Deer, the Motorcyclist's Menace

[roadscholar]

A buddy sent this out locally and I thought it may be of some value. I have several friends that have had deer strikes, most lived, some didn't. A lot of you already know this stuff but a reminder never hurts, a pretty good article from someone who understands deer behavior. It's in pdf form so you'll probably need to enlarge your font to read it.

 

I ride at night a good bit (because I like to) and see lots of deer, and so far have been very lucky. Three things I try to do to mitigate a strike is:

 

1. If at all possible get on an interstate. Not only do they have wildlife fencing (I know it doesn't stop a deer) but there's usually a good bit of traffic including lots of 18 wheelers and if one does get in the road the percentages are way better that someone else will hit it. A lot of them graze on the shoulder of interstates, but even a deer knows he'd probably never make it to the other side, at least where I live : )

 

2. If there's no interstate available I follow a car or truck and let them take the hit. If there's no traffic pull over and wait. It is possible one could get between you but unlikely.

 

3. I try to ride in the left most lane or left part of the lane. Deer usually come from the right shoulder and it gives you a few extra milliseconds.

 

Which brings up the author's main point. Time, speed and distance. The more time to react, reduce speed, and extend distance the better your chance of surviving, every millisecond counts. You may have to copy/paste this.

 

file:///C:/Users/Bill/Downloads/Deer%20Article%20(1).pdf

 

 

[The Rocketman]

Great article about just this in August BMWON magazine.

[roadscholar]

Might be the same one, it was from the Owner News, I wasn't sure how current. If someone could provide a clickable link, even better.

[The Rocketman]

Tried to get you a hyperlink, but this is the best that I can do so copy and paste. Starts on page 46.

 

http://content.yudu.com/web/y5b2/0A3utj5/August2016/flash/resources/index.htm

 

[roadscholar]

Yes, same article I linked to above (thanks Mike).

[The Rocketman]

Thanks greiffster. Tried to add that link several different ways and couldn't.

[greiffster]

No problem. It's a good article and worth reading.

 

Years ago I hit a big 8 point buck in my Tahoe. Mr. big horns was just standing broadside in the middle of the lane. I was doing 55-60mph in the dark early morning on the way to the duck blind. I had just enough time to take my foot off the gas. Never braked. You just can't see 'em.

[The Rocketman]

Someday I'll tell you about my friend Bob Davis from Delaware who was riding 2-up with his wife on his R1200CL. His wife's nickname is now "Bearswatter". Need I say more?

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

I've posted the plots from this page before, which show how deerstrikes in Kentucky vary month-by-moth, and how they vary hour-by-hour specifically within the month of November.

 

November really is the most hazardous month, with October and December vying for a distant second place.

 

The time-of-day plot was, to me, even more impressive. There's a large disparity between dawn and dusk, but that may be due to automobile traffic density: lots of people are commuting home between 5 and 8 PM, but relatively few hit the road between 5 and 7 AM. It may be that the deer are equally active during both periods, so your odds of a deerstrike may actually be similar at dawn and dusk.

 

Traffic density goes way down as you get toward midnight, but the deerstrikes don't drop off as rapidly as I would have guessed. Huh.

 

Moral of the story (at least for me)? Think twice about riding in November outside of daylight hours.

 

The ON article mentioned "the deer you don't see." What they don't say is that deer frequently travel in groups, IOW they're not just random deer scattered about with each doing their own uncorrelated thing. If you see one deer run across the road in front of you, don't let your guard down; stay hard on the brakes, because there's a good chance that one or two more may soon follow the same path. This has happened to me numerous times.

[Bud]

I've posted the plots from this page before, which show how deerstrikes in Kentucky vary month-by-moth, and how they vary hour-by-hour specifically within the month of November.

 

November really is the most hazardous month, with October and December vying for a distant second place.

 

The time-of-day plot was, to me, even more impressive. There's a large disparity between dawn and dusk, but that may be due to automobile traffic density: lots of people are commuting home between 5 and 8 PM, but relatively few hit the road between 5 and 7 AM. It may be that the deer are equally active during both periods, so your odds of a deerstrike may actually be similar at dawn and dusk.

 

Traffic density goes way down as you get toward midnight, but the deerstrikes don't drop off as rapidly as I would have guessed. Huh.

 

Moral of the story (at least for me)? Think twice about riding in November outside of daylight hours.

 

The ON article mentioned "the deer you don't see." What they don't say is that deer frequently travel in groups, IOW they're not just random deer scattered about with each doing their own uncorrelated thing. If you see one deer run across the road in front of you, don't let your guard down; stay hard on the brakes, because there's a good chance that one or two more may soon follow the same path. This has happened to me numerous times.

 

As a long time deer hunter I've observed the following. Except during rut, deer most often move at dawn and dusk.

 

Deer seem to be hard wired to run in front of a vehicle rather than stopping and letting the vehicle go by.

 

During rut, deer move at any time of day or night.

 

I've only had one deer strike. It was into the side of our 25' sailboat in Ontario. Definitely a case of deer suicide.

 

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources uses data from insurance companies to set the number of deer permits issued by county. Collisions go up, permits go up. Collisions go down, permits go down.

[Selden]

Moral of the story (at least for me)? Think twice about riding in November outside of daylight hours.

My deer strike, which totaled my 1996 Honda Pacific Coast, and led to my being here, occurred in November between 12:30 and 1:00 p.m. In certain parts of the country there is no such thing as a "safe" time of day in November.

 

I was "lucky" in that the deer hit right at my front axle, pushing the bike out from under me, so I had a clean dismount, and slid ~100 feet down a straight section of road, coming to a gradual stop. The deer was less lucky, ending up in a ditch with one of its front legs torn off. The Sheriff's officer who stopped wouldn't put it out of its misery because he would have had to file a firearm discharge report.

[tallman]

I've had a deer train, nose to tail, seven to nine long cross in front of me when I commuted through a National Forest.

A little bit of the roadside cleared back and some visibility, late morning (9ish) from right and afternoon (3ish) from left.

Had big buck leap out on same road in another place where side growth was closer, no visibile warning, he just leapt and crossed about 20 feet ahead, from the left.

Had a doe burst out from right and fortunately piroutte directly in front of me as I shoved bike opposite direction, literally less than a foot in front of me, she exited back in direction from which she came.

All of this same road going through National Forest and finally another one from the right, this time in the dark morning, from right, bike on cruise, hit me right arm, and miraculously bike stayed upright (cruise?) and kept tracking.

Stopped commuting that way...

I've seen them leap over riders in front of me from embankment (NC) R-L, over the head of following bike (Fla) R-L.

One of my worst encounters was avoided because I saw some circling buzzards and slowed on a hilly rural road. Crested and had a dead deer with leg pointing at me about 45 degrees and typical road relish. Becasue I had slowed down I was able to maneuver around, if not, I would have contacted it.

Lots of data about time of day, month/season, rut, hunting season etc.

Heed it.

Best wishes.

[Bill_Walker]

A buddy of mine had a deer jump out of a back yard over a stucco wall in Paso Robles, CA, one morning, and run smack into the side of him, breaking his right leg. He didn't go down, but he couldn't get off the bike until help arrived.

[lawnchairboy]

Whipster had a close encounter right in front of me, mid-morning on Chief Joseph hwy recently....

[Selden]

Whipster had a close encounter right in front of me, mid-morning on Chief Joseph hwy recently....

I am glad I read that after riding the Chief Joseph Highway, rather than before.