Lucky Rider

[duosport]

So I was riding home this afternoon about 12:30. I am going home on a 45 mph road that is two lanes going south and two lanes headed north. The north south lanes are devided by a grassy strip with small trees about 4 feet wide. I am doing about 47 mph no cars around me in either direction. All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye to the right there is a flash of brown. I tilt my head slightly to the left towards the flash of brown on the grassy meridian. The brown flash is now a medium sized deer that is flipping upward with legs flying above it. in a backwards summersault. As I am in the inside lane this acrobatics of the deer takes place about two feet from me. It happened in a split second. In a flash I am past the deer never having time to hit my brakes or swerve or anything. What happened? I did not see what happened to the deer. There were no cars in either side of the road. The deer must have been running towards me on my 8 o'clock. A torpedo headed directly for me. Did the deer suddenly see me and do this flip to avoid me? The small trees planted last fall had been placed with support ropes but most of the supports were removed this summer. I rode back by the scene and noticed a few trees still had them. Though they were staked only 1.5 - 2 feet from the trunks of the small trees. The supports also did not travel very high up the trunks either. It would not have been easy for a deer to get under and between the rope, but I guess it was possible. Either way I am one very lucky Hombre.

[alanmcorcoran]

Deer are attracted to motorcycles like moths to a flame. I've seen more deer in the two years I've been riding than the rest of my life combined. Typically I see them mostly in the early morning and then again from twilight. Not as much in the middle of the day. Profoundly stupid creatures as far as I am concerned. I don't get what the challenge is in hunting them - they all seem to have a personal death wish. Either that or they are white-tailed suicide bombers.

Glad you aren't dead. I'd tell you to keep your eyes open, but now you know that when deer strike, there's not much you can do. One more reason I favor the giant bike for higher speed riding.

[duosport]

If it was the support rope from a tree that caused the deer to up end then I must say that there is no doubt in my mind that I would have been very seriously messed up, and would not be typing these words right now, were that tree to have been like the majority of them on the meridian, without a rope.

[dentheman]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

Deer are attracted to motorcycles like moths to a flame. I've seen more deer in the two years I've been riding than the rest of my life combined. Typically I see them mostly in the early morning and then again from twilight. Not as much in the middle of the day. Profoundly stupid creatures as far as I am concerned. I don't get what the challenge is in hunting them - they all seem to have a personal death wish. Either that or they are white-tailed suicide bombers.

Glad you aren't dead. I'd tell you to keep your eyes open, but now you know that when deer strike, there's not much you can do. One more reason I favor the giant bike for higher speed riding.

I can tell you have never been deer hunting. You can see deer all over the place until the first day of hunting, then they disappear and are a real hunter's challenge. The day after hunting season is over, you will see herds of them again, feeding along the side of the road. They are wiley, except when it comes to motor vehicles.

[dentheman]

I would suspect this deer was running full bore when it spotted you and your motorcycle and it got tripped up trying to make a panic stop.

[Water Warrior 2]

Lucky rider indeed. That little episode could have really ruined your day so easily. I wish deer would have some of the survival instincts of cats. They will normally wait till the coast is clear and then run like hell to safety.

Like the man said, "Don't hit anything you can not eat in one meal." Words to live by.

[music man]

My Brother-in-law about a decade ago was riding a motorcycle he and my sister had literally just bought (my sister rode it the 30 or so miles to the house) then he got on it and rode over to a friends house, he started home well after dark and got about 3 miles from his house and a deer jumped out in front of him, the deer jumped just high enough that it cleared the handlebars and he caught that deer dead center with nothing but his head and chest going about 60mph, took him right off the bike.

He was in the hospital for several days, and swore he would never ride again, it took about 6 years or so but he got another bike, but he refuses to this day to ride anywhere close to dark (can't say I blame him for that).

[duosport]

Wow! That is pretty bad. I do not blame him for his fear. I have avoided riding at dusk and night for this very reason.

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by dentheman

I can tell you have never been deer hunting. You can see deer all over the place until the first day of hunting, then they disappear and are a real hunter's challenge. The day after hunting season is over, you will see herds of them again, feeding along the side of the road. They are wiley, except when it comes to motor vehicles.

You are correct, I avoid deer hunting. If my luck with deer is anything like it is with fish, I'd probably not get one, but, that is not the reason I don't hunt. Reasons I don't hunt:

1) Other people, none of whom I trust to have more judgment than a gnat, are ALSO hunting. My brother in law and his grandson (both named Jerry Sylvester!) were both killed in hunting "accidents." I suspect they may not have been accidents, but therein lies another problem.
2) Just like I can't pick up my bike, even after field cleaning an average doe or buck, I don't think I could pick one up by myself. Not sure what you do with the entrails. Also, I understand that if you shoot em wrong or clean them wrong, the meat tastes bad. Then, there's storage. The wife and I AND the two kids can't put a noticeable dent in a moderately sized turkey. A whole deer? Yikes. A lot of work for something my wife can pick up in reasonable quantities at the grocery store.
3) Deer ticks. Where there's deer - there's deer ticks. I had a moderately traumatic tick "incident" when I was very young - this was back when the treatment was to "burn" it out with a lit cigarette (I am totally not shitting you.) Said tick was in my inner ear canal. I won't go into details except to say I had recently seen the Star Trek episode with the bugs that burrow into your brain and drive you insane. All of this before we even knew about Lyme disease.
4) The orange vest. I just don't look good in orange.

[Water Warrior 2]

Hunting is a great sport for blood thirsty individuals. I don't hunt and never will. I won't try to stop some one from hunting though. It's a case of to each his own.
As for Deer Ticks, are deer immune to them ? I wish they weren't if they are.
Just remembered this. Years ago I talked to a hunting guide. He would take a group(6 or less) out on horseback for a week. One of the group shot his horse out from under him. WTF, it that stupid or what ??