More lethal than guns!

ellmoe · October 29, 2004, 06:37:18 PM

When I first started my own sawmill many years ago I found myself having to work on opening day of deer season. The mill was located in the middle of a 300,000 acre ranch that I had managed for hunting. I knew many people that hunted on that property and could have gone myself, but I was the "boss" and had to work. :-[ I left the mill just before dark with my F350 only "slightly" overloaded with lumber. Driving through the ranch, making GOOD time, I looked to my right and saw a nice buck running in the same direction as I was going. I could tell that he wanted to be on the other side of the road, so I began braking. Too late! He cut across in front of me and was immediately vectored across the road at 60mph, never leaving his feet till he hit the ditch. When I stopped and backed up to him, I found that I had just "bagged" a nice 8-pointer. I wanted to haul him on top of the lumber but realized that I had left my bar at the mill and could not loosen the straps. After some deliberation, I sat him upright in the front seat with me. I strapped him in with the seat belt (Fla. Law

) and his head was propped up, looking straight ahead. You know I went through two toll booths and neither toll collector said a word! I guess they see all kinds of strange sites!
It turned out that none of my buddies had any luck that day. I guess sometimes it pays to "tend to business". By the way, I had no damage to my truck. The deer died of a broken neck, caused when it hit the ditch, no other injuries.
Mark

Buzz-sawyer · October 29, 2004, 06:44:00 PM

ellmoe
Thats a riot man..............you remind me of me ;)

Paschale · October 29, 2004, 09:17:21 PM

Quote After some deliberation, I sat him upright in the front seat with me. I strapped him in with the seat belt (Fla. Law ) and his head was propped up, looking straight ahead. You know I went through two toll booths and neither toll collector said a word! I guess they see all kinds of strange sites!

I'm still LMAO over here over that one!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard!

sandmar · October 30, 2004, 01:26:44 PM

Never been deer hunting in my life....just not my thing...no offense intended. I actually have killed 2 though...one with a truck the other with a car :( so obviously they aren't my friends!

Sandmar

Swede · October 30, 2004, 02:02:43 PM

Thank You sandmar!

This has been hanging over my head many times while reading here but now I can say it.

I´ve NEVER fired a gun! Not my thing either.

Swede.

SwampDonkey · October 30, 2004, 04:25:14 PM

This isn't a collision with a deer storey, but an accident of sorts.

A coworker of mine, from a former job, had been doing silv surveys where he would compass his strips and use a metel stake with an attached clip to hold a string for making a circular plot. This was in April or May, some time after the Sitka deer had given birth to their fawns. Anyway, he went his set distance and plunged his survey stake into the ground firmly so he could make his plot perimeter and do his tree counts. Just now he heard a deer up the hill from him snortin and whistling and going it. He suspected it was looking for a fawn, the way it was going on. Just now the DANG thing comes on the tear, down off the hill. Makes a big leap (not sure if it was jumping over him or over a log) and came down, right onto that metal survey stake. Well it was game over for the deer. The guy felt bad about the incident for several days afterward. It wasn't intensional at all. Kinda freaky and weird for a deer to be that misfortunate and not even scense he was there.

cheers

Furby · October 30, 2004, 04:56:34 PM

Here's some info that is in the local small town paper, next town over.

Last year, 11 people died in car-deer crashes in Michigan and 7 of the deaths involved motorcyclists.

State police also report a total of 37,760 deer-vehicle crashes in 2003, up 6% from 2002.

Car-deer crashes cause at least $130 million in damage each year, or an average of $2,000 per vehicle.

Contrary to popular notion, most car-deer accidents do not occur in th northern part of the state. Most are reported in southern Lower Michigan.

Kent County led the way in 2003 with 2,450 crashes involving deer and 82 injuries. Muskegon County reported 737 crashes and 23 injuries, while Ottawa County had 1,313 crashes and 53 injuries.

Statistics show that most motorist deaths and injuries occur when drivers swerve to avoid deer and hit a tree or another vehicle.

Taken from an article in the Coopersville Observer,
November 1 issue.

dave7191 · October 30, 2004, 05:29:56 PM

It is unbelivable how fast the deer recovered in 55 or there abouts if you saw 30 deer in a year that would have been quite a few but by the winter either 63 or 64 we were counting herds of 300 or more it had been a wet fall and the corn didn't get out of the fields till late nov and those deer were in the fields this was over in Ionia county
Dave

Timber_Framer · October 31, 2004, 12:55:16 AM

Missed one by five or six frrt not five minutes ago...DanG Deer steak and eggs for breakfast will have to wait a bit!

