Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are similar in their deer-vehicle issues. There’s not much you can do other than try and minimize the risk but I know how hard that is if you want to ride at dusk and on into the night. Slow helps but those beasts can appear out of nowhere… Full alert is the watch word for night riding in deer country.

I agree with you Paul about the rider choice — we each must decide what kind of risk we are willing to take. Within the boundaries of the law of course!

I used to have deer whistles on my old pick up truck. People made fun of me about them but I never hit a deer.

Great advice on the see one, there will be more.

I was riding one day and a fawn trotted out in front of me, heard me coming and became a cartoon character in the road – couldn’t get traction and was running in place! Seeing deer make me slow down (at least for awhile) and I also follow the rule that if you see one, there are always more.

Ride safe!

Great ideas for thinking about deer as a rider. Remembering where there’s one there’s more is important. Anymore I’m not sure how easy it is to divide city from country folks, at least around here. But anyone seeing those deer crossing signs should take heed if they’re on two wheels!

Fred, thanks for commenting on your encounter with the wallaby. I’m not sure if people’s questions concerning whether an accident could have been avoided is fueled by their own fears and hopes that there is something they can do to minimize risk or if it’s just insensitivity.

A crash of any sort is trauma enough to have anyone question themselves. Having someone add to that by asking if you could have avoided it is just mean.

As far as the Harley goes, what made me curious was the distance. 100 yards is a long way. You would need to go pretty fast to slide that far.

A goose hit would be bad on a Vespa…

Those city dwellers who venture out into the countryside need to know a few things and one right off is that they tend to travel in herds of 2-4.

Also, if you see a fawn, there is likely a mother right behind it.

They also tend to follow stream beds or cross over roads to get to them, so if you are riding along a creek or stream be especially watchful.

November is “rutting season” when the bucks are racing through the countryside looking for a mate, so they will wildly run hither and yon and many will wind up dead along highways or appear anywhere at any time out in front of you, cruising happily out in “the sticks” as you put it!

Beautiful? Yes. I ride often down into the valley in the evening just to watch them gather in the fields beside the river. They are a delight to behold!

Three different people asked if I couldn’t have avoided it. I guess the assumption is that it is always the riders fault for not being good enough. e.g. being able to slide a Harley for a 100 yards as opposed to other possible and more catastrophic outcomes.

Other clowns (while I was still in plaster and on crutches) wanted to know how the wallaby was. I started telling them it was delicious.

Last comment, an old school friend in Ohio told me about her husband hitting a goose. Lots of things to hit out there…