I'm Happy to Report...

[regency]

Code BROWN

[ian c2]

why Do pickup trucks have bullbars on the front if you’re more likely to hit a deer ?
Surely you’re better off with deer-bars installed?

[Bill Douglas]

Phew, a bit too close.

[71T Targa]

Glad you made it through Jeff. There are easier ways to stock the freezer.

I'm on the lookout for a '96 softail front fender after my Father in laws little run in. Luckly he was only going @35.

[MMARSH]

Very glad your ok Jeff. Ive had a couple close calls myself and rendered first aid to another rider we came across who wasn't so lucky. I am not a deer fan.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Good to hear you are ok. Friend of mine totalled his older Nissan Frontier on the Palouse highway a couple of years ago. A week later in a truck he borrowed from a friend, hit another one. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes not so much....

[71T Targa]

Where were these back roads you speak of?

[island911]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Glad to hear you are not dead Mr Higgins.

+ whatever the number is.

Also why I stopped scooter-cruz'n. I'm lucky to have survived the many hazards of 2-wheeled speed. -- So many ways to splat.

On our way to Winthrop yesterday, just past Washington Pass on Hwy 20, came upon a motorcycle crash. Stopped to help, but there was nothing to be done. Help was already on the way, according to a guy who had already stopped, which was good, because I had no cell service. Two fatalities, both covered up. On our way down into town, it seemed like every emergency unit in the Methow Valley passed us.

According to our barrista this morning, two bikers just simply lost it coming off the mountain. Two more crosses by Highway 20 next year.

[Bugsinrugs]

My son called me from Pennsylvania the other day. He is doing a Vetrinary internship. Coming back from the clinic at 2am he hit a porcupine. Creased his radiator and left maybe 20 quills in his bumper. He is leaving them there as a conversation piece.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

He is doing a Vetrinary internship. .

Was he able to fix the porcupine?

[wdfifteen]

Good to hear you missed them and lived to tell about it. I hope you scared them enough to give them both heart attacks.
Deer and cows in the road were primary reasons I sold my BMWs. Riding was just not that much find.

[Jeff Higgins]

Washington State is not exactly known for its deer population. Even Lewis and Clarke commented on the lack of game once they crossed the Snake River on their journey west. We have nowhere near the "infestation" seen in the Midwest and down South. As an avid hunter, I can tell you just how difficult it is to fill our one tag every year. As a matter of fact, I rarely hunt my own state anymore. Seasons are simply too short, too scattered, and any decent hunting is on the other side of our Cascade range anyway, in what we call "Eastern Washington".

As a result, collisions with deer on our West side are virtually unheard of. It's pretty easy to ride or drive even during the morning and evening "witching hours" in which they are most active. We really don't even have to consider them.

One of the exceptions, however, is a well known migration route that crosses our North Cascades Highway (Hwy 20), where Terry went through on his way to Winthrop. They actually have a big yellow billboard with the year's tally of deer collisions. Our Mule Deer herds actually migrate, unlike the Whitetails indigenous to the South and Midwest, who often live out their entire lives in just a few square miles. When the migration is on, there are thousands of them concentrated in a very small area. That's when it really gets bad.

And geez Terry, sorry to hear about your encounter. That's one of our favorite drives, of course, in a P-car or on a bike. There are some real "gotcha" corners on it, though, and I know it claims a few riders or drivers every year. Such a shame. Coupla buds out for a good time... then some poor guy has to call their wives...

[Skip Newsom]

Happy to hear you threaded that needle Jeff!, one second either way would have been very very bad!

I've had a couple close calls with deer locally and had to lock my brakes to avoid a bear over on Vancouver Island.
I was in a truck or car though, it would have been messy but not like it could be on 2 wheels.

Somebody is watching out for you, safe travels!!

[gsxrken]

I like your reporting, and I’m glad you can continue to submit them!
There are close calls on motorcycles for sure: it happens. I once hit a raccoon at night at highway speeds… by the time the headlights painted him I was center-punching him. Actually caused very little drama except for the heavy breathing that ensued afterwards and fogged up my visor. Another time I had a young lady suddenly try to execute a u-turn from the shoulder across both lanes and immediately in front of me; the bike drilled her rear quarter while I went up and over her hatchback, tumbling to a rest without any body-to-auto impact. (That one doesn’t count as a near miss, actually.) But the closest I ever came to dying on a motorcycle was many years ago on the Henry Hudson Parkway north of the GWB. It was well past midnight and I was flying north on my way home when I thought I maybe saw something in the center lane just at the far edge of my headlights. On instinct I decided to flick over to the left lane, and a mere second or two later I flew by a dark Chevy van STOPPED in the center lane, with both of his rear doors open, which of course hid the rear reflectors/taillights. I would have flown through the cabin of that thing and out the windshield at probably 90MPH, and the course of history from my perspective would be very different. That was another fog the visor moment that I can still get a rise from. All three stories are 30 years old now- I’m happy to report that I don’t outride my headlights anymore, I don’t stay out that late anymore, and that they have lit up the HH Parkway like a landing strip since then.

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Was he able to fix the porcupine?

^^^
That was funny!

[Mike Andrew]

Don't seem to be one of the brighter animals regarding vehicles. I have tagged 2 in northern WI, one did bumper and grill damage to an Explorer and the other just left a few hairs on the Forester headlight trim. Just missed one locally riding some backroads on my Z1 and the event was part of my consideration when I sold it and gave up scooters a couple years ago.
WI has about 40K deer/vehicle "events" per year. Lots of wasted tenderloins and backstrip unless you stop in a local bar to report it and the place empties like a LeMans start.
Glad you dodged the bullet and are here to report it.

[island911]

Jeff, you need to put up a marker.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by island911

Jeff, you need to put up a marker.

I would soon run out. While I'm sure that was a memorable, significant event in poor Amy's life, that's day to day stuff for me.

[manbridge 74]

Hit a deer in East Texas on my 87 Hurricane in about 1990. Roller coaster road, at night, stupid me forgetting gloves with one hand on the bars and the other getting warmed by engine heat. Come up to a hill top at probably 65mph, blinded by some guy not turning off his brights. I can barely make out the lump that was a dead deer with its hind end in line with my front wheel. Pushed right and went right just enough to hit it at about the knee. Bars gave a giant wiggle and some noise present. Look down and see sparks, my kickstand was dragging because the spring got ripped off. Tied it up with some twine and continued on. Only later did it dawn on me that if I had hit it square in the b-hole I likely would have been thrown into the path of oncoming traffic.