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This morning on my way to work on the GS, at about 45 MPH, a deer suddenly appeared from nowhere and jumped right in front of me. I missed hitting it by about an inch.

HOLY CRAP!!

The whole thing was over with before I even realized what was happening. If I had been going 1/10 of a MPH faster I'd have hit it, my bike no doubt destroyed, and me in the hospital or maybe the morgue.

I've had some close calls before but that was the closest I've come to hitting an animal on my MC and damn, it was frightening.

Every moment on Earth could be your last. After this, "make every day count" is my new philosophy. So I think I'll quit my job, liquidate my assets, and go on a trip to AK. Not sure if I should do it on the bike though; I hear there's a lot of wildlife up there.

I was going 1/10th of a mph faster when I punched a roo. A deer would be bad news.
Talking to a riding mate the other day I said it will only be a matter of time before Aus has its first deer/motorcyclist fatality.

Here on Vancouver Island we have shitloads of deer, elk, bears, coons and much more. I sold my /2 after a close call with a deer, where the old drum brakes were inadequate. I thought I was going to break the cable. Deer are my biggest fear on the road, and we have trees close to the roads everywhere. But you got to do your thing.

I am glad this worked out as it did. Death by deer is fairly common in the Hill Country near my house and I try hard not to venture out on two wheels after dusk.

Your response is appropriate.

Glad you're OK, Steve.

I see deer on nearly every ride I take in the mountains, but haven't had to do more than roll off the throttle and look for the hidden members of the herd.

A year ago April, riding to SF before dawn I realized after I passed it (at 70ish mph) that the shadow in the median was a sizeable deer. I took it down a notch after that until the sun was up an hour later.

Glad you have your tenths under control Steve.

I live near ZM and see deer on almost every ride. I keep myself calm by telling myself that they're just small island deer, and they are so tame they hardly even look up from grazing.

That being said, they could still knock you ass over teakettle, and that would make a mess of the old museum piece
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and my bike too.

Old friend of mine nailed a deer on his (naked) Wing (you know, back in the olden days). He rode away from that crash, which was quite a testament to how Honda was building that bike. Front end was bent up, but he and it survived it.

I've been lucky - never anywhere as close as you got.

How did the shorts hold up?

Congratulations on surviving. You would have been missed.

Are deer an all night thing or only just on dusk ?

Here wallabies and Eastern Grey roos are the problem, usually at dawn and dusk. I've been riding a bit at night lately but avoiding being on the road at dusk and haven't seen a single one at night. Those LED spots are great !

Congratulations on dodging the bullet !

Sibbo wrote:Are deer an all night thing or only just on dusk ?

Texas White Tails are 24 hours, but they get most active at dusk. I have had several scares, usually at dusk, but my nearest miss was in the middle of the day at low speed. I was driving about 20 MPH through a neighborhood and a deer came out from behind a parked car and materialized about a foot in front of me and dematerialized just as fast. I never reacted, the deer missed me. Then I reacted, but I was on my way home anyway.