Wifey and I went on a really nice ride on Saturday, 1st one of the year out together, me on my bike, her on hers. I've been out and about a couple of times. After lunch we scooted up Route 20 headed back home at about 3pm, a big doe seemed to come out of nowhere about 4-5 miles from home, full boar, headed right across the road in front of me/us. It happened so quick, we were doing about 60(in a 55mph zone). I smashed my front and back brakes hard and pulled in my clutch trying to downshift, I kept my bars straight, and I actually 'tucked' behind the fairing the best I could because I thought the inevitable was about to happen. I heard my wife's ABS behind me and to my right, that's how close she got to me, I'm so glad she saw it too. I narrowly missed it.
I honestly can't say what would have happened if it hit me broadside, or in the front at that speed, obviously would have pushed me over into my wife's side of the road. That could have been a disaster. I'm not sure if something was chasing this thing or not. I'm not sure if I've had my ABS kick in like that before on our bikes but it probably saved both of our lives. I'm used to seeing tons of deer around here, mostly early morning or evening/night, one hit me in my car some years back and totaled it. I need to get this experience out of my head, my hands were shaking the rest of the day after we got home, I keep going over and over this in my mind. Mostly how to not let something that close happen again.
I just wanted to share this with all of you, maybe get it off my chest or something, and tell all of you to be careful out there!

 

Glad to hear you, your wife and your ride is fine.

 

Glad you both safely avoided it.

The fact is there is really nothing we can do except stay alert, cover our brakes and be prepared for the unexpected.

I had a deer come from nowhere inside the city limits in a 45 mph zone and it hit the right front fender of my company car and slid across the hood amd kept going!. It did $6k in damage and I never saw it coming.

 

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times, deer are nothing but hooved IED’s.

 

Glad you and your wife are ok!

Scary.

COSMIC: "cover our brakes and be prepared for the unexpected" interesting as even on a hwy all alone I try my hardest to at least keep two fingers on the front brake lever, not always but I do try exactly for this reason.

I've never had this happen to me thankfully.

So pleased you two are safe, I bet your hearts are still pounding.

 

I just had a deer step out in front of me yesterday. It was far enough away I had time to slow down. When I got real close it walk back into the woods where 3 more deer stood . Keep your eyes open out there. This was 4:30 in the afternoon.

 

That is how I got my Fatboy for a hell of a deal. Guy had a near miss with a deer and said - that's it - done Worked out for me. A rider at all times has to be as alert as possible and never ever never forget about wildlife.

 

I knew a guy that hit a deer in his truck . It was a big buck it went through the windshield and one of the antlers went through his throat he died from it .What's ironic is he was coming home from deer Hunting.

 

To the OP: I'm happy you and your bride avoided disaster. Deer are simply dangerous when mixed with motorcycles.

We've killed 4 with vehicles over many years. Dodged countless more. I remember when seeing a deer (here) was a neat thing, and I had to hunt hard to kill one with my longbow. Today there are so many deer in my area of Ohio it's a serious problem. Highway shoulders and medians are littered with carcasses, hides and bones. The state and counties don't remove any of them. Law enforcement only goes to the scene if injuries happen or a vehicle is disabled. Otherwise you take photos and call your insurance agency.

Deer are so numerous on our farm that they severely damaged ALL of our valuable landscaping. I consulted my local C.O. and after seeing the damage he told me the only remedy was to shoot deer and reduce their local numbers. I knew that was coming. I applied for damage control permits last November. Since then I've killed 22 deer which were near our home. I shot every one of them from our deck. It's a terrible task but there is simply no workable alternative. I'll probably need to remove another 10 this fall, and I'm prepared to do so. Yes....I know the problems of deer. We've nearly hit them in our quarter mile driveway.