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Car vs. deer

Farmhand

Farmhand

Super Member
4C8D62FD-F435-44E0-A307-96664654942E.jpeg Our road runs through a deer-heavy area and I’m surprised that we don’t hit them more often. We don’t ride our motorcycles after dusk because of the deer population.
So my wife borrowed my car (the “dog car”) to take the dogs to the dog park and hit a deer on the way home. Took out a headlight and wrinkled the hood.
She was apologetic but I reminded her that this is why I drive “beater” cars. Plus it’s not like there’s anything you can do when a critter jumps in front of you.
Luckily there’s a junkyard five minutes away and they had a replacement headlight assembly on the shelf. It even had working bulbs in it- That was easy!
The hood wouldn’t latch on one side so the car now sports a super cool hood pin.
Again, this is why I drive beaters. Will it get me there? Yes. Does it look awesome? No.
But my 1999 Saab 9-5 wagon will haul dogs, lumber, all my carpentry gear, whatever- with a comfy Swedish interior.
 
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I have hit two of those things. One while driving about 70mph. There was deer hair stuck in every piece of trim on the truck. I never did figure out how that happened. The other one was in my '04 SS pickup. I bought it new. And, I had only had it about a week! I was only going 55. But it did over $8,000 of damage. I hate them deers!
 
I had a deer jump into the side of a mint bronco I had...it spun around and totaled a yamaha banshee (quad) I was trailering ...what a mess.
 
A couple of close calls but nothing so far. The most recent was probably in Colorado. Fingers crossed, and knock on fine Corinthian leather and faux teak trim... :D I always drive with the cruise control and in deer-heavy areas, my foot hovers right over the brake pedal. That's one part of a trip where I never get drowsy.
 
I was once swinging around a long curve on a bypass that ran through the town I then lived in. Repeat: this was in town. A large male deer came from my left and I slowed down and kept as far to the right as I could, to give him more time to cross. We came so close that I could clearly see the muscles working in his back legs, and we must have come within inches of each other. I sensed that he expected to get hit.

Another time, with a different car - nicer than I had had for a while, a deer ran into my left rear area. I kept driving, since it was night, and drove all the way to town cursing my bad luck and expecting the left rear quarter to be caved in - it was that loud. When I got back to town, it was just a dent in the hubcap.
 
Regrettably I've owned a couple of Volvos ('73 164E and '86 GLE) but never a Saab - I wanted one back years ago but my then wife kept pointing out every one that was sitting on the shoulder of the highway and I finally got over them.
My question: Doesn't the hood open from the back to the front or is it that they used to? The hood pin in the pic is the reason I ask.
 
I've hit two, both luckily at low speed on rural roads. One walked out from behind a car going the other way at night, but I was going slow (I'm a pokey driver at night these days) and had time to mash down on the brakes in the Benz. Smashed the headlight and turn signal and dented the hood a bit, plus spun the young buck around and slammed him into my door. Pushed the door in a bit so the re-enforcement bars showed in the sheet metal, but no other significant damage. Deer left, never did see him after I hit. Never got the door fixed as a few month later a guy ran a stop light doing 60 in a heavy work van and hit me in the driver's door. Quite the ride, I'd rather hit another deer. Totaled the car, of course.

Second one walked out in front of me at night so I had a chance to really slow down, took out the left turn signal and moved the fender back a bit plus broke the plastic on the oil cooler housing. Still driving that one, identical Benz (87 300D), but it's getting worn out at 460,000 miles.

Both times were in areas I don't usually drive at night, were I do regularly go I know where they cross the road and am usually prepared for them.

Highway deer hits are the bad ones, you usually never get a chance to avoid them and the impact is usually a mess.
 
While I live near Boston I’ve hit about half a dozen deer when visiting the catskill region of NY state.
It’s to the point that it’s a running joke amongst my friends that the deer have me in their hit list.
Last one I hit was at night and as far as I can tell was probably deflected off of an oncoming truck - never found the deer but saw the fur in my grill.

I also had a friend in high school who always had a baggie of deer fur in his glove box. If he had an accident he’d shove some in the grill before the cops got there.
 
Just after, Feb.

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Sill working on it. It is now a Jabbit- A Rabbit with a Jetta front end. One more qtr. panel to replace, when a blue bunny shows up at a yard.

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In our current collection we have three cars, a pickup, and a van that have each hit at least one deer under our ownership. We also have my Mom's van she stopped driving after hitting her first deer at the age of 86. Scared the crap out of her! One of our BMWs had two Carfax deer hits listed before we bought it. Figured those were pretty good odds for not hitting any more. Wrong. While stopped to turn, a deer ran out and hit my wife's car taking the driver's side mirror with it. No motorcycle hits yet, though I am knocking on wood as I type this.
 
I hit one doing 55 mph, and it was three weeks after a brand new paint job on a car that I had been customizing for years.

I had to replace the entire front clip with junkyard parts, while the paint on the rest of the car was a deep glossy black.

That was a bummer.

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T
dosmalo said:
Regrettably I've owned a couple of Volvos ('73 164E and '86 GLE) but never a Saab - I wanted one back years ago but my then wife kept pointing out every one that was sitting on the shoulder of the highway and I finally got over them.
My question: Doesn't the hood open from the back to the front or is it that they used to? The hood pin in the pic is the reason I ask.
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The old ones (900) open back to front. This one opens American style.
 
tnmike1 said:
central Maine and there moose are the problem.
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Went to Newfoundland and learned the moose were so aggressive you got moose damage insurance, oft one would go thru the town and bust store front windows and trucks... fighting his reflection. They'd also have a show down with your truck on a highway. tear your front end up if don't back out.
 
BMWCCA said:
In our current collection we have three cars, a pickup, and a van that have each hit at least one deer under our ownership. We also have my Mom's van she stopped driving after hitting her first deer at the age of 86. Scared the crap out of her! One of our BMWs had two Carfax deer hits listed before we bought it. Figured those were pretty good odds for not hitting any more. Wrong. While stopped to turn, a deer ran out and hit my wife's car taking the driver's side mirror with it. No motorcycle hits yet, though I am knocking on wood as I type this.
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I had to quit knocking on wood, wood got too expensive. In these inflationary times, Eddie Floyd now sings "Knock On Particle Board". Back on topic. Oak Ridge, Tennessee and their Nuclear roots means a lot of woods around the Y-12 nnuclear plant and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. With those woods, we get all sorts of interesting wildlife, including a lot of deer. And lots of Bambi encounters of the crash kind, and also "Hot Frogs On The Loose". Love a city where you can get a drugstore meal like a Y-12 Breakfast Bomb, or a Fat Man or Little Boy hamburger. Lived there from 1969-1990, and back since 2016 (and still have the other house in Athens and divide my time between the two)
 
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