I see carcasses all the time…you can deduce what hit it…

 

basically keep your speed in check at known hours. Practice your stopping skills, not just for critters. As already said, stopping is usually the most effective method…

 

It's quite possible that was my point, with subtle sarcasm to the notion that noise keeps deer away.

 

This is INSIDE the city limits of Lewiston, Idaho, only about three blocks from downtown. They're everywhere, and they're very used to humans being close.



Most of the best advice has already been posted:

1. Slow down.
2. Be especially vigilant around dawn and dusk.
3. Scan, scan, scan.

And this is the one that's really important:
4. Be especially wary and alert whenever there is any brush, scrub, or other hiding places close to the road. Assume they're in there, because they probably are.

 

Har de har har. Clearly I am too dumb to know that deer cross highways. Or that breaking sticks aren't loud, or whatever.

Look, we are all extraordinarily aware that deer cross highways and streets. And we are all profoundly aware that there are deer carcasses on the highway. And, dare I say it, I'm pretty sure each and every one of us is aware that a freeway is noisier than a twig breaking in the grass. Do you guys think so little of your fellow riders as to assume that any of us don't know that?

I said deer can be startled and run from UNEXPECTED noises. A deer in the wild can be startled by a breaking twig. I suspect that a blaring horn might startle them too. A city deer might be totally accustomed to highway noise, but perhaps a loud-*** foghorn would be unexpected to them. Perhaps. I then said a SoundBomb Mini, blaring continuously, would perhaps work to discourage them from jumping in front of you, under the idea that they might consider running away from the very loud and "unexpected" noise. And I only suggested that as a last resort after a whole list of suggestions, and only because people were already talking about deer whistles, so I said if you want to try noise, you could try basically a damn foghorn.

I don't know everything, and there's a whole lotta things I don't know, including whether that blaring foghorn idea would work or not. It just seems reasonable that wild deer are not going to gather around a foghorn and jump in front of it. But they might -- they're deer and they're unpredictable.

I'm not gonna do it; I already laid out my strategy of massive illumination, constant awareness, and reasonable speed. Your mileage may vary.

 

Excellent advice, wish I had posted that, but yes, a big ol' car taking the hit is a lot better than a biker taking the hit.

Following cars can be helpful in other scenarios as well. When I have someplace I am trying to get to in <ahem> a hurry, I like to get passed by some bozo going 110 or whatever, and I say to myself "good boy... go catch the cops..."

Following trucks or big ol cars isn't always such a great idea though; if there's a tire carcass or a tire iron or a 2x4 in the road they'll drive right over it and if you didn't leave enough space and you can't see the road in front of that vehicle, you might be in for a very nasty surprise.

 

I just got back from a run into town - I saw 3 deer that didn't make it. All on the side of the road, and then there was one HUGE blood bath area that was a really, really bad one....

 

Most of us have some experience with deer. Sometimes, we experience the same thing, but see if differently. Happens, we’re human.

My yard and area is overrun by deer. As developments near us grow, those with rural properties inherit deer. We are getting a lot of people from S. California. They think deer are cute. They have fences and HOA’s. Many feed the deer. They are their “pets”. In just the past 10 years, we’ve gone from occasionally seeing maybe two does, and in winter a glance at a buck, to today where there are at least 12 does and 7 yearlings and 3 bucks in my backyard repeatedly throughout the day. While legal to kill one, they would scream murder. Yet, they do nothing as each winter I dispose of dead deer that die in or near my pond. I don’t have fences, just lots of deer ****!

My street is 25mph. Deer get bumped and die later. 1 or 2 a year, mostly fall and winter. My road leads to a 35mph road. It is busy and deer there seem to have learned to look both ways. In short, 3-4 a year. That road connects to a 45mph road. Probably 10-15 deer a year and often big pools of blood and guts or pieces of plastic vehicles. I feel the 45-55 mph rural roads are the most dangerous, or the ones to be super aware. Not cautious, aware, ready, alert. (Though, my biggest thrill was 70+ on a freeway at 11:00 PM and the largest MF doe I missed by inches!)

I hunt deer, wild deer, not the rat like behavior deer in my yard. Oh, if **** hits the fan, they are hanging in the wood shed, on the smoker, or otherwise made valuable.

 

I’ve certainly seen lots deer, live and dead, throughout the years riding, but not many in the Chicago suburbs where I live. We have squirrels which are too damn smart to be hit by cars. Not sure I’ve ever seen a dead one around here. But I remember an old adage which I heard long ago but have never had to test. Don’t know how true it is. If you can’t eat it in a single meal, don’t try to kill yourself swerving around it. Just hang on and run it over. Of course hitting a raccoon might knock you off, and be tough to eat in one meal, but have any of you run over an animal and lived to tell about it? Of course if you didn’t you won’t be reading this 😜, but really have you hit something and been ok?

 

When I was 16 (52 years ago) I hit a dog on a gravel road doing about 30 MPH on my Kawasaki 175. Bike and I went down and slid a ways. Dog survived. The only positive was that it bent my right handlebar to match the bend a on the left from a prior drop.