Deer v. Truck Not a great opening morning

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Bandit67

Bandit67

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I got a 4 pt. buck with my F150 this morning 3 miles into a 40 mile drive to my brother's property. 5:20 am. Just turned off my brights because of an oncoming vehicle. Then a stupid little buck came running across from the opposite side of the road. I got on the brakes but I hit him almost dead center on the grill. Ruined my morning. Be careful out there.
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You saw one more buck than me this morning. That is a real PITA on a morning you have been looking forward to hunting on since last year.

I saw the fleeting glimpse of one doe this morning in mid-MI. I have a feeling this season is going to be a grinder. I’ll get back at it tomorrow morning because I have to pick my parents up from the airport this evening.
 
Opening day of muzzle loader here in Pa. I was traveling to the farm I hunt. While on 670 I had a buck run into my truck striking my truck broad side. It got up and ran off. then while driving on a dirt road 10 minutes later a buck ran in front of me and I clipped it on the tail end. It spun around and took off. Needless to say I didn't see any deer that day while in my blind!
 
Ouch, there go the insurance rates.

Here in the Ocean State, if one accidentally hits a deer with a motor vehicle one can claim said animal.Expensive way to get venison.

My gun club is on a state wide deer removal list. Members volunteer to put their name on a call list. We get several a year that way for a game dinner.

Years past we could sell tickets to the public, then the state passed a law all public game dinners had to use USDA meats. Clubs can still have member only dinners.
 
Sorry about that. It's surprising how little damage can amount to thousands of dollars in repairs. I hit one a few years ago and the damage was less than what you appear to have but the repairs were around $5,000. The only good part was I got my insurance company to buy one of these for me instead of another stock bumper.

https://www.truckdefender.com/

It's an entire aluminum bumper, not a bumper guard. Very heavy duty but not that heavy. They claim people have hit elk and even grizzlies without damage. Cost was about $2,500. I've since hit another deer with it and no damage whatsoever so it's been a good investment for them.
 
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Hard to tell from the picture but it appears to be only superficial damage except for the condenser. If you are able get the check from the insurance and fix it yourself do it. If the condenser is still intact don't touch it. Get a good grill guard.
 
Sorry to hear of it, but I can relate. BTDT a couple times. Sometimes they really do come out of nowhere. Last one I got with my truck actually hit me as he came running out of a hedgerow between two fields. Were you able to get a tag to keep the deer ?
 
Ouch.

They're all over the place here in SE Wisconsin. Hoping one or two actually cross my tree-stand next week.
 
That sucks. I never hit a deer in my life until last year, when I hit 2 in my jeep- one doe got totally annihilated by hitting the steel tube bumper and getting run over by probably all 4 tires, then a spike buck kamikazed into my passenger door. Now I have 2 spike shaped dents in that door and a 3" piece of antler tip "trophy" hanging from my mirror. But I did get meat in the freezer.
 
The Ranch Hand bumpers would help reduce damage. With all of the heat exchangers and other plastic and aluminum parts you are going to have to replace on that truck, one would have seemed cheap.

Sometimes you just have to slow down and drive around them. Like 16 between Fredericksburg and Kerrville at night. Deer get between the high fence on both sides and congregate on the road. You drive like your in a school zone weaving back and forth on the road. It’s pretty ridiculous, sometimes you have to really hunt for deer and other times you could catch one with a short rope hung out the window.

@Rule3, I would say “bless her heart, poor thing.” However, she and people like her are likely active voters so the jokes on us, so to speak...
 
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That happened to me years ago on the way home from a hunt. Doe came up out of the ditch, I hit her in the back end breaking her back, My 70 GMC pickup had metal grill and bumper so hardly any damage. Sheriff came out and tagged the deer for me so I took it home. GOT three deer that season, one with the bow, one with the rifle and one with my GMC LOL .Very little damaged meat on that doe. hdbiker
 
That's the first deer I've ever hit. Believe me I'm cautious. He came out on a dead run and only took 2 or 3 strides before I hit him. He was busted up bad so I told the police officer to donate it. He was a 4 pt. But The impact knocked 1 antler off so he became a 2 pt. Truck was towed 80 miles back to my local dealer. I'm heading home today. Insurance rental is a baby blue Malibu just to add insult to injury.
Oh yeah. I made it out to hunt in the afternoon yesterday and didn't even see a single deer. Worst opening day ever. Lol
 
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Last critter I hit was a turkey. Did similar damage to the GMC I had. Luckily I was able to put it all back together for a couple hundred bucks in junkyard parts and avoid the insurance premiums.
 
Sorry about your luck. Still, things gotta get better, eh? One of those things I think about during those long hours sittin' on stand is just how many hunters get in car/truck accidents on the way hunting. Here in Wisconsin, the Friday before opening day has to be one of the busiest days of the year for roads and gas stations. Over half a million deer hunters means half a million folks are all headin' out to stand @ 5:00 a.m. Another thing I think about is how many rounds do those over half a million hunters shoot, on opening day? I swear I hear half a million shots myself........
 
hdbiker said:
one with my GMC
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A few years ago one of my customers killed more with his Chevy than with his 30-06, it was like every month or so. My BIL had one jump from the side of the road that was higher than the road and dance on top of his 1984 Bronco, he never seen it, got to his friends house a mile or so down the road and the fiberglass top had hoof marks all over it.
 
Encoreman said:
A few years ago one of my customers killed more with his Chevy than with his 30-06, it was like every month or so. My BIL had one jump from the side of the road that was higher than the road and dance on top of his 1984 Bronco, he never seen it, got to his friends house a mile or so down the road and the fiberglass top had hoof marks all over it.
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Yeah, had a small buck jump down from a steep embankment onto the FM road right in front of me early one morning. It just literally came out of nowhere. I didn't even have time to get my foot off the accelerator.

It went under my '90 model full size Bronco. Put a small dent in the front bumper and trim BUT bent the tie rod causing both tires to be pulled inward in the shape of an inverted '/\'. I was only about a mile from home but couldn't drive it like that.

Called my Wife, had her come to where I was...used a come-a-long attached to the receiver hitch on her vehicle to straighten the Tie Rod enough that I could drive/limp back home with the Bronco.
 
It sucks.
Don't have any pics, but we got my wife a Lexus NXT200 Sport about a year ago. It wasn't new but was still under factory warranty.

Before we made the first payment, she hit a little buck. $3800 in damages and it was in the shop when we made the first payment. Thankfully she saw it and was able to slow down to about 40 before impact. If we'd still be driving 65 it would have been much worse.
 
Bandit67 said:
I got a 4 pt. buck with my F150 this morning 3 miles into a 40 mile drive to my brother's property. 5:20 am. Just turned off my brights because of an oncoming vehicle. Then a stupid little buck came running across from the opposite side of the road. I got on the brakes but I hit him almost dead center on the grill. Ruined my morning. Be careful out there.
View attachment 871706
Click to expand...

I agree it doesn't look too bad. Just a pia being without your truck while it's getting fixed.
 
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