Oh Deer

[johnjk]

Well I collected my first deer with my truck this evening. Not much you can do when they run out of the woods in front of you. Broke her hind leg. I was able to scoot her off the road and called the sheriff to come out and dispatch her. They weren’t too keen on me doing it myself. I was able to slow down at least 10 mph before impact. Wife and I were unhurt with the only damage to the deer and my truck. Could have been worse. That’s why we have insurance. Got my police report and online claim filed. On the plus side we don’t have to have a front plate anymore so I will save some coin and not have it put back on.

 

[Bee-Positive]

That'll buff out.

That's a lot of damage for a 10 mph hit. Last time I hit something it was a turkey at 70 mph. Cost me the deductible plus $1,700 insurance to fix it. But that was years ago.

 

[cliffboyer]

You were lucky. Seen some animal strikes that totaled vehicles and caused bodily injury.

I only brake. Never swerve when wet. No evasive maneuvers if on coming traffic.

In 31 years of marriage, wife and I have 7 deer strikes between us. Only turned 2 into insurance. One was in a rental I was driving when my truck was in shop from another fender bender. The other 5 I repaired myself. Three were pretty extensive, requiring new hoods/ fenders/bumpers/radiators, welding and paint work.

Every one I gained more knowledge and skills. Saved some coin too.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

People who

Well I collected my first deer with my truck this evening. Not much you can do when they run out of the woods in front of you.

You got off easy. Good for you.

My wife center-punched one at 55, and it was not kind to that Ford E350. Radiator, bumper, grill, AC condenser. All trashed. She was in the left lane, too, but that critter jumped out from a blind spot right into the center of her lane. No time to do anything but hit it. Her front hooves had barely touched down when the hit happened.

People who don't live in deer country might scratch their heads and scoff at the idea that there's "Not much you can do when they run out of the woods in front of you", but some of us know that's just absolutely true no matter how good a driver you are or how fast your reflexes are.

I have had three of them run into the side of my vehicle at different times.


They are one of God's most beautiful creatures, but they are one of the stupidest, too!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

My cousin just had one run into the side of his truck.

Luckily no one was hurt, but I bet the damage comes to $8K (+)

 

[jaxs]

Hog stricks cause more death and injury around here even though more deer are hit. A 50 pound pig can cause lose of control when it gos beneath car or wheel, a 200 pounder is bad news for any vehicle.

 

[JimDeL]

My cousin just had one run into the side of his truck.

Luckily no one was hurt, but I bet the damage comes to $8K (+)

Couple years ago, the wife had one run into the side of her Subaru. Somehow the impact destroyed the front door, fender, hood, and the headlight assembly. Repair cost was over $5000.00.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

That's actually a very easy repair. Guy next door does them every week. Remove bumper, bring into nice warm room for a day, use a heat gun to GENTLY heat it up ,then gently push out the bump. It'll be 00.44% good as new. A body shop/insurance job will charge at least $4K and will NOT get the color to match.

 

[Flintknapper]

S

Hog stricks cause more death and injury around here even though more deer are hit. A 50 pound pig can cause lose of control when it gos beneath car or wheel, a 200 pounder is bad news for any vehicle.

Same here (Deep East Texas). Feral hogs are much worse, though not struck as often as deer.

 

[johnjk]

That's actually a very easy repair. Guy next door does them every week. Remove bumper, bring into nice warm room for a day, use a heat gun to GENTLY heat it up ,then gently push out the bump. It'll be 00.44% good as new. A body shop/insurance job will charge at least $4K and will NOT get the color to match.

Bumper and support where it connects to the fender plus underlying support structure. Plastic trim, grill, turn signal light and fixture. My concern is the safety crap. Front bumper sensors, radar unit. If they got damaged then I don’t have the tools to fix that. I Just replaced the right front fender a few months ago. Super easy but just clips and bolts. Have not had a claim in decades so my deductible is 0. If I did pull the bumper in the house to warm up and pop back out, I think Denali would see it as a super chew toy and accept the destruction challenge. 7 yr old truck that has an invisible sign that says hit me.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

hmm so a lot of 'internal' damage.... when they replace everything ,don't be surprised it's north of 10K$.
Be very, very critical about the paint matching though ! Don't accept it until you've seen it from several different angles and light sources. Grays, metalflakes,pearls,etc. are very had to properly match BUT it can be done.Take 2 other people with you and value their opinions. All too often people 'just want their car bacl' and then weeks later complain about the paint not matching.

 

[johnjk]

That'll buff out.

