Deer Vs. Car

[Marika]

That does sound good on paper. Man though, has almost wiped out all the natural predators,(bear, mountain lions, wolves, etc.) and the grazing grounds are vast, so I do not see any relief coming soon from mother nature. There was a program here a few years ago that a farmer could kill as many as 25 per farm if the deer were damaging there crops. If you farm and have a garden that is raided every night or replanted a field in alfalfa only to have it distroyed by deer, 25 per farm may not be enough. I am not saying wipe them out, just thin them out. I say let the hunters have fun. If they do not want the carcass then donate it to a food shelter, or homeless program. There is a lot of good meat on a deer and it could keep a lot of people from going hungry.

I understand about the problem of no natural predators, but I'm talking about disease. As with most species, and humans are no exception, overpopulation generally brings about a population crash from disease. The only difference is that with humans, science and medicine has managed to spare most of us death caused by at least some diseases.

As for deer meat, I ate it as a child and I still enjoyed it up to a few years ago. Be careful, a lot of deer are now showing up with variants of mad cow disease here in the USA that can spread to humans. I've stopped eating it in recent years.

[PAUL T]

Be careful, a lot of deer are now showing up with variants of mad cow disease here in the USA that can spread to humans. I've stopped eating it in recent years.

Let us not start a panic from a rumor. I have never heard of that one, it sounds like something that would come from PETA. I have no intention of cutting out my red meat whether it comes from beef or vinison, mad cow or not. Maybe that is mother natures way of thinning us out, I will take my chances.

[iowaboy77]

Here in rural iowa, I think deer outnumber people at least 5 to 1. On my way to work one rainy morning about 2am, a deer jumped from a deep ditch directly into the path of my 97 Eldorado traveling at 65mph. I had about three seconds to react, and rather than swerve and lose control I bore down on the steering wheel and pushed myself as far back as possible so the airbag wouldn't knock me out. What happened next is amazing. The deer prepared to bound again, and in doing so lowered himself closer to the pavement at the exact moment of impact. he went UNDER the eldorado! I could hear him rolling and being drug for a few yards- and before I could come to a complete stop he had passed out and was laying on the concrete behind me. I went to finish him off with a 9mm i keep in the trunk, but he was dead. I drove on to work with absolutely no damage to the eldorado. The guys at work didn't believe my story until we went out for lunch and there were cats fighting over deer hide and guts stuck to the underside of my car.

Thats the most impressive story, but I also bagged racoons, rabbits, a fox, countless squirrels, and took a pheasant head on into the plastic grille, all over a two year period. In case you're wondering, those little grills are $350.

I've owned my STS for about a month now, and I've had countless close calls with deer, and bagged a hawk in the windshield. There is really nothing you can do about deer, especially now while the rut is going on. Those horny rascals dont pay any attention to anything but each other. Last week I saw a herd of deer cross a 4 lane in front of me at about 4am. They weaved between cars and even reared up on their hind legs to keep from being hit, and the drivers of the cars didnt even see them!! Nobody swerved or even stepped on their brakes.

I'm a firm believer that the deer whistles DO NOT work, especially during rut when you can actually walk up to a buck and deck him with a baseball bat while he's busy looking for does. I also dont think hunters stir up the deer- its the rut.

[Ranger]

Paul,

It is true. I forget the name of it but Wisconsin had a bad problem with it last year.

[Marika]

Let us not start a panic from a rumor. I have never heard of that one, it sounds like something that would come from PETA. I have no intention of cutting out my red meat whether it comes from beef or vinison, mad cow or not. Maybe that is mother natures way of thinning us out, I will take my chances.

I never spread rumors...

http://www.mad-cow.org/99feb_cwd_special.html

Not PETA, but various government agencies.

Hot spots of Mad Deer and Mad Elk have been located around Fort Collins and other areas.

Use google and type in the search expression "deer""mad cow disease" for more information.

[Bob D]

That's it...I'm getting a dozen deer whistles when I go down the hill a lttle later. If it saves one car....

[TDK]

Bob, D,

Forget the whistles...

I thought you were into particle beam accelerators. Now we're talking for real vehicle defense with handy venison serving sizes as a bonus.

Might need the optional 1.21 terrawatt altenator, but that's the price of progress.

Also might want to switch it off as you get into town tho.

[adallak]

Bob, D

Forget the whistles...

I thought you were into particle beam accelerators. Now we're talking for real vehicle defense with handy venison serving sizes as a bonus. tongue.gif

Might need the optional 1.21 terrawatt altenator, but that's the price of progress.

