Do you ride in deer collision country? (By State)

v8-7

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West Virginia #1 @ 1 in 41 ..

I guess this means 1 in 41 vehicles will strike a deer in 2016 ..Seems like a lot to me .
 
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Although it can happen any time, I try not to ride at dawn and twilight. That is when the deer are moving the most and hard to see.
 

scootac

Will Ride for Food
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I'm in PA...#3 on the list. A big reason I don't ride at night. But they are on the move anytime of day. Good piece of advice on there is to brake, but no drastic swerving. There's more people killed/injured by trying to avoid an 80lb deer then hitting a 2' oak tree!!! It's a hard thing to mentally do, but the right move.
And don't EVER think that since you have lights up the wahzoo that you can see the deer far enough ahead to avoid them!!!
You can't,,,, because YOU don't hit the deer... THEY hit you!!!! For some reason, they think they can beat you across the road.... and then run into the side of you. Personal experience speaking there...luckily never on two wheels. Yet.
Thanks for bringing up a very timely subject!!!
 
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I ride at all hours. I suspect I'm more likely to have an encounter with a distracted cager than wildlife, there's a lot more of them on the road. I agree with scootac, stay on the road, better to encounter a movable object than a tree, rock, sign post or any fixed object.
 

ToddC

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I have hit two in the last three years...... luckily in my Toyota Tacoma. Oh yea and a Coyote as well.

Almost hit a deer on the bike last summer, just missed the rear legs by about 5 feet......:mad:.

Milk master is right....dawn and dusk are really bad. Some evening's we will have a dozen of the Forest Rats in our front yard....!

ToddC
 

sky.high

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I have forest rats in my yard every day, all year, hitting one is my greatest motorcycling concern, its almost inevitable one day I'll be taken out by one, I've had plenty of close calls on bike and hit a couple with vehicles.

I also avoid riding idusk till dawn, we need a lot less of these rats around, they are thriving in our 'no hunting' communities, feasting on our yards. We have ridiculous neighbourhood fear of coyotes, wolves and cougars, our vehicles are now their only predator and that really sucks
 
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I wish there was a similar page for Canada. These mornings are quite dark and I poop myself driving up through fields surrounded by woodlands...
 
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I wish there was a similar page for Canada. These mornings are quite dark and I poop myself driving up through fields surrounded by woodlands...
Same here, with the added information on moose strikes also available. I live in moose country - 600-800lbs beasties, and don't really need to worry about deer until I have ridden several hundred Km south. But the prospect of hitting a bull in his prime scares me a lot more than "rats" do... On the + side, Moose are more likely to be struck than to strike, so good visibility is enough to make me feel safer. I also avoid dusk and early dawn as much as possible.

PS: and they are tall suckers to boot ... :(
 
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I've hit 2 so far this year. First one was in January an hour after daylight in South Carolina on the St and totaled the bike. Second one was in March at 0300 in West Virginia on the FJR. But it was just a glancing blow. I almost scored another this past weekend in the woods on the KTM. I can't wait till deer season to exact some revenge.
 
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Just finished a 693 mile 3-day romp through SW PA, NW West VA, Western MD and Virginia. I agree this is the main reason I don't ride at night, either. Yes, those %$&^#ers will jump right into you and speak from personal experience on that!!

Saw deer in each state, more large herds in WVA than the other states. It's that time of year, boys and girls. Let's be careful out there!
 
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scootac

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With so many cursing the deer, wonder how many of us hunt them?
I try to do my part to make the roads safer!
 

v8-7

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Timely post. As I was riding my bicycle today, I stopped to help a lady on the side of the road, I thought she had a flat. She had just killed
a deer that was about 30 yards behind her..
 
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Ohio is #19, and I had one jump out right in front of me one evening around dusk... close call but it's the state patrol jumping out in front of you that you really have to watch out for! (This may just be a personal problem though)
 
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Grand Rapids, Mn
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MN is rated 1 in 80, a "high Risk" state. Given the numbers of road kills seen and vehicles in the body shops, that seems low. Also since a couple rough winters and a skyrocketing wolf population has reduced the herd to much less than it was years ago it could normally perhaps be higher.
I try to never ride early or late in the day as they scare the daylights out of me when on the bike. They are so unpredictable. After 40 plus years of driving, I've only actually hit one with the car/truck, and that was almost in my driveway. I hope to never come closer than I already have on the bike. The "up close" looks are almost reason enough to park it.
I like to hunt and eat them, so the annual season is soon approaching to help thin the herd a bit.
 

sirepair

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Another Ohio resident here. I commute 24 miles through southern Ohio to work. Rarely does a day go by that I don't see 1 or more forest rats during that commute. I often see 3 or 4 within a few hundred feet of my house!

Though I've hit one with a car, I've been fortunate to have only had a few near misses, a couple of which were VERY close, on my bikes.

I've never been a hunter, but appreciate their efforts (and enjoy the fruits of their bounty). So keep up the good work!
 
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I guess California as a whole is 49 th but up here in the northern sierras it is a lot higher.
 
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I ride and drive half the year in Montana - #2. All the close calls with various large ungulates have made expen$ive truck (Buckstop bumpers) and motorcycle (Clearwater lights) mitigation measures more likely and more palatable.
 
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