be awkward for 125lb. me to bungee a dead one to the back of my GS. (If I kill it, I'm eating it dammit!)

[slide]

Ah deer whistles - to say this is a controversial issue is to put it mildly. I don't remember anyone claiming, though, that they attract deer. The rap seems to be that they are ineffective due to a variety of factors.

I think the dead ones would work best slung over the beak rather than riding pillion with you :)

[easyrider88]

Originally Posted by rickrwh

I saw the videos. Some wide-eyed surprised ass deer as homeboy sped up to ramming speed.

Anyways, to the OP, this is at least the 4th GS/GSA that I've heard of hitting a deer in the past 2 years and not going down. These bikes are tanks.

i hit a deer with my 94 harley ultra in 2005.also with my 97 honda valyrie in 2006.my experience is the heavier the bike the better.didnt get knocked off either time.

[seniorasi]

Originally Posted by rickrwh

I saw the videos. Some wide-eyed surprised ass deer as homeboy sped up to ramming speed.

Anyways, to the OP, this is at least the 4th GS/GSA that I've heard of hitting a deer in the past 2 years and not going down. These bikes are tanks.

That's good news!

[cliffy109]

Wow! Hit the dear, barely wobbled and had the opportunity to legally harvest the creature for meat. A perfect head shot as well so there is no meat damage. Awesome job all around!

[nattyMo]

I hit one June 09', 10:30 am on a bright sunny day. Same as the op, it lept into my bike. I had no time to brake, we were only going 40mph. I didn't go down but the impact broke my right leg badly and my right wrist. Knocked my GF off the back, she only spranined her ankels. Head to toe gear on both of us helped a great deal, no oncoming traffic saved our lives. We both ended up across the double yellow by the force of the impact.

We were lucky, I'm glad to read many of you were too.

Ride well!

NM

[DavidBanner]

how come GS' never fall over when they hit deer?

"i was cruising along and i hit a deer"

"and then what happened?"

"well, i turned around to see what happened...and sure enough i'd hit a deer. so i just rode home to clean off the crap."

[AKA HAL]

Someone should start a sticky where inmates with land that want to decrease the deer population could let others of us that hunt "thin the herd." I know out of the sheer generosity of my heart, I'd travel a few hundred miles to help make the roads safer for you guys (and the opportunity to hunt private land would have nothing to do with my completely altruistic motivation).

[b1pig]

all i can say about this topic... is wow.


i've been riding for 15 years. In all that time, I never even heard of a bike hitting a deer until a worked a wreck where a guy hit a deer running about 30 on a narrow unlit road in a "rich" subdivision. if it hadn't been for the hair stuck in the rim/tire, I would have had a hard time believing the story.

since then, i've seen several videos of riders hitting deer.

[DOGSROOT]

Originally Posted by b1pig

i've been riding for 15 years. In all that time, I never even heard of a bike hitting a deer until a worked a wreck where a guy hit a deer running about 30 on a narrow unlit road in a "rich" subdivision. if it hadn't been for the hair stuck in the rim/tire, I would have had a hard time believing the story.

It's TRUE!!

Deer strikes are for the rich these days...

... just like hunting deer was reserved for the aristocrats in days of yore.

Lots of rich bastards on ADV, as evidenced by this thread.

The likes of you and me will never hit a deer, 'cause we aren't allowed to ride the rich roads.

I've only seen them on signs myself.

In rich areas where I've been trespassing.
.
.
.

[Wyodrill]

The depressed deer hang out along the tarmac.
This season I have killed two deer. Walked away from both. I was riding an F800GS. To say I killed the deer is an understatement. They were pretty torn up- nothing to recover. In march I was 3 hrs from home in the middle of the day when a spike buck jumped out in front of me. I dodged left and right trying to go around him, but he was shadowing me and staying in front. As I got very close I turned into him and hit him square. I didn't want to glance off of him and wined up in a ditch. The deer broke up all the plastic on the front of the bike, bent alot of the guards and handle bars were crooked. I pulled off the road, caught my breath and assessed the situation. With a little duct tape holding flapping parts together, I rode the bike home. I thought it can't happen again. But in Sept after another almost home scenario but this time 1/2 hr after sunset, coming off a mountain with a shear cliff on my side of the road all the way to town. I remember thinking I got it made now. There isn't anywhere for a deer to be on my right side. Bam! Just that quick a yearling got spooked by me coming by and he jumped from the right out in front of me. He was between the guard rail and me. The only thing I saw when I hit this one was his head and a leg cartwheeling over my head. When I stopped at the next pull off antifreeze was pouring out of the bike. This one tore up my radiator so I had to call a tow truck.

