This Morning I avoided hitting a deer with my Heritage Softail Classic on the way to work at 2:45AM. Great line on the turn, nice lean angle about 45MPH and just as I see my exit from the turn I see the deer step out into my lane. I was able to stand the bike up from the lean and apply breaks without sliding at all. Slowed down enough to give her a chance to decide which way she wanted to go.... she decided to finish crossing and stepped into the other lane as I proceeded behind her in my lane. It was really odd, felt like everything slowed down for a moment.... I had time to look her in the eyes as I said Oh **** a deer.... and I felt she had time to go O **** a motorcycle, then we both reacted and all sped back up.

 

Thats ONE reason I dont ride at night.

 

It can happen any time of the day. I clipped an adult mule deer mid afternoon at about 45mph but got away without going down, full on both brakes from about 65mph and got away with just a bent engine guard. Way too hairy for sure. I did have game whistles on that bike, are they efective? Who knows for sure, But what I do know is that IF this deer would have noticed me a second later I would have pegged her broadside instead of clipping her rump. I don't find the game whistles unsightly so I have them on my current bike as well, 12 more years of riding and no deer strikes so far with this cycle.

 

I"ve seen deer during the day MANY times, the problem is at night is a narrow view of what's in your headlights, during the day you have a MUCH wider field of vision.
HAVE had the stupid deer run across the road on me up in NH, saw it out of the corner of my eye as it came from the woods. Had a little heads up, enough to back it down real quick.

 

I hit mine about 3:15 in the morning heading to work. Though I was gonna slip behind him but he was spooked enough to dart the opposite direction he was facing and rammed right into my front end.

 

I've hit 2. When I ride at night I go 30-40 mph. Not that it wouldn't hurt at 40.

 

Glad you're ok. Seems to me, dusk & dawn are the worst times, but I've
seen them at all hours too. The Santa Cruz mountains are full of em.

 

We lie to ourselves and say it is only dusk and dawn. Something kicks them up they will run any time of day. Lots of deer shot mid day.

 

I wasn’t so lucky last October. Less than a 1/4 mile from house on my way to work at 6:30 am several deer popped out of the woods and one of them hit my front tire. The bike went down immediately and slid about 50’ on its side and then I rolled another 20’ or so in the pitch dark when my foot finally came out from under the bike.

 

I don’t even drive my truck around here after dark. Deer are everywhere here.