I'm sure it's happened... just curious what kind of damage that does to both the deer and the rider.

Recently I've had some close calls while going 20+ mph. Fortunately I've either noticed them out of my peripheral in time that I've been able to slow down or if I haven't noticed them in time they have always ran the opposite direction instead of crossing my path.

An acquaintance now has the nickname of "The Deerslayer"

The deer didn't survive.

He almost didn't, Broken pelvis among other broken bones and a year long recovery.

The recovery was complete enough though that about two years later he got a speeding ticket on TPR (Tioga Pass Road) on his bike.

I have not hit any deers but I bet it would hurt a lot and the deer will get off with out a a scratch.

I wacked a squirrel with my Spinergy Rev-Xs many years ago. It was kind of a Cuisinart moment. Probably the only time I ever wanted fenders. Then I shrieked like a Hobbitt and threw up.

A guy I knew hit a deer in Ohio. He was in the hospital for a week and is still recovering a year later. Hitting a deer is like hitting a wall...seriously be careful if you live around them.

I've hit one in a car, never on a bike. Those (@*#&$ things have a death wish.

I see deer on the MUP I train on. I keep my eye on them as well as the other critters I see. It's no fun hitting any animal but the odds of getting hurt bad by hitting a deer are high.

I see deer on the MUP I train on. I keep my eye on them as well as the other critters I see. It's no fun hitting any animal but the odds of getting hurt bad by hitting a deer are high.

I was taken down once by a duck. It got scared, took off hard, and flew right into my wheel taking me down hard. I ended up picking duck feathers out of my rear derailleur. My front wheel was bent so bad that I had to hit it against the side walk so it would be straight enough to pass through my forks. I took of the front brake so I could ride home.

The problem with deer is they aren't very smart and are unpredictable. They'll see something they don't comprehend, and instead of fleeing will stop in their tracks or even tun towards it.

I've come close to hitting deer on a couple occasions at 40+ mph.

Thank goodness no. I see them often, but haven't had any close encounters with deer. I did have a young cow bolt out from behind a bush in front of me while descending at around 35 mph. It would have owned me had we collided.

I had a standoff with a moose two years ago, but I was going up an 8% climb and had no problem stopping. Someone did t-bone a moose while descending a local canyon a few years back. The moose fared much better than the rider. We've had people die in auto-moose collisions.

Got hit in 2001 on our tandem, or I should say my stoker did. Two deer tried to jump over our tandem while on a short descent and the first deer cleared but the second hit my wife in the shoulder with its rear legs and pushed off on her chest just above the breast. Despite knocking us sideways, we managed to stay upright but my wife had incredible bruising and muscle damage. She was covered with short reddish brown hair and had a perfect tarred hoof print on her jersey.

I have not hit a deer on my bike but a deer has hit me. I was broad sided by a good size doe as I was descending a hill at about 20mph. She pushed me from the center of the lane to the gravel shoulder. I was able to slow down enough and unclip by the time I hit the gravel to not crash. Ms. doe pulled her front leg out of my now trashed rear wheel and scampered off leaving only bits of fur in the spokes. Fortunately I was headed home and had only a few mile walk (in road cleats). Rear wheel was fixable.

Saw a rider get hit by a deer as she tried to jump their paceline. She had two fawns with her. We ran over and made sure his bike was okay. His helmet was cracked and he got confused as time passed. We called an ambulance for him. The doe was okay and she reunited with her fawns and left the scene.

Mature deer run at 30-35mph and weigh 90-200+ pounds depending on sex and where you are in the US. They are tough to kill or injure. Two have run into the side of my car and I have had to stop quicky many times in my car and also on my bike..... I can see hundreds on an early evening ride and have had many close calls but fortunately have not hit one. I keep my eyes peeled and will make some noises if I see them locked up on the side of a field because they can spook at the last second and jump out into you. Fawns especially dumb and this is the worst time of the year because they don't have the fear of humans as much as they will in a month or two. Bucks are usually much more nocturnal and you won't see as many on sunset type rides. I just shout "Hey" and they are usually gone.

i see 5-6 per night on my rides, normally on the shoulder of the road.

fortunately no crashes yet and no close calls. in areas where I normally see them, I ring my bell periodically to announce myself...

i've had them cause significant damage to cars, so I definitely wish to avoid meeting them on a bike

We have a lot of deer where I live in NW New Jersey, but they mostly stay in the woods. The bear on the other hand are worse. There's more of them in my neighborhood than deer...at least from what the naked eye can see. They are more unpredictable. They run full speed out into the road. And they blend in with the ashpalt and shadows. I have come close a couple of times. There are major accidents that have occurred right in front of me due to the bear. Some of them get to be 600 lbs, a wrecking ball of fur and flubber. That being said, I love having them around.

Man, that is the one thing that scares the crap out of me. I ride on weekdays early in the morning in the dark. Left here about 5:40 this morning for 16 to 20 miles before work. I've seen them in the pre-dawn and just after sunrise but luckily thus far, have met none or seen them in the dark. Like everyone said, they are not very smart, spooky!

In one instance, I was barreling down a descent at 120mph and sliced clean through a deer. I was wearing a red kit so it didn't really matter.

In another instance, a deer began running alongside me as the road narrowed. In a split second decision, I jumped off my bike and onto the deer, and finished the last 30 miles of my ride on the deer. The bike was lost, but I was able to sell the deer to a used deer dealer and bought a new, better bike.

Never really had a close call with a deer on the bike. (I did have one last weekend in the car, though.) Back when I lived in Indiana I was at a race and a guy had a run-in with a deer. I don't think the deer had any injuries. The rider and his bike got the worst of that situation.

I'm more worried about squirrels. They may be small, but they're not afraid to get close to you and it's hard to tell what the hell they're doing. The animal itself doesn't have to do the damage- the road is plenty capable of that.

Wild horses are also a concern around here, but they tend to be slow-moving and predictable.

I've hit a deer with a .30-06

It was delicious.

An acquaintance of mine (one of my dad's friends) was killed by a collision with a deer just a couple months ago while riding. Reportedly, it tried to leap over him, either directly from the side, or very close in front and he died of the resulting injuries. Truly tragic. RIP.

I see them all the time. There's a lake nearby where 2 or 3 normally live, but the population swells when deer season starts since it's a no hunting zone in town. When I 'm out in the mornings I'll see their eyes with my lights; especially the helmet light.

The deer that live there year round are so accustomed to people that I've gone by within touching distance and they'll just stand there. But they also stay off the actual path.

Usually, 3 or 4 of those that move in during hunting season typically jump the fences along the roads and get hit by cars. There are more deer in our state now then a hundred years ago because ranchers thinned out the coyote and wolf populations. So more fawns survive.

There are also a lot of raccoons this year.

I've had one pace me from the ditch on the opposite side of the road, pass me, and finally cross in front of me. I was impressed with its speed since I was on flats (maybe a slight down slope) with a monster tailwind that day so I was not moving slowly. They did not give me "the look" when they passed me.

I had to pass a mother and a few babies. It charged after me and I BOOKED it. I probably pumped out more watts than all the lights in Manhattan combined.

In 1987, I came within about 2 feet of hitting one at roughly 40 mph. It ran into the road, stopped, and I went where it was. I am confident that if I had hit it, I would not have seen 1988.