Also might want to switch it off as you get into town tho. blink.gif

Common Bob D, switch from SDI to DDI (Deer Defense Initiative). A couple of bright Stanford graduates could solve the problem in weeks.

[sprucegoose]

Oooh... this is a familiar subject for me! I am knocking on this old oak desk right now though, cause of the half dozen deer I have hit, I've been fortunate to not get seriously injured or total a vehicle.

The worst hit personally I took was on my first motorcyle when I was just 17. I hit that buck, or I should say he hit me right square in the left fore-arm while I was doing aprox. 80mph! I never dumped the bike, though I did hit the ditch a couple tires! It felt like it tore my arm off, but his teeth and horns just made hamburger of my arm. I can't imagine what it would have looked like if I didn't have two jackets on! About 30 stitches patched that back up.

I once hit this deer at 60 mph with my 80 Firebird and it took its legs out, skipped off my winshield and roof, and after flipping at least two times it hit the blacktop upside-down. Amazingly, that thing scrambled back to it's feet and ran like it never was hit! I am truly amazed by the physical stamina of those beasts. Being a hunter myself, I have witnessed some unbelievable things that they can withstand.

[Ranger]

You are obviously a member of a very, very small club who can say that thay have made contact with venison on the hoof on a motor cycle at 80 MPH and lived to talk about it.

Having hunted them myself I can attest to their stamina. It's their brains that I have to question. Often times (as in the Firebird encounter) they are dead, but don't know it....... yet.

[adallak]

There is a poll regarding killed deer:

http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=608&hl=deer

[sprucegoose]

You are obviously a member of a very, very small club who can say that thay have made contact with venison on the hoof on a motor cycle at 80 MPH and lived to talk about it.

Having hunted them myself I can attest to their stamina. It's their brains that I have to question. Often times (as in the Firebird  encounter) they are dead, but don't know it....... yet.

Yes, that is true. The motorcycle rider usually doesn't win that one. Every year here in WI there are several fatalities with that combination. I worked with a fellow years ago who once hit a deer broadside with his Suzuki Katana (sport bike) at a very high rate of speed also. Jed said that it litterally bisected the deer in two! He wasn't able to hold his own on the bike of course, and he flipped and skipped along the road he said for well over a hundered feet! He was fortunate to not be killed also, just breaking his collerbone and wrist I believe. His leathers and a good helmet saved him in my opinion. He said that was one reason he quit riding his bikes on the road, he raced professionally... He said it was much safer on the track away from inatentive drivers and all the animals.

Another funny story, I had a hummingbird nail me in the throat (fortunately not beak-first), while on that same bike. It was freaking me out not knowing what really hit me, but it was in my jacket flopping around till I stopped. It expired soon after, poor little guy...

On that Firebird collision as well as another one that I hit with a car that got up and ran away, I did try and track them down. There was snow in both cases, and no blood to be found. I saw both of them running for well over 200 yds., and they never faltered once! Like I said, they can take an amazing hit and somehow survive. You are correct, deer actually use their "going into shock" in a positive way to escape trouble. They can litteraly run till they are dead. This is part of their defense system when they are injured...

[Ranger]

Sprucegoose,

A friend of mine was on his 4-wheeler up in Mercer earlier this year when a deer ran into him. He layed on the road unconsious for some time. When he came to and made it to a neighbors he couldn't remember a thing. They called 911 and he was flown to Rhinelander.

I have seen may of them on the trails when I snowmobile in Eagle River. No close calls so far (hope my luck holds this year), though I have heard of others not so lucky. The northwoods seem to be lousy with them.

[sprucegoose]

Larry,

Yes the northwoods are full of them of course... I've had some close calls with the sleds, but no contact there fortunately. A fiberglass hood and plastic windshield isn't going to stop too much!

That is too bad about your friend on the wheeler, I hope he is OK now. I have my eyes trained to look for them always... They can come on so quickly that you just don't have a chance sometimes.

[gygmy]

When I said that those deer whistles were snake oil I was thinking of those air powered ones. I looked around on-line to see if there were any scientific studies done to confirm the usefulness of these devices and found out there are powered units now available. Anybody got one of these powered units on their car? Also, if these units could be scientifically proven to work you would think your insurance company would give you a break for installing one considering how much in deer related claims they must pay-out every year. May-be a cow catcher like one on those old fashioned trains would be effective. Have it chromed, maybe some neon lighting, flames?

[KHE]

State Farm gives out deer whistles every fall to their policy holders. They are a slick unit (two units in a small package) that is easily installed out of sight behind the grill.