Deer in Texas

[vespaharelykelly]

Do not ride at night. I can't believe this story (see below). If Grodsky can buy it on the road at night hitting a deer, anyone can (in fact several good friends of mine did hit one last year coming back to Wimberley with me from the ROT Rally in Austin, and spend the last year recuperating from head injuries, arm injuries, and jaw injuries). From what I have been reading from a Texas A &M study, the time to get off the road is about 1.5 hours before night fall, and not to get on the road till about 1.5 after sunrise. Of course the deer are out there all the time, its just that in between these times at night they are hard to see and are swarming. On the way to Austin on the Friday of the ROT Rally this year with the same people mentioned above, a deer ran in front of Linda (my wife) and I about 5 miles from our Wimberley cabin on FM 2325 that runs from Wimberley to Blanco at about 11 am. It was a very large doe, and I saw it first about 1/2 miles ahead on the left side of the road. I was ridding in the rear position, and none of the other riders in our party ever saw it. The deer watched the other 3 bikes go by and then bolted across the road in front of Linda and I. As soon as I saw it, I slowed down to about 20 miles a hour waiting to see what it was going to do. It saw me coming but was not afraid to cut in front of me.

Please send this email on to all your friends that ride in Texas (or anywhere for that matter). The deer situation is critical to all motorcycle riders, as well as all those on the road. Nothing really works , and the only chance you have is to avoid riding during the times the deer are swarming, watch your speed, be prepared to hit the brakes at any time, wear protective clothing at all times on the bike, and keep a sharp look out. Never ride when tired, or else you are deer bait for sure.

I am sending this also to Ride Texas in hopes they will print it in hopes of warning others. Please keep this email going.

 

Motorcycles

Motorcycle safety advocate and writer killed in crash

 

 

Larry Grodsky, 55, a journalist and noted expert on motorcycle safety was killed in a motorcycle accident April 8.

photo courtesy Rider Magazine

Rider Magazine's Mr. Safety, Larry Grodsky died Saturday, April 8, 2006. He was 55.

According to the information on Rider Magazine's Web site, Grodsky's column Stayin' Safe has appeared in Rider every month since 1988. Grodsky ran the well-respected Stayin' Safe Motorcycle Training Program, which helped train thousands to be better and safer motorcycle riders.

Grodsky was riding at night just north of Big Bend Park in southern Texas on Route 385 when his motorcycle collided with a deer. He was on his way home to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after attending the International Motorcycle Safety Conference in California.

Grodsky's family has asked that memorial contributions be made to Brother's Brother Foundation in Larry's name:

Brother's Brother Foundation, 1200 Galveston Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15233; Phone: 412-321-3160; Fax: 412-321-3325; mail@brothersbrother.org

[velomoto]

FWIW - Colorado and Pennsylvania also have large deer populations. I've most frequently spotted deer on or along side the roadway at the times you mentioned (1.5 hours after sunrise, 1.5 hours before sunset) but I have also seen a significant number after sunset as well.

[DSE]

I rode in the same area a couple of weekends ago and saw deer on or near the side of the road mid-day and in broad daylight. In one instance, I saw the deer in time to slow down and watch it scamper away, jumping quite high and well over a barbed wire fence. On another, I saw the deer behind brush and trees to the side just as I was passing it at around 60 mph. I would have been toast had the deer decided to jump in front of me. Now, imagine how many deer were out there that I did NOT see.

 

So I agree it makes sense to avoid riding at dusk/dawn in deer territory, but they are so plentiful that are they are constant hazards.

[RPG]

a Michigan DOT study says that 1 in 200 vehicles will hit a deer this year. That's THIS YEAR! Michigan like other states is doing nothing about the problem as you would expect.

 

the only safe thing to do for now is stay off the roads at certain times.

 

Rick G

[270]

I rode in the same area a couple of weekends ago and saw deer on or near the side of the road mid-day and in broad daylight. In one instance, I saw the deer in time to slow down and watch it scamper away, jumping quite high and well over a barbed wire fence. On another, I saw the deer behind brush and trees to the side just as I was passing it at around 60 mph. I would have been toast had the deer decided to jump in front of me. Now, imagine how many deer were out there that I did NOT see.

 

So I agree it makes sense to avoid riding at dusk/dawn in deer territory, but they are so plentiful that are they are constant hazards.

 

Hey Guys,

 

At the risk of sounding like a know it all (I don't know much, just ask my wife), you may REDUCE your risk of hitting a deer by avoiding riding at night, but I can sure as hell tell, especially in that part of the country and on that road, you've got a pretty good chance of meeting one of those monsters during that day.

 

I ride that area at least 3 times a year, and sometimes more. Over Memorial Day weekend, I rode from Marathon (Larry's apparent desitination/17 miles from the accident)down to the river road starting at Lajitas. 10 am, on the very long straight...and I nearly crush a critter (or visa versa) prancing across the road.

 

Yes, please be careful...always be careful! Don't think that because daylight has broken that deer lose their appetites for chasing cars and motorcycles!

[skinny]

a Michigan DOT study says that 1 in 200 vehicles will hit a deer this year. That's THIS YEAR! Michigan like other states is doing nothing about the problem as you would expect.

 

 

What would you expect the State to do??? It seems un-likely that any state would decide to eradicate the deer population, even if it was feasible.

I live in the part of Texas that hasn't had a deer problem until the last few years, and now there is literally no place in Texas (outside of urban areas) that doesn't have deer. Even if the deer were eliminated, there is still enough wild life to make riding at night too risky for me, and I've been riding since 1959, so I'm hardly a newcomer to the problem...

[270]

I certainly don't expect our state to do anything...except to make sure that hunters and hunter education remains active in order support generations of deer hunters to harvest deer year over year.

 

I shouldn't speak as I'm too lazy and lacking in vacation time to hunt, but I'm all for the legalization of fully automatic weapons for deer hunting only! Kill all you can haul! Killing off the entire buffalo population (nearly) was wrong...I'm not so sure about deer!

[Lone_RT_rider]

a Michigan DOT study says that 1 in 200 vehicles will hit a deer this year. That's THIS YEAR! Michigan like other states is doing nothing about the problem as you would expect.

 

 

What would you expect the State to do??? It seems un-likely that any state would decide to eradicate the deer population, even if it was feasible.

 

Well, in Lynchburg, VA (not the state level, I understand this) they have a "Wildlife management" division. This group is responsible for thinning the Deer heards. At night, the ride along the major roads in white Ford trucks and pick off Deer through the window of the truck. They use large spotlights to get their attention and then shoot them once they have the "Deer in the headlights" thing going on. In Michigan, you can quite literally go to jail for doing the exact same thing.

 

Shawn

[skinny]

I think I'd rather take my chances with the deer than have to dodge bullets from some nut case local Barney Fife trying to thin the herds after dark...