• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Doc Wong: I Hit A Full Size Deer... Video

Lesson reinforced: ATGATT.

Glad you're ok. I think it's remarkable you and your bike were in a ridable condition to get home.

You should hunt down a sticker that reads: "Real cowboys ride iron horses and punch deer!"
 
I was also hit by a deer in 2019. It was in the late afternoon on Mines Road with plenty of daylight. I saw the deer and was able to slow down a bit. I'm pretty sure the deer also saw me... then it jumped into me anyway.

These are stupid, stupid animals!

Final score: Deer - 0, Me - 4 days in the hospital, SXV - few $100 in damage.


8r7HyfCh by andbike, on Flickr

20191024_113915 by andbike, on Flickr
 
Thanks for the real life review of the Klim Badlands Pro A3 gear. Just got the jacket to go with my Badlands Pro pants. Looks like the Vectran fabric holds up.
I also added the Revit Avertum airbag ( TechAir 5 rebrand in black) underneath.
Super glad you are ok, Doc! Damn deer are dumb as DEER!
 
Whammy is relieved you are ok again:wtf. Cant imagine what that feels like to hit an animal on a bike. I've come very close a few times but managed to not make contact.
Time to buy some lottery tickets for sure!:thumbup
 
I don't believe in luck or fate except when they come at a crossroads (!) with mc's and deer. It was fated that the deer would cross that road at that exact time, and if you had taken a moment longer or quicker to put on your gloves or whatever, or if you had been going a bit faster or slower this would not have happened. That would have been your luck factor. Roll of the dice. Or the bike...
 
Last edited:
I got VERY lucky one bright afternoon riding through hedgerows when a small deer was running directly at my front wheel from the left and swerved at the last minute to run next to me for a few dozen yards.

Zero chance of any evasive maneuver just like in Doc Wong's getoff.
 
If you are a seasoned Mountain / Canyon rider then at some point a deer strike has been on your radar. It is not a fun moment.

I went back and looked at Doc's crash in slow motion. That was a pretty big buck.

Doc was lucky to ride away.

Now I have to ask... Did you ask your kid to take some action on the ground photo's? :teeth
 
I'm not watching the video but really glad you are ok, Doc. I hit an adult doe in 2011 that earned me a 4 day stay in the Stanford ICU. I'm lucky it was right near the La Honda Fire Station and first responders (NEB on 84).

So, I don't ride at dusk anymore and I get nervous when the sun starts getting low on the horizon. I now wear something to protect my chest/ribs, either a Forcefield chest and back protector or an airbag vest. The primary injuries to me were 3 broken ribs on the right side and major liver damage - maybe from my handlebars being wrenched over in the impact and punching me in the ribs? I can't know for sure, but I do know that I ended up more lucky than the deer and the bike who were both totaled.
 
So sorry to hear of this latest episode; that's a hell of a way to break in a new bike. Hopefully the injuries are minor and will heal up fast.
 
Hi Doc,

You had some bad luck lately! First you get torpedoed from behind, now you are getting hit from the front.
 
Do deer whistles work? I have them on all my bikes and I've never hit a deer. Therefore they work!

(yes yes, correlation != causality, but is there any chance they do work)? Is there anyone here who has hit a deer AND had deer whistles on their bike?

Also my rule is the same as @Budman's - never ride at dusk in deer country. That's pretty much my only rule.
 
peterhively said:
Seriously though, there are a few things to be aware of. Fall is rutting season so the damn things are even stupider than normal. They are prey animals so they like cover...they will try to cross the road where the foliage is closest to the road, so slow down where the bushes are close to the road. If you spend time bicycling at low speeds on your favorite moto roads you'll start to notice many of the tiny deer trails many of which come down very steep enbankments. Maybe it leads to a water source? So think about those things.

