My dishwasher shit the bed over the weekend. So, off I went to town to buy a new one. Between Home Depot, Lowes, and Fred's Appliances, only Fred's had a dishwasher in stock...a $1000 KitchenAid. I could have waited for 3-4 months and ordered another one, but I took it. $1000...for a dishwasher.

The other $1000 you might ask? Well, that would be my deductible. A deer at 75MPH smack dab in the middle of my front end. Half of her went through and under my front bumper and the other half swung around and dented my driver's side door.

I really hate deer. I hate everything about them. I hate that my dog eats their poop. I hate that they try their damndest to destroy my lawn. I hate that they have killed several hundred dollars worth of trees and shrubs that I've planted. I hate that simply driving to town is like running a gauntlet.
I don't even like eating them anymore. I hate them. If they went extinct tomorrow I would celebrate with a bottle Crown Royal and a fine cigar.

I woke up this morning in a good mood. It's gone.

But they taste so gooood!!

Wood goats are tasty!

I’d eat more of them just to spite them.

KitchenAid makes a great dishwasher. You did good. Sorry about the vehicle.

A direct hit at 75 mph, that sounds painful. Even with a guard like the Dutton trucks, could be very destructive.

This time of year deer are ‘usually’ more docile, usually.

I have a roadkill deer out back right now, two less neighborhood coyotes around to torment the dog. I like picking them up more whole, not road-pizza from a high speed hit.

Sorry about the damage. I’m on a good streak, 12+ years since the last hit.

It could have been worse... you could have loaded that $1000 dishwasher then hit the deer and somehow damaged the dishwasher.


I've hit a deer on the highway. I was fortunate to glance it off my fender for a cool $3500 of damage at 60mph. I can't imagine hitting it dead center at 75mph. In my car that deer would have gone through the windshield and done some real damage.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
Even with a guard like the Dutton trucks, could be very destructive.

I do have a Dutton style deer catcher on there. It saved me my whole front end I suspect. As it is, she cracked the lower part of the grill, destroyed my front fender (the style with the built in fog lamps...in other words, $$$), and dented the door. Otherwise, I'm sure she'd have taken out the grill, bumper, radiator, and Lord knows what else.

As it is, it's just cosmetic and fixable.

Deer hunting is fun! And if you do it right, a deer dies!

Told a couple of the neighbors, last year: "If you see me with a shiny new backhoe and you hear mysterious loud *BANG*s from time-to-time, you'll know why the deer population around here mysteriously declined"

Glad you're okay. Could be way worse. I've seen a few make it onto or through a windshield. Truck is a lot easier to fix than you are. Still annoying as hell.


First one I hit was 3 weeks after buying my last new to me truck. Mildly pissed me off... thankfully my deductible was only $100. Jumped a guard rail on a two lane road and wiped the front end off my truck @ 60mph. Bumper, hood, grill, lights, turn signals, fogs, drivers fender. ~ 4k in 2005. Drove home in the dark with no lights. Not my best decision ever...

I have hit and killed 5 of the buggers. They are everywhere. The worst one was a doe I hit in a Mazda Miata at about 50 mph. It actually ran into me at the right front fender, tore off the mirror and snotted the windshield right in front of my wife.

I’ve only hit 3, never had to repair any car. Back in the 80’s it was a full size Chevy at 55 mph. It was near Nov, that deer went in the trunk to be cut up at home. There was very minimal damage, including an antler through the hood.

The next two I was going to work, years apart. I was able to slow below 40 before impact. I never saw the outcome for the deer, didn’t stop.

One ran into my son over a year ago, rut time. It came so fast it hit the side of the truck, minimal damage, deer took off after being stunned.

One of my main preventative techniques is to trail a semi if in high deer areas. I’m not saying to tailgate, just keep the space short, not much room for a deer between.

What do you drive that hitting a deer head on at 75mph only did $1000 damage because I need one. Or is that just your deductible.

I keep my fog lamps on at night around here because it allows me to see the suicidal freaks sooner. So far I’ve managed to only hit two at low enough speeds that there was no damage.

1965, I was a low-experience pilot, had been flying for less than a year.

Home base was the Colt's Neck airport in NJ (now gone), runway was 2,400' turf.

Returned from an evening flight, arrived shortly after sunset. Immediately before the wheels hit the ground, the landing light illuminated a deer running across the runway, right in front of me.

No way to stop before hitting it, no room to turn a bit to try to pass behind it, so immediate application of full power and get back in the air to go around. Did not hear or feel any contact, must have cleared that deer by less than a foot. Post-flight inspection did not show any evidence of a deer strike.

What I learned from that: when landing at a non-tower airport at night, it's a good idea to make a low pass along the runway with landing lights on to check for animals, pull up, go around, and land on the second pass.

Have you ever seen what happens to a pickup truck AND a fifth wheel trailer when the truck hits an elk? Elk ended up in the bed of the truck after taking out the front end, windshield and roof, then impacting the front cap of the 5th wheel totaling the trailer.(Washington State near the Canadian Border)

I hear you. I’ll be dropping off our Nissan Armada on Monday to get it fixed. I picked off a nice sized doe on Hwy 89/91 going about 55-60 mph. I would have missed the darn thing but at the last minute it decided to turn around and run back in front of me.

I hit it so hard it flipped across both lanes of the highway, over the cement jersey barriers, and into the north bound lanes. A north bound driver immediately stopped but all he did was throw the dead deer into the back of his truck and leave. Fresh road kill cuisine. At least I tenderized it for him - I guess.

I went through the dishwasher debacle several months ago. I cook all my own meals and rarely dine out so yeah, been there, a few months ago. The guy at the store “we could probably get you that one in 2 months. Oh that one, we don’t even have a date on when we are getting more”. I was like this

Now the deer, I feel your pain. I try to keep my vehicles as pristine as possible. Nothing is parked out under the sun. That deer, oh my. I would have stopped, gotten out, flipped my Karambit open and wanted to slice its throat open just for sport.

Have a stiff drink, cold beer, or make yourself a fine meal, because you are OK. At the end of the day that’s the most important part. The damn thing could have went through the windshield and put you in the hospital. I don’t ride at dawn or dusk because of the things. I ride in 100 degree heat and the hottest time of the day because of them. Best of luck to you sir.

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:
What do you drive that hitting a deer head on at 75mph only did $1000 damage because I need one. Or is that just your deductible.

Did you read the OP?

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
I don’t ride at dawn or dusk because of the things.

Yep, it was the perfect time of the morning. That small window of time when your headlights no longer work but it's not quite bright enough to see well yet. Couple that with a deer essentially the same grayish color as the pavement ahead of you, and whamo!

What I was rather surprised about is that my airbag didn't deploy. Not sure where those sensors are located, but with the damage she did to the bumper I'd have thought they'd go off. Glad they didn't BTW. Having an airbag in your face while going 75 probably wouldn't be much fun.