In both cases I believe the 21" front wheel kept me up. The upside down shocks took the impact without issue. I walked away from each incident without a scratch. On my way to the repair shop in Colorado I found another GS and bought it. This bike is too good, I want a back up. The deer are cutting into my riding time.

So thoughts on deer whistles: After my first deer, we replaced the Remus silencer on the bike. It sounds different than the old one and deer really respond as I drive by. If they have room they move away from me but sometimes if there is a fence or GUARD RAIL they will run in the opposite direction, like toward you, in front of you. So by alerting the deer you may be just motivating them to jump in front of you. 'Deer in the headlights' is real. They do stupid things and are totally unpredictable.

Also- Wyoming DOT recommends NOT honking your horn, flashing your lights or scaring wildlife in general because they will jump and usually jump in front of you. Also be cautious early in the morning, late in the evening when wildlife are active. That is anytime you are on your bike assume they are active.

I have done 14,000 miles this year all over the west so the law of averages put me in front of alot of deer. I don't know what the statistics on miles per deer are but out here Mule Deer are plentiful, fearless of vehicles and stupid. I have seen alot of deer this year, dodged and missed several and didn't miss twice.

I did buy a power ball ticket after the second encounter with a deer but I think I have used up all my luck.

[Wyodrill]

The depressed deer hang out along the tarmac.
This season I have killed two deer. Walked away from both. I was riding an F800GS. To say I killed the deer is an understatement. They were pretty torn up- nothing to recover. In march I was 3 hrs from home in the middle of the day when a spike buck jumped out in front of me. I dodged left and right trying to go around him, but he was shadowing me and staying in front. As I got very close I turned into him and hit him square. I didn't want to glance off of him and wined up in a ditch. The deer broke up all the plastic on the front of the bike, bent alot of the guards and handle bars were crooked. I pulled off the road, caught my breath and assessed the situation. With a little duct tape holding flapping parts together, I rode the bike home. I thought it can't happen again. But in Sept after another almost home scenario but this time 1/2 hr after sunset, coming off a mountain with a shear cliff on my side of the road all the way to town. I remember thinking I got it made now. There isn't anywhere for a deer to be on my right side. Bam! Just that quick a yearling got spooked by me coming by and he jumped from the right out in front of me. He was between the guard rail and me. The only thing I saw when I hit this one was his head and a leg cartwheeling over my head. When I stopped at the next pull off antifreeze was pouring out of the bike. This one tore up my radiator so I had to call a tow truck.

In both cases I believe the 21" front wheel kept me up. The upside down shocks took the impact without issue. I walked away from each incident without a scratch. On my way to the repair shop in Colorado I found another GS and bought it. This bike is too good, I want a back up. The deer are cutting into my riding time.

So thoughts on deer whistles: After my first deer, we replaced the Remus silencer on the bike. It sounds different than the old one and deer really respond as I drive by. If they have room they move away from me but sometimes if there is a fence or GUARD RAIL they will run in the opposite direction, like toward you, in front of you. So by alerting the deer you may be just motivating them to jump in front of you. 'Deer in the headlights' is real. They do stupid things and are totally unpredictable.

Also- Wyoming DOT recommends NOT honking your horn, flashing your lights or scaring wildlife in general because they will jump and usually jump in front of you. Also be cautious early in the morning, late in the evening when wildlife are active. That is anytime you are on your bike assume they are active.

I have done 14,000 miles this year all over the west so the law of averages put me in front of alot of deer. I don't know what the statistics on miles per deer are but out here Mule Deer are plentiful, fearless of vehicles and stupid. I have seen alot of deer this year, dodged and missed several and didn't miss twice.

I did buy a power ball ticket after the second encounter with a deer but I think I have used up all my luck.