moppeddler

I was riding along a country road with a wood line to my right. Just as the wood line ended, 2 does came busting out of the field right toward me! I screamed like a little girl, as it scared the crap out of me. I think I scared the deer too- she veered and missed me by a couple feet. This ever happen to anyone else?

downwinded

Yep! Less than a block from my house. I was still pedaling slowly, alternating between putting some weight on my knees, sitting back down, and just generally getting settled in. Saw a flash of brown, thought it was a big dog and then "uh-oh", he had the angle on me. Then holy hooves!!! I hit the brakes and she flashed just in front of me. Scared the bejesus out of me. I would hate to go down in a pile with a terrified deer. Don't know if my blinky light caused the reaction or of it was just a deer being a deer.

mshred

i had a close call descending a mountain in colorado once. i was humming along at about 35 mph and two does stepped onto the pavement just ahead of me. luckily they bounded off just before impact. it got my adrenaline going pretty good.

this guy wasnt so lucky...and on a skateboard no less...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4oAqqaRnaI

rjones28 

I had close call with a fawn earlier this summer. I noticed the mother running about 10 feet off the road beside me. I didn't see the fawn until it darted out just a couple of feet in front of me. I was able to brake in time, but the little guy slipped and skittered until he got himself back off the road to reunite with mom.

jon c. 

Had some fairly close, but not to the point I was scared I'd hit them. One started to leap into the road once, saw me and turned in mid air and jumped back into the woods. It was an amazingly athletic move. Had another one pacing alongside me once, which I didn't even realize until an approaching car slowed way down and I started to look around to figure out why. I let out a loud "holy s***" and the deer veered off into the woods. That one probably would have scared me, but it happened so quickly I didn't have time to think about it.

Velo Vol 

On Sunday a deer bounded across the road in front of me . I was not scared.

Leinster

Frequent occurrence around here. Noticed one trotting along above us at the last second going up a mountain on Saturday.

DnvrFox

With the amount of late season rain and corresponding growth of bushes aling the trails and roads, it is becoming too common. Three times in the last couple of weeks a Bambi and mom have either crossed in front of me or were peeking out of the bushes ready to cross.

Slackerprince

I ride at night, mostly, and I had 2 deer cross my path far enough ahead, that it wasn't a big deal.
I was watching them on my right and thankful that I didn't smack them, and then, ALL OF THE SUDDEN, their buddy runs right in front of me, from the left, to join them.
Well, I hope that was exciting enough!
There are a lot of conservation/green areas in my neighborhood, so I really have to watch-out at night for raccoons, deer, possum, turtles, etc.

S

BoSoxYacht

I've had a few close calls with coyotes and javelinas, and one very scary moment with a bear, but never a deer.

B. Carfree

I ride before sunrise most mornings. I deal with deer on every ride. It's gotten to the point where I know where they will be jumping out and slow down in anticipation. One of their favorite places to cross is where I would like to carry some of my speed from a descent onto the next little roller, but there are five of them that feed at that spot.

At least deer, like bears, are rational and usually respond well to voices. Skunks and nutria are much less fun to interact with. I've only been scented by one skunk, but that was enough. Maybe it was a revenge scenting for the one I killed in the dark by running over it.

99Klein 

Oh yeah. Local mup is littered with them. Watch for little ones following moms too.

popeye

Yea only it was a freakin mountain lion, in Irvine CA of all places.

Looigi

Occasionally a deer, but turkeys much more frequently, almost every ride this time of year.

stealthbiker

Couple years back buzzing down a hill on the Blue Ridge Parkway I saw a large (actually it looked HUGE) buck start to jump into the road. Fortunately he saw me and wheeled back into the woods. Can't possibly imagine how hitting at deer at 35+ mph would have ended well for either of us.

dpicare26

Yes.

I also Had a black bear run out across the road in front of me too. I wasn't close to hitting the bear, but it still up'ed my adrenaline.

Mountain Mitch

Yep, deer, bears, coyotes and one hawk that was convinced he could beat me. No cougars so far although I've seen them while hiking around here often enough to know the day will come. One deer saw me across a pasture and ran about 100 yards just to get on the road in front of me it seemed.

Thing to remember is that there is frequently a trailer with deer. One crosses and you think, 'whew, that was close!' That's when the next one piles onto the road 5 feet in front of you.

Cookiemonsta

There is no chance of that happening here. Though I saw a rabbit a few days ago

PatrickGSR94

Fixed, gah it bugs me when people say or type "all of THE sudden" lol haha

But yeah I've seen a few deer on my commute as it's pretty much all rural 2-lane roads, but thankfully none have run out in front of me yet.

Nachoman

Yup. years ago I had a close call while descending a mountain in the Sierras. All of a sudden two deer ran out in front of me.
Luckily they were a few feet apart, because I threaded that needle, and flew by right in between them.

dalava

I have to concede that evolution failed deers... they really are dumb.

In the bike trail here, W&OD, there are a few stretches with chain-linked fences. Inevitably, deers would get trapped in there and don't know how to get back to the woods; they would just run left and right and hit the fences all over. Saw this many times as I commute to work, and got caught in it a couple of times. It was pretty scary.

Daytrip

I'm a gardener, so I pretty much loathe deer, but rather than being dumb, I think they're just not hip to human technology. I've noticed that you can drive right up to a deer on a noisy diesel tractor and they don't seem to recognize it as any kind of a threat. Get off the tractor or make some motion that they recognize as a human being, and they're gone like the wind. If it doesn't look or smell like a predator, they ignore it. Like the Borg.

Maybe you're right--not too bright.

My solution in the garden, after many years of anguish and many dollars spent on various contraptions that didn't really work, has been to make a scarecrow out of a steel fence post with a cross beam. I hang a work shirt, sweaty bandana and a hat on it, and they stay away. To them, it looks like a human & smells like a human. Keeps the neighbors away, too.

JoeB14

I actually hit one five years ago. Spent the weekend in the hospital, and then couldn't ride for 8 weeks while my thumb, which required surgery, healed from multiple breaks. The best two months of the summer and I watched from the sidelines. Since then I have tried to be more vigilant, but you just can't keep a dumb animal from being...dumb.

Champlaincycler

Actually happened to a friend this past Saturday. The deer came from her left across a rural road and ran into her bike. She went down, broke her clavicle, was knocked unconscious briefly and was carted off by an ambulance. She was alone and found by others shortly afterwards. Scary, and its not as though you can plan a defense for it.

sardond

I was doing about 22mph down the path and had my gopro running. You can see the deer just under the right side handlebar. I didnt see him till he scared the crap out of me as he started to run. Luckily towards the woods. Had he ran to the left, I would have been in a bad way.

deer by tommyputz, on Flickr