Where I'm at in Michigan, hitting deer is very common. Honestly my family averages one a year (sometimes more), with the running total being over 30 as far as I can remember (I've personally hit 9, in the 15 years I've been driving).

Sometimes the deer will get up and run off, mostly if hit with a car. But I've typically hit them with my truck (bronco) and usualy results in my driving over them with little to no damage to my vehical.

I think the best story I have to tell is when my mom hit a deer a few years back. She hit it with passenger front, doing some damage to the fender, hood, and headlight. Not 2 days after it came home from the body shop my dad hit another deer with the same car, this time on the drivers front. The guy at the body shop just shook his head.

You know your from northern Michigan when your on a first name basis with your body guy.

 

closest for me has been a hoof print on my super duty f350 bumper. but i have to say i LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEE deer hits! but it's cause i own a body shop. they dont do much structure damage but can sure sell a lot of parts! ;o)

 

Make sure y'all keep your comprehensive coverage section of your insurance policy is up to date!
Hitting a deer (or even a person...) is considered an act of God and carries full coverage (no deductable) under comprehensive clause and no points against your premium.

 

[quote=irondragon79;8217423]Where I'm at in Michigan, hitting deer is very common. quote]

I heard on the news a while back that the state with the most vehicle/deer accidents is West Virginia, just my luck, followed by Michigan. At least the body shop economy is being well stimulated.

 

I know my family lucked out with this... with all the deer we've hit all our vehicals looked brand new from the doors forward.. but the paint on the back was often faded/peeling or even rusting away.

Been more than one time I have tried to figure out how to back into a deer... and then trying to explain to the officer how I did it...

 

By the grace of God I've only had close calls the most thrilling one being when my wife said something to me late one night on a dark rual highway and I looked over at her to see a deer head flash by a foot from the glass, a near miss that made me jump!

Now this story isn't about a deer but last fall my wife and I had been arguing about which was more dangerous, dusk or night. Note that if my wife is paranoid of hitting any animal and even thinks she sees something she freaks out and trys to grab the wheel when I'm driving. Well I went to sleep giving up on our argument and about an hour later woke up near dusk when everything is a shade of gray. I was sitting there wondering why in the world am I awake when I spotted that there was something in the road by the break in the glare. I thought to myself "We'll see what time is more dangerous when she runs over this little creature." As we neared it I began to realise that this thing was way bigger than I thought and began saying "There is something in the road." louder and louder until my wife brought the '91 accord to a screeching halt inches from the rear of a mule its friend standing across the other lane of traffic.

Almost instanly, as I was thinking about our narrow escape from death, my wife yells "What are they doing here!" and begins honking the horn herding them off the road like a seasoned rancher. I couldn't believe it, she didn't seem shaken at all! I just starred at my wife for a few minutes before laughing. BTW although we couldn't see the mules until we were 10 feet from them I'm still wrong.

 

a deer hit is definitely a comp claim, but most people will have a deductible(whatever you decided on when you took out your policy). we are seeing most people carry a $500 deductible. it's only a couple of dollars more for a lower ded on comp. i fix my own and i carry a 100. if you save 10 a month with a 500 over a 100, how many years before you break even with a claim? 40 months. if you hit 2 in that time frame, well you know....and ALWAYS hit the animal, not the ditch, tree, culvert, or other vehicle. if you swerve to miss a critter and still wreck, IT IS a collision claim. collision will count against you. i dont know how many times i have seen people do that trying to avoid a critter. no one wants to wreck, but i'll hit the squirrel or bambi, or whatever.

 

Learn something new every day. Thanks Guys!

 

I live in the country and drive 26 miles to and from work, in the dark at least one way. Early one morning, coming home from the night shift, I came upon a car that had collided with a deer. It was a 2-door Honda Civic.

The deer came through the windshield, broke out the rear window, and was laying dead in the back seat. The girl who was driving was okay, but understandbly shaken up.

If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it!

 

One thing that I want say, is that whatever you do NEVER SWERVE TO MISS A DEER, just let off the gas and if you have time ease on the brake, and just hit the thing head on. Cars and trucks can be fixed or replaced, but lives can't.

Every year I hear of people who have been seriously injured or even killed after they left the road trying to miss a deer. I had an teacher back in elementary school that swerved to miss one and rolled her car.. ended up a quadraplegic in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

Another thing to note insurance wise, if you hit a deer, it won't reflect badly on your insurance, however if you swerve to miss one and hit something else (like a tree, mailbox, etc..) It will cause your insurance to go up, and possibly could earn you a ticket.

 

I live close to AXracer and I was leaving Raleigh after work and a deer seemed to run us down on Lake Wheeler Rd. he jumped up out of a corn field at 3.30 pm and run at a 45 degree angle to the road and hit us the the left rear quarter panel. He looked as if he was chasing us and bounce back up and took off. There are 2 guys on a pickup that have a full time job in Wake Co.(Raleigh area) just picking up deer that have been hit and I don't think they have any napping times during the day.