I was driving home up Boulder Canyon last night when, blammo, a huge mulie doe runnung like the Debil Hisself was after her launched herself high off the side of the road into my hapless Honda Element. I caught her in my peripheral vision, but with on-coming traffic on a narrow, 2-lane mountain road, there was nothing to do but stand on the brakes and take the hit.
Coulda been much worse — passenger side door and quarter panel crunched up with the door jamming shut, side mirror ripped off, deer's head cracked the winshield in a dozen places, but the windshield didn't shatter (although it just about scared my Sweetie to death).
I walked the road for almost a mile on either side, but I never found the doe. I even worked my way down into the thickets along Boulder Creek with a flashlight, but she was gone. Didn't hear anything bonelike break when she hit — although I was relatively busy at the time — so maybe all she took was a hard glancing blow.
Maybe I slowed her up enough for the cat to have dinner, too.
PS: Note to previous post commentor...you right! I will be spending more time on the DRTV Forums, which are the gold standard, in any case!
Count yourself lucky. My sister had a Whitetail come through the windshield, breaking her hand and cheek bones.
ReplyDeleteYou had your Element hit by a deer and I had my CRV hit by the kid on a bike. He was just fine and his bike was too, so he rode off and refused to speak to me. Much like your deer. (He did hit me, I was turning and he smacked into the side of my car coming down a hill.)
ReplyDeleteOf course, my car was damaged and now has a giant dent and scratches across the right front panel. Yay for repair bills for both of us! :)
Some might call the size of your projectile inadequate, but I think your primary problem was lack of velocity.
ReplyDeleteAnything bigger than a Lotus 7 should be able to take a deer out if it's moving fast enough.
Glad you didn't take that wrong. Did not wuite write it the way it was intended (I must do better, I must do better,...) which was that DRTV board people will benefit with a bit more of your prescence.
ReplyDelete"nobody knows the trouble I seen"...
ReplyDeleteBane, you are one unlucky fellow. First lightning takes the house out, then Winter never ends, now a deer attack.
Take two shots of whisky, eat something from a can and call me in the morning...
The way things have been going, I'm afraid to eat from a can...mercury in tuna, salmonella...I don;t know...can radon...
ReplyDeletemb
Bitter...do you get points for a kid on a bike, or is it a wash?
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This thread is worthless without pictures!!
ReplyDelete(glad you two are okay)
I've found that a '66 Ranchero is the minimum for the heavy/slow side of the projectile argument. Not quite a solid, as there was some deformation, but results were satisfactory. The whitetail doe only got about 20 yards off the road, not counting the 50? yards of cartwheeling along the shoulder. Never found that missing leg.
ReplyDeleteHad to use my bumper jack to get the radiator off the fan, so I could start it up and get out of the middle of the road. She took out the grill, radiator, radiator support, hood, fan, water pump (bearings), but I saved the fenders!
For the light/fast projectile side, a rider near Silicon Valley has taken out at least 2 deer with sport bikes. He advises that broadside center hits work well (don't recall the models used). He also reports that low angle quartering hits are guaranteed failures, as insufficient penetration results.
He also advises that the lightly built Chevy Luv minipickup lacks stopping power, as it apparently disintegrates on impact. (Gary's nickname is "deerslayer")
Mike, This will give you the chance to get a real truck instead of that fruit hauler! Talk to Jim Scouten for some ideas! LOL glad your ok!
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