RE: deer whistles, I do have em on my bikes but don't know how well they work based on past experience. But reading up on them I found this, which does seem more promising. Also they have some good info on their site, more things to be aware of RE: deer behavior etc.

https://xp3hornet.com/faq/

I actually made one myself back in the day for a project while studying electronics at College of Marin. Much smaller, lower powered than this hornet thing.
Click to expand...
Also, during the rut they are moving all day and night Vs mostly dusk to dawn.
I had the hornet on bikes for years and since it is electronic it is different than the air horn style. Police departments use them in heavy deer states.

I had it switched and during a day ride with it off I saw some deer 200’ away and turned it on. They looked immediately towards me. So they can hear it, but then again they are probably a bit smarter than a squirrel and may freak out and run anywhere. YMMV
 
senpai71 said:
Do deer whistles work? I have them on all my bikes and I've never hit a deer. Therefore they work!

(yes yes, correlation != causality, but is there any chance they do work)? Is there anyone here who has hit a deer AND had deer whistles on their bike?

Also my rule is the same as @Budman's - never ride at dusk in deer country. That's pretty much my only rule.
Click to expand...

not in my experience. had one on the aforementioned F250. not sure if the ineffectiveness was due to the device, or the immediacy of impact (perhaps no time for either of us to react). that said, they’ve got to be among the dumbest animals out there.

but yeah, as others have said - rutting season is the worst. saw two dead ones off on the side of the road in the nine miles i travelled into town tonight. was in my car (not truck), and kept running a mental calculation: braking distance, strength of the windshield if they they went over the sloped hood, diving my head into the passenger seat to avoid it if they went through, and what would happen if they made it that far, and hit the roll bar. not to mention the ginormous trees i would likely plow into in the aftermath. scary for fucking sure.
 
budman said:
Don't ride at night in deer patrol areas.
Click to expand...

Good advice...

Just an FYI: I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains and over the last 6mo its been pretty common to see deer and turkeys in the middle of the day too.
 
I’m sure if i installed one of these, my luck will get better? :teeth

Ok, I’m getting deer whistles. Then I’ve seen riders put a little bell on the motorcycle… where can i get one? ;-)

I’m pretty sore but healing up well. Thought I broke my collar bone but it only got pushed out of place. As the swelling goes down I’ll get out put back. In 50 years of riding this year was a new experience for me with random stuff happening not in my control.

Laughing still hurts though. :teeth

Hell…I’ll get a heavier bike. That deposit I have on the new 1300GS is looking pretty attractive. I hear it’s deer proof…
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4418.jpg
    IMG_4418.jpg
    139.6 KB · Views: 0
Last edited:
budman said:
If you are a seasoned Mountain / Canyon rider then at some point a deer strike has been on your radar. It is not a fun moment.

I went back and looked at Doc's crash in slow motion. That was a pretty big buck.

Doc was lucky to ride away.

Now I have to ask... Did you ask your kid to take some action on the ground photo's? :teeth
Click to expand...

My kid took a video of me about 25 feet down the side of a hill after crashing head over heels on my mountain bike. He and my nephew were discussing the "kicker" I took over the edge while laughing. You can hear me moaning in the background. Boys, as long as you are still mostly alive, they think the incident was funny.

In all seriousness, glad you are ok Doc! I had a helmet that looked like yours after digging a trench with my face on a fire road years ago. Can you believe people want to ride without a full face helmet?
 
So glad you are ok and that it wasn't worse! I'm curious when you saw the deer? Seems in the video that from the time the deer appears to you hitting the brakes was about 2 secs. Did you see it and not hit the brakes immediately thinking it would stay where it was, or did you just not see it until you hit the brakes? I'm not suggesting this is your fault or you did anything wrong, just curious. Maybe you were scanning the other side of the road or glanced in your mirrors at exactly the time the deer appeared and it was just unfortunate timing for you and the deer.

Best wishes for quick and full recovery!
 
So, here's a $75 question.

How do you think you might have faired if you were wearing an air vest?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top