Motorcyclist Hits Deer

[Knotwild]

A guy I knew personally here at home was riding his Polaris Sportsman on his hunting property one evening and a big old doe leapt out in front of him and hit him in the chest. He had broken ribs and a punctured lung.

People think deer are pretty, but they are out to get you or destroy your property any way they can. They are even suicidal about their endeavors. Evil creatures they are.

 

[ragsflh]

in had a few close calls but still riding

 

[Bocephus]

Been riding motorcycles since 1956 and still riding. Traveled the world - do mean the world - on motorcycles. Lots of adventures you do not get sitting home wasting your life away watching TV and living in your fears. That's a sad way to live and I see that here on this forum there are many that live in their fears.

As for hitting deer - sure. One morning going to work teaching, a small buck dove off a hillside in Pa. where I lived back then. It crashed right into my left leg. Kept the Harley up and was able to get it to a guardrail along the road where I could hold the bike up with my right leg. Left leg broken but right leg good. Deer dead in the road behind me and my beautiful bike with a broken controls. Police came, drug the deer off the road and ambulance people lifted me off the bike.

Three weeks later - riding again. Now at 78 my wife and I crashed last year when the front brakes just locked up on their own. Yes, you read that right. We both got hurt but good clothing sure helped. One month later we ride again.

If you were afraid of bears, moose, snakes, charging deer, bee stings, crocks, sinking boats, lightening, rays etc, would you quit hunting and fishing?

One good thing is there are many who do live in their fears. I say GOOD. That means you are not out bothering me when I hunt and fish and also not in my way when I am out enjoying a fun motorcycle ride.

Stay home in your fears and watch the TV.

The beauty of living in a free country is having the freedom to make our own choices. Good or bad.
However, giving consideration to the risks involved as opposed to the potential pleasure does not seem to be “living in fear.”
I’ve taken more than my share of risks, often suffered the consequences of poor decisions and occasionally dined sumptuously on crow.
I do, however believe there is a huge difference between bravado, common sense and fear.
Enjoy the freedom!

 

[Downeast]

One reason that there are so many deer collisions is that roadsides provide a nice green buffet for deer to munch on, especially at night. Years ago DOT in several states had a mix that they would plant to stabilize the roadsides that actually had some plant varieties that deer liked. Same with wild turkeys who forage along these roadsides all the time and seem oblivious to traffic.

 

[Bocephus]

One reason that there are so many deer collisions is that roadsides provide a nice green buffet for deer to munch on, especially at night. Years ago DOT in several states had a mix that they would plant to stabilize the roadsides that actually had some plant varieties that deer liked. Same with wild turkeys who forage along these roadsides all the time and seem oblivious to traffic.

And here in the mountains the sodium chloride(salt) mix used to de-ice the roads in the winter sure seems to appeal to their culinary leanings as well.

 

[JimPag]

I remember back in 98 John Myers who was a six time world champ in NHRA and PROSTAR pro stock motorcycle drag racing was killed when a small animal darted out in front of his street bike while he was out enjoying a cruise with a bunch of friends. He's made hundreds of passes in the quarter mile with speeds at the time topping out at 180MPH and he gets killed like that. Go figure.

 

[Bocephus]

I remember back in 98 John Myers who was a six time world champ in NHRA and PROSTAR pro stock motorcycle drag racing was killed when a small animal darted out in front of his street bike while he was out enjoying a cruise with a bunch of friends. He's made hundreds of passes in the quarter mile with speeds at the time topping out at 180MPH and he gets killed like that. Go figure.

Yep.
And Steve Thompson was one of the rising stars many years ago. Not sure what caused the crash, but he has sure spent a lot of “hard ache” time since. But, whatever happened, it sure wasn’t for lack of experience, this guy was a pro.

Steven L. Thompson - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[KMart]

I remember back in 98 John Myers who was a six time world champ in NHRA and PROSTAR pro stock motorcycle drag racing was killed when a small animal darted out in front of his street bike while he was out enjoying a cruise with a bunch of friends. He's made hundreds of passes in the quarter mile with speeds at the time topping out at 180MPH and he gets killed like that. Go figure.