That's a lot of damage for a 10 mph hit. Last time I hit something it was a turkey at 70 mph. Cost me the deductible plus $1,700 insurance to fix it. But that was years ago.

Was doing around 40 on impact. I slowed from 50 and was coasting as I just came over RR tracks. It was a solid hit.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

hmm so a lot of 'internal' damage.... when they replace everything ,don't be surprised it's north of 10K$.
Be very, very critical about the paint matching though ! Don't accept it until you've seen it from several different angles and light sources. Grays, metalflakes,pearls,etc. are very had to properly match BUT it can be done.Take 2 other people with you and value their opinions. All too often people 'just want their car bacl' and then weeks later complain about the paint not matching.

Yep, I rear-ended a woman pulling away from an intersection last year. Couldn't see any damage to her Cherokee. $9K to my Nissan Frontier. Radiator, condenser, trans cooler, etc, etc.

 

[Blue2Orange]

My cousin just had one run into the side of his truck.

Luckily no one was hurt, but I bet the damage comes to $8K (+)

Part of life in the Northwoods is supplying road kill for the scavengers. Supposedly why our vehicle comprehensive is on the higher side.

Happen to one of the nurses I use to work with. One morning R was seemed real down. Asked her if she was ok? The drive home the previous night a deer decided to T-bone her. Brand new car. IIRC it was her first round trip to work. One of my techs got T-Boned by a black bear. Left a good size dent. Bear apparently was fine. She was happy. Happy to keep the her tiny Ford Focus on the road. Then she saw the dent. Almost hit a black bear once. Would have if it didn't turn facing towards me. Glowing eyeballs saves both of us a bad night.

Hit one deer with the old '98 Ford pickup. Coming around a curve at 55mph my peripheral vision caught a blur in the headlights. Too late. Hit it hard sending it flying into the deep ditch. Too far and deep to see or hear anything. Hopefully it died on impact. Got home. Scuff mark on the black painted steel real bumper. Grill looked fine. Popped open the hood. Bunch of deer hair on the radiator. Little "scotch brite" like pad to buff out the scuff and blend it in with the mat painted finish on the bumper and shop vac the hair. All was good.

The '17 Chevy Silverado... Probably thousands of damage. Too much wimpy plastic and too thin steel. I guess designed to crumple reducing the damage to anyone you hit. Anything else? $$$$S

 

[cliffboyer]

When they are already moving by the time you see them is one thing. But if they are standing on the shoulder, you have time to slow.....and sometimes they will bolt at the last second. Maybe toward you or in opposite direction, it's a coin toss.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

My cousin just had one run into the side of his truck.

Luckily no one was hurt, but I bet the damage comes to $8K (+)

I've been hit on the side 3 times, but none of them was serious. Glancing blows. Twice in the same E350 I mentioned earlier. The only damage was a bit of a dent in the passenger side door. Not enough to be worth repairing on that old van.

One stopped just before she hit me, and pivoted away. My rear bumper (Nissan pickup) must have caught her hoof or something because I heard a thump and later found it broke the plastic end cap.

I've come around a corner on a mountain road and had to stop for a half dozen of them in the road. They just looked up at me, thought about it, and started slowly moving off. All but one. She just kept looking at me. I tooted my horn, and that just seem to make her curious. I had to creep forward to with 5 feet of her to scare her off. But I don't think she was really scared. She just finally twitched her ears and ambled off the road.


Did I mention that they are really stupid?

 

[Blue2Orange]

A decade or so ago we had a significant overpopulation of deer in the region. Neighbors ~10 acre clearing usually had a herd of deer grazing every morning and evening. They were content just munching away. Couple larger ravines crossing under the road. Deer highway. The deer don't use the culverts. They like popping up and crossing the road. Head on a swivel when approaching the culverts. Most days either going to or coming home from work I would see fresh road kill deer or a blood smear of probably a deer. My township road is only a mile from the driveway entry to the highway. Usually would see at least one deer road kill or blood smear commuting to work or home.

Braking hard when sensing or seeing a deer became part of the commute. Just don't swerve and hope the vehicle behind you and coming the other way sees the deer. Problem are the curves. Surprise!!!!

 

[pigdoc]

My cousin just had one run into the side of his truck.

Luckily no one was hurt, but I bet the damage comes to $8K (+)

Ya, my only collision with a deer happened that way. It was about 10AM. I saw her standing on the bank, just before she bolted. Hit the pickup bed, right in front of the rear wheel. I think she was moving faster than I was.

-Paul