joelcool

Thought I'd share... Riding down a wooded section of the bike trail this AM about 25 mph and a deer crossed the road about 5 feet in front of me. Yikes!

tywebb

I'm glad you're okay and I understand how scary it is. Several years ago while commuting home on a bike trail in the dark I had a very similar experience going about the same speed you were and it scared me enough that I didn't bike commute for a few weeks. I watch this video and I think of what could of happened.

ptempel

Being in a very urban area, that's one thing I have never come across while riding. Maybe you need to yell loudly at the deer (like I do for peds) or get a deer whistle for your bike? Would something like "HOOOOOO! COMING THROUGH!" work?

Edit: Just watched the video above. Yikes...

madpogue 

Our Capital CIty Trail has some pretty deeply wooded sections; I wouldn't be surprised if cyclists encounter deer crossing in front of them. I was just thinking about starting a "close-call animal encounters" thread. Ones that come to mind:
* Dead-end country road, road bike, aprx 20 MPH, slight descent, turned my head to notice a cow who had somehow wandered to "this" side of her pasture fence, soon as I was eyes forward again, a woodchuck is crossing the road in front of me. Bear-claw both brakes, and my front wheel misses his tail by about six inches.
* Rail-trail on a tandem, my buddy Adam stoking, a chipmunk crosses BETWEEN the front and rear wheels.
* Snapping turtle on a paved trail. Big enough that he would have spilled anyone not seeing him and hitting him. I stop, hop off, figure I'll use my frame pump to nudge him off the trail. I start bumping him in the back end of his shell, and he turns around and starts biting my pump, and looking REAL p!$$ed. Several attempts, same results, he gets madder each time. So I start using the pump to taunt him instead. Got him to start attacking it, and "led" him off into the grass.

One does see dead chipmunks on the in-town bike paths here, Besides them, the most likely animal encounter here is with the squirrels who see fit to reverse direction halfway while crossing the street.

GeneO 

Yeah that id my worst fear. My commute is through restored prairie and wooded areas and have had a couple of close calls. Problem is timing - riding home after work is prime-time for deer activity.

Glad to hear the force was with you.

Colnago Mixte

Deer looked like he deliberately knocked the guy down the way he jumped, as if he was trying to defend his territory. I don't know what you can do to prevent that kind of thing, other than castrating all the bucks before rutting season.

I've seen hunters that had doe scent on them that had much worse things happen to them, but I won't go into details there.

BobbyG

Glad you're okay. I hate the sudden jolt of adrenaline when that happens.

noglider 

Yes, that works, and I did it recently upstate. But I had plenty of warning. The deer was on the left side of the road next to a barn that was right by the road. I knew that scaring her, she would have to cross the road in front of me. So I did. And it worked out as well as I had hoped; she crossed the road. But I yelled from far back. The problem is, you don't have that warning too often. Deer are very stealthy. They are camouflaged most of the time. And they can be very fast.

Hypno Toad

I've seen a lot of deer on my bike-commutes, thankfully never at 25 mph, but I always talk with them.

Both of us moving 'slowly' -
I'm going 15-18 mph and that buck is moving! -

madpogue 

^^^^ And in a pretty narrow strip between that path and what looks like a pretty busy highway, no less. Amazing what habitiats animals will find.

Colnago Mixte

I would imagine deer have extremely keen hearing, it's probably not a bad idea to let them know you're just chillin', pretty much like they are, and you're not one of those Very Serious deer hunter types out to turn them into Swiss Cheese.

fietsbob

Elk are bigger, they take out people driving a Car, Here.

though in a pickup truck,
although you will have expensive bodywork damage
you can put the carcass in the back
so as to not leave it rot or be dragged off by other predators .
and dress it out for food.

Deer walk freely around the town,

can't shoot them , even in season, in town, with or w/o a licence.




...

joelcool

There was a lot of yelling going on once I realized things were not good, which may have helped.

Had the deer and me collided I would have tried to continue riding. How successful I would have been we'll never know, and hopefully I'll never have the collision to begin with.

Deer rarely react the way we expect or hope they will, and the outcome of surprise encounters at speed are probably more driven by chance than any training or preparation.

I do have experience with deer - when I was riding motorcycles I hit 6 of them. Killed most, totaled a couple motorcycles but never fell off.

Colnago Mixte

SIX DEER?

You must have a freezer completely full of venison by now. Are you allowed to eat it if you kill it that way? Seems only fair.

jfan

I had a standoff with a 10pt buck earlier this week. He stood at the edge of the path and stared at me. I stopped about 20ft away and gave a couple little shouts before he trotted across the path. He had quite the imposing rack. I freqently have does and fawns near the path. If one crosses in front of you, always assume that others will follow. At this time of year the wooded path portion of my commute takes place right at first light, and I have to be super vigilant due to all the critter activity. I'm using all 800 lumens to light the area in front of me.

noglider 

I think it depends on the state. In NJ, you can't take road kill for yourself. The rationale is that if they allowed it, you'd go out hitting deer deliberately with your car.

fietsbob

A Doe and her 2 fawns , crossed the street in front of me, a block from my house..

DanBraden

A little searching on net makes me think he got in the way of a Greater Kudu (one of Africa's spiral horned antelopes). If that's the case, those animals as adults weigh anywhere between 420-600 pounds and stand about 63" at the shoulder!

I'd look out for the lion chasing that beast because I'm sure that Kudu was thinking, "I don't have to outrun the lion, I just have to outrun you!"

Colnago Mixte

I guess it makes sense. Who among us has not seen a deer crossing the road and thought to themselves, "You know what, I'm gonna hit that deer with my car and keep the damn meat for myself! If I can just time this right ..."

The only problem is that it's not that easy to deliberately hit a deer with your car, those deer have some really fancy footwork, and are agile enough to jump over 10 foot tall fences.

madpogue 

^^^^^ Not to mention, with most modern cars, the damage to the car would be much more than the meat would be worth.

Cougrrcj

Here's another one from a couple of years ago...

Colnago Mixte

Yeah, that even made the rounds over at ****** (popular website whose name I'm not allowed to mention) IIRC.

noglider 

It's a rationale, but that doesn't make it rational. I think it's dumb, too.

joelcool

My understanding is it's illegal to keep the deer you hit. Having said that, no one in the areas I had my collisions would blink an eye had I kept them. I did not because 1) I had no way to transport the beast home on my motorcycle, and 2) should I have gotten them home I wouldn't know how to butcher them.

rhm

No close call here, since I was on my folding bike and not going very fast, but I saw a few deer yesterday....