CHARLIE · October 31, 2004, 07:36:12 PM

Coming home from my son's home this evening we passed through a wooded area where we've seen more than 10 deer hit by vehicles since August. Ahead of us about 100 yards a buck ran nonstop, lickity split across both lanes of traffic, across a grassy area into the woods. That made us look harder and DanG if there weren't 3 more deer grazing on the steep slope where the highway cut through a hill. They were too close for comfort but were busy eating. There were 2 fresh killed deer there also.

I cannot imagine riding a motorcycle and colliding with a deer. About 5 years ago, I was at my mechanics shop waiting on them to finish up with my truck. I was BSing with a guy there that had on an upper body cast and a cast on his right arm held out in front of him with a broomstick that was molded into the cast. I finally asked him what happened. Seems he was riding his motorcycle in Iowa and collided with a deer. That had to smart.

With over 21,000 in Wisconsin and over 31,000 in Michigan that is a high mortality rate for the deer. PETA Members should be ashamed of themselves for not saving these animals from committing suicide.

iain · November 01, 2004, 12:14:22 AM

not hit no deer (none around here
a few years ago i was passenger side in the north of scotland at sun rise with big fat crows riseing from the road on a just in time base's
one cut it a bit fine and we hit im at 95mph nice sloped back wind screen he bounced of 2/3's the way up alex
keeped driving (no screen damage) i looked back and the crow shook and wobbled mid air then opened is wings and started to fly normal lazy beats till i lost sight of it

iain

Furby · November 01, 2004, 10:50:40 AM

Charlie,
I don't want to start any kind of argument here, but I can't help but wonder how many wolves those 31,000 deer could feed.

beenthere · November 01, 2004, 11:21:36 AM

Furby, I would hope we don't find out. :P

ARKANSAWYER · November 01, 2004, 03:09:20 PM

I teach Hunters Education here in Arkansas and from time to time we get a PETA type in the class who wants to interupt and talk bad to the "bambi killers." I made a deal with her. If she would sit through the whole 10 hours of class which would take 3 nights I would make every one stay after the last night and she could have 30 mins to tell her side of the story. Agreement was made and she did very well the first night. Second night she did not show up. ??? Third night she comes in about half way through the class. At break I told her that the deal was off since she missed the night before. She said that it was ok because the day before she and her sister were driving to Little Rock on the interstate when a deer crossed a field and ran into her car. It came through the windshield and hurt her sister very bad. She just came form the hospital and stopped by the class to ask that I kill every durn deer in the state.

Bull Shoals is having to have a deer bow hunt in town every other year because the deer are so bad people can not have any nice yards. I bet there are 2 deer hit every week in town over there and just 2,000 people live there with close to 1,200 deer.

LBJ was with me the last time I was in Bull Shoals and she put these two fawns on the run. I got in trouble because she was not on a leash. Lady whos yard they were eating up begged that I not get a ticket for the leash law infraction. Now she wants to borrow LBJ next spring so she can have some flowers. ;)
ARKANSAWYER

sawguy21 · November 11, 2004, 07:02:51 AM

Just saw this thread for the first time and can't stop laughing. Only ever hit one moose and no deer but have had lots of close calls. I was pulling a 35' flat deck behind a 1 ton pickup at night on an icy highway. The cow came out of the ditch like she had blinders on. Got around her on the shoulder then met the second one. Game over. The pucker meter was pinned but I kept the rig on the road. Safety officer's report stated I was over driving road conditions. Yeah, Riiiight He had never hit one because he was vigilant
As the truck fleet manager, I received a report from the insurance co.some time later involving a claim on his truck. Seems he hit a deer. He never filed a report and paid the deductible to cover it up. Yes, he isa card carrying, fully paid up JERK

Timber_Framer · November 11, 2004, 10:35:17 AM

I just returned from deer camp over by Minnesota Boy's turf west of Bemidji, and there are five of them car crashin' critters that are out of service die to yours truly. One of the best hunts I've had in over thirty years of hunting!

Minnesota_boy · November 11, 2004, 12:30:27 PM

Timber-Framer,
I thank you and my wife, who has hit 3 deer in the past 5 years and has had so many close calls, also thanks you. Too bad you didn't get a few more.

ellmoe · November 11, 2004, 05:51:24 PM

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To show the deer how it is done! :D

Mark

rebocardo · November 11, 2004, 08:23:42 PM

> I strapped him in with the seat belt (Fla. Law

I love it :D

Timber_Framer · November 12, 2004, 07:15:15 AM

MN_Boy you're both welcome, it was a great hunt.
We've been hunting over by Alida Store (between Hwy#2 and Lake Itasca) and in thirty years I've never seen so many deer! We could take one buck and up to four does each with bonus tags. I remember long stretches of years where you were allowed bucks only and now they're begging us to come hunt

I sure am glad that deer don't fight back though or I may not have made it, at one point I was surrounded