When your number comes up, you will be out of here. No rhyme and no reason. Nobody but the man upstairs knows.

 

[Brians356]

When your number comes up, you will be out of here. No rhyme and no reason. Nobody but the man upstairs knows.

So true. But your number's likely to come up much sooner if you stuff the lottery box.

We're not too prudent to drive cars fast on crowded or narrow highways, which in itself we know is risky. It's just that a motorcyclist, per miles driven, is almost 30 times more likely to die in any crash than an automobile driver, and 80% of motorcycle crashes result in injury or death.
-

 

[Twicepop]

Several years back a buddy of mine hit a horse, he was in an International Scout when it happened. He was going home from work (2nd shift) as was I, when I came upon the dead horse and a trail of horse guts and horse shit in the road and there was his Scout with the front end destroyed and he was sitting in a State Troopers cruiser. It was a full grown Palamino I'd guess at about 1000 lbs. or more. He said he was driving 55-60 when a horse went running by in the ditch beside him, he looked over to see if was really seeing what he thought he was. Then he looked back and this big Palamino was running at him immediately in front of his Scout and he hit the horse chest on. He said he went from 55 to zero in less time than it takes to explain it. When he hit the horse it split it from the breast bone clear to the tail and totally gutted it. There was a visual explanation of how oats and hay are turned into horse manure laying on the road along with the dead horse.

 

[Just Say Moe]

I rode my friends a few times around the yard and down the street. Got my fill and never got a hankering for one myself. They scare me.....I'd rather jump out of an airplane - and I did!

A good friend of mine was killed when he hit a deer while riding.

 

[Bocephus]

Several years back a buddy of mine hit a horse, he was in an International Scout when it happened. He was going home from work (2nd shift) as was I, when I came upon the dead horse and a trail of horse guts and horse shit in the road and there was his Scout with the front end destroyed and he was sitting in a State Troopers cruiser. It was a full grown Palamino I'd guess at about 1000 lbs. or more. He said he was driving 55-60 when a horse went running by in the ditch beside him, he looked over to see if was really seeing what he thought he was. Then he looked back and this big Palamino was running at him immediately in front of his Scout and he hit the horse chest on. He said he went from 55 to zero in less time than it takes to explain it. When he hit the horse it split it from the breast bone clear to the tail and totally gutted it. There was a visual explanation of how oats and hay are turned into horse manure laying on the road along with the dead horse.

Yessir. I've never taken the time to figure the kinetic energy, but I'm pretty sure that even with the poor BC, it would make a 50BMG appear somewhat anemic.

 

[john 800]

A neighbor of mine, (the good kind of neighbor) and friend was killed a few years ago in a bike accident, I have had a few other friends in serious accidents as well. I am glad that it doesn’t sound like this guy was seriously injured. I love powersports, I own snowmobiles, boat, atvs. I would love to own a bike but I just can’t bring myself to do it, to ride one safely just seems like work.

 

[ronsatspokane]

I'm reminded of the couple who got killed in a car not far from my house when a deer came through the window and took them both out.

In Canada Moose are a problem. The problem being that they are so tall that when you hit one they come down on the top of the car and smash the roof down. Lot of humans with broken necks as a result when that occurs. I was coming back from Alaska up in Northern BC on an Aprilia Futura a number of years back. I was cranking down the road about 90 mph because the road was good and the cut backs were probably 75 yards in each side. The perfect road to light it up. Of course that speed was way above the Canadian KM per hour limit. Anyway, all of a sudden I see police lights in my rear view mirror. I'm thinking, man I am really screwed. I pull to the side while dropping my speed and they blow by me like I'm standing still. Had to have been doing well over 100 mph. I knew there was probably an accident ahead. Sure enough, car hit a moose. Don't know how they didn't see it with the huge cutbacks but they didn't. Don't think I've ever seen that much blood and guts at an accident scene before. The old folks who were involve were out of the car in neck braces and the emergency personal were tending to them.

