I hit a deer this afternoon 2 up in N. AZ

My wife and I were out for an afternoon ride to the high country here in Arizona to do some day hiking today on my '00 r1150gs, when a mule deer interrupted our plans. We were riding south on Lake Mary road, nearing Happy Jack. Rounding out of a long elevated sweeper with an equally long guard rail around 60mph, I spotted a group of 6-7 deer off below us off right as we neared the end of the turn. I never saw the one in the shadows a bit further down hiding at the end of the guard rail. Luckily, I did not hit him as much as he hit me from the side, in the right front, starting with my fog lights. He bent one fog light back (adjustable), put a dent in the fuel tank (not 'too' big, adds character), and collided with mine and wife's knees. How he missed the cans strapped on the back is beyond me, or they are deer impact proof (this is my suspicion). Upon later review of my gopro, I can just barely make him out in the shadows as he begins to charge across the road, I do not remember seeing him at any time, only feeling the impact. After the impact, the bike took a slight list to the left but quickly righted itself. As I slowed down, Steph assured me she was okay, and we headed back around to see what had happened.

The deer did not fare so well, and we procured a salvage game tag when the Sheriff came. I called some family and they came up to assist with this.

Next deer I see, I'm grabbing all the brake I can until I'm good and clear of them. I'm not a fast rider, and I pay attention to the road. It was scary how invisible he was, broad daylight, with minimal shadows. I won't make this mistake twice, falling for the decoy group.

We got incredibly lucky this afternoon. We both know this. Had he started his charge half a second sooner I would have t-boned him, and this would almost certainly have had a different outcome. We both wear gear, and after this we're going out and investing in better gear. Ride safe folks, things move fast out there.

Good to hear neither of you were hurt. Did you say you had a video of the ride? Post it if you can.

deer in the shadows are always very hard to see

Your vid will be a learning lesson for all.

Most glad you will be eating your kill.

Glad both of you are ok.
We have alot of deer in our area also, i'm always on the lookout for the them. We need to stay alert out there, not saying you weren't.
It's good to be reminded how quick a deer can get you!!! Thanks

Glad your ok. I was on Mormon mtn yesterday hunting muleys and turkey.

I'll upload the video as soon as I get it shrunk down to a manageable size. It was the camera's maiden voyage, so I'm new to all of this. Of all the rides to break it in on, this was a good one.

revis, any luck? We came across Stoneman from 1-17, and didn't see anything all day until this group. I'm curious if it may have been hunters in the area that had them moving in the middle of the day, there were several vehicles parked off shoulder near our location. We'll never know for sure, i'm just super thankful it ended well for us... and I got mine, albeit the hard way!

If you see one deer, assume there are others around.

deer.....i hates em.:eek1

I heard of a guy a few years ago who took an old pickup truck and welded a bunch of armor on it, and went out running down all the stray deer. He took video of it and actually sold DVDs. I think he called himself, "Deer Commander" or something. As I recall, they sold like mad until the feds shut him down, probably because of complaints from PETA I'd bet.

I never saw any of the videos (I'm not into gore), but I have to admit he had a pretty good idea. :)

Rob

I saw the videos. Some wide-eyed surprised ass deer as homeboy sped up to ramming speed.

Anyways, to the OP, this is at least the 4th GS/GSA that I've heard of hitting a deer in the past 2 years and not going down. These bikes are tanks.

Glad you and your wife are OK. I hit one a couple weeks ago on my GSA, and I'm convinced that getting on the brakes hard as soon as I saw them at the side of the road is what kept my situation from being a lot worse. It's the best advice I'd give to any rider in an area with a large deer population. And these days, that means EVERYWHERE!

Ride safe.

Don't get on yourself for not seeing it in the shadows. They are almost impossible to see that way and, worse, totally unpredictable.

Good you are ok & took out one of these vermin. Hope the thing makes for some good meals for you and your wife. I guess the best revenge is eating your enemies.

Similar situation. Riding up near Long Valley Cafe (Clints Well), an elk was in the shadows and ran across in front of me. No time to brake or react. Could have slapped it on the ass on the way by. Scary shit!!

Glad to hear your both okay. Note that once again, the deer ran into you, not the the way around. I''ve heard that is more the norm than the exception. Good to know you had your gear on too.

Glad you and the wife are OK.

Are you sure it wasn't a Sasquatch?

as promised: http://youtu.be/je-76N6ermM

I'll keep playing with the software and try to get a slow motion upload as well.

It's pretty uneventful, hard to believe that it was that fast, seemed a lot longer in memory.

Next time, I'll be slowing down as soon as I see just one. Oddly enough, I think keeping speed probably saved me in this instance from me hitting him, and having a totally different outcome.

Love that GS. I've only had it for about 2 months, but it's an amazing beast.

Ride safe.

I still have a hard time seeing him in the video.


and a split second before, showing where he impacts the bike...

WOW

That deer is really well camouflaged.

It looks as grey as the tarmac.

Up here in Canada they are a tawny brown colour, and easier to see.

(Of course, impossible to know if I'm not just missing them entirely...but I doubt it)

They are also quite rare, certainly compared to what I hear from the Americans on ADVRIDER.

If I see one, I slow down to gawk, and mention it to friends later.

Hell, I've seen more Moose, Elk, Bison and Mountain Goats.

I've criscrossed this country Ad Mari Usque Ad Mari Usque Ad Mare all my life too, in cages and on bikes.

I asked a wildlife biologist about this a few years back; can't remember the underlying cause, but recall he said we actually

had a scarcity of deer for a while that was causing some kind of unnatural imbalance up here...

Kinda the opposite of what one would expect of our two countries, eh?

Glad you were unharmed.

Bon Appétit

Thanks for posting the video. It usually looks like Karma determines who hits Deer and how bad the outcome is but in this case that little twitch you gave the right hand grip saved you and the wife a really bad one here. Looks like you made the bike kick left just enough to have a glancing blow. And I agree with the "loose all the speed you can" as soon as deer are seen anywhere in front of you. I find myself covering the front brake lever when I see a power line, creek or forest edge coming up ahead.