I still drive cars in spite of the danger and I still ride motorcycles. Perhaps one day I will regret it but until that day...

 

[D-4297]

After over sixty years of riding ; all over the U.S. , and Canada when you didn't have to have a pass-port to visit our neighbors to the North , I feel very lucky to have never had but one close call with a Deer . It literally jumped over me , as I was Cruising a back-road in N.E. Ohio years ago . Took me second to realize I had just had a , Aww Crap , moment , and had to pull over for a smoke . As far as the Helmet issue goes ......I helped write the Helmet Laws in Ohio , way back in the day , and I have a very simple , straight-forward attitude about motorcycle helmet laws . LET THOSE WHO RIDE , DECIDE ! If you don't own and ride a motorcycle , IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS ! Just like the non-gun owners ANTI GUN ZEAL-OTS trying make Un-Constitutional Gun Laws .

 

[Ron Blain]

I ride here in NE Ohio and the deer are my worst nightmare. With an exploding population of deer I really avoid riding at night on the back roads. Considering my current ride is a 92 Harley Electra Glide the last thing I need at my age of 72 is a deer collision. My wife also worries when I ride the bike and anymore I don't know what's worse, the deer or other drivers. Maybe it's time to play it safe and sell the bike and buy something safe like another gun.

I also strongly agree with D-4297 above regarding helmet laws. New riders, by law, must ride wearing a helmet. After the first year a helmet is optional.
Ron

 

[CaptainMal]

Larry Grodsky, early founder/instructor for Motorcycle Safety and author of motorcycle safety books was killed in Texas. He was riding and a deer ran into him.

You just do not know.

 

[Will Henry]

I've had several close encounters with deer, elk, bears, and moose but one of the most startling happened near a little BC town called Beaverdell. I was just north of town, travelling south at about 70mph on a Honda CX500. I noticed a pretty nice whitetail buck approaching a cutbank on the other side of the road. I slowed down just to watch the deer and, when he reached the top of the bank, he hesitated just a second then launched himself into the air! I hit the brakes and the stupid deer landed right in front of me. He hit hard! All four legs splayed out and he was stunned for a moment. After a few seconds, he thrashed around a bit and scrambled to his feet, shook his head, then tottered off across the road. If I had not seen him, he might have landed on top of me.
A dispute over who had the right of way had me, on my KLR 650, yielding to a moose who was very assertive. A similar encounter with a grizzly had the same result; I spun around and left.
I reckon motorcycle riding has its risks but I am OK with it. I'm 73 and plan to keep riding, street and dirt, for as long as I can. My Dad quit riding when he was 84 and I'm a much better rider than he was! By the way, he died of a heart attack when he was 94 and was never even hurt on a motorcycle. I have had some injuries but I ride a lot in the dirt and raced MX for quite a while. You can't know your limits until you exceed them. WH

 

[Bocephus]

Stopped by the local Café a few minutes ago. The "unofficial" update was, numerous road rash lacerations, fractured pelvis, five broken ribs, one punctured lung.
Not a glowing report, but all in all, about as good as might reasonably be expected.

 

[Minshooter]

The beauty of living in a free country is having the freedom to make our own choices. Good or bad.
However, giving consideration to the risks involved as opposed to the potential pleasure does not seem to be “living in fear.”
I’ve taken more than my share of risks, often suffered the consequences of poor decisions and occasionally dined sumptuously on crow.
I do, however believe there is a huge difference between bravado, common sense and fear.
Enjoy the freedom!

Well said.

I've been fortunate to enjoy skydiving, bare hand cliff climbing, diving on submarines 30 miles offshore, aerobatic flying, and a few other mostly legal adventures.
After two slides, -one with less than a second between walking away and becoming a full length speed bump for a semi, I sold my bike and never looked back.
(The driver that made that slide necessary never even looked up from his cellphone).