with a vehicle
I hate this

2 ran out on Highway 26 tonight mile marker 12 normally I can see the eyes coming and I did but now quite fast enough to get stopped from 68 in the short distance I had as they come up low from the ditch.
couldn't go right , steep side they had just popped up from and a second deer on the gravel
couldn't go left into the other lane
had to slow down as much as I could , hit it , it bounced forward then I went over it , I got off the shoulder and looked back in my mirror to see it turn into a red mist when an 18 wheeler took it with the passenger wheels

after he had passed I got out looked , I am peeing coolant but no other fluids that I could tell

drove about 3 miles on the coolant I had left not getting too hot

pulled into a kwik trip with a bagged off pump and parked at the pump because it was under the lights and no one was going to use it , they let me work on the truck a bit , my son brought me some flex tapes , we taped the 2 holes in the plastic side of the radiator , and the cracks in the coolant reservoir , filled it with water and had 3 more gallon jugs

2 quick stops when I crept over the 210 line to dump water in and I made it home now I need some parts



the kwik trip folks were very nice , I bought a couple more gallons of water , I had 2 partially frozen in the back , then they let me fill them back up from the sink
I had even talked to the manager and she was willing to let me leave it over in the side lot till morning and come back with a trailer if need be.

but the flex tape held well enough and got it the 35-40 miles home.

My last car killed a moose. I wasn't driving it at the time. Absolute bummer.

That stinks, my wife hit one last spring, so I rounded up parts and paint, I had never done body work on a car prior to then but it turned out fantastic. Good luck straightening her back up.

Pete, just a reminder- the extended deer season closed Jan 31st

GCP & nate,
Car insurance covers deer collisions....

Dang

Should buff right out...

Bummer

Kwik trips always have great people!!! Remember, could always be worse.

Sorry Man

Yes I have seen a 120 lbs live weight deer do a 100 lbs (1 ton) of damage to some pretty well made vehicles
And even if you are looking for them they often appear out of nowhere and you have a slim chance of avoiding them before it is already over I have seen some get hit and spin of the road like a top The deer was hurt real bad But the car was beat up like it had hit a dump truck loaded with 50 ton of rocks But the best thing you can do is hit it rather than slide of the road while braking to avoid it and end up in a tree ,pole, a ditch or worst of all hit an oncoming car One car One deer can equal Mayhem in the blink of an eye!!

My insurance covered it with zero deductible, but I couldn't find a body shop to work on it. Sooooo, I done it myself. The reason they wouldn't work on is because there were no fenders available not even after market, I managed to find one with zero rust about 4 hours away and made a little road trip. Everything thing else was available, still I saved about $2500.00 and still have full coverage on our car.

I had one hit me, it came out of a wooded ditch where it wasn't seen. over $5,000 in damage. I had a shop fix the headlight assembly ($1500) and I replaced the drivers front fender myself. I found one in a junk yard for $85 and it was even the same color.
I left all the small dents and wrinkles in the hood and front bumper cover that were barely notable.

Yes, the Ins co. covered the damage. But don't be naive enough to think that having the ins co payout doesn't effect your rates. And don't forget all those premiums you paid previously. Don't think that ins. co don't factor in the amount of deer collisions in your area when pricing ins. So your paying for deer damage to cars whether you know it or not.

One aspect of deer population that many don't think about. The cost to others is high to keep the deer population high. I'd bet that the cost of deer to the economy is a net negative, money spent on licenses, ammo and hunting trips is far less than auto damage, crop damage, forestry damage and ecological damage.

it is a 2004 I let full coverage go in October of 24 so I get to do this on my own dime

2 of our vehicles were going to be dropped by the insurance company I had been with for 30 years
they were both liability only , could not make them see any reason in that

so Oct 31 I had new insurance so that they overlapped by a day

Nov2 I was driving the wife's expedition and we go rear ended and it bent the frame

Feb 1 I hit this deer with my truck that we had been taking all over

so it is time for me to go finish the brakes I had been waiting on to make sure the other drivers insurance was covering the expedition , they said yes but they seem to be dragging their feet on it also.

the last thing I needed was another project right now so we will see how this all shakes out I am going to look at a co-workers mini van tomorrow , he just bought his wife a 2019 to replace it last week , it runs and drives and everything works , it is a 2008 , I was thinking about getting it for my oldest kid any way to replace their currently badly rusted 2003 mini van as the 2008 has a lot less rust.

I may buy it use it while we get other things in order then give it to them when I am done with it

I still have my 1998 Chevy 1500 and I just put new tires on it 2 weeks ago.

it is getting to be auto musical chairs around here.

wife isn't driving hardly at all right now so that helps a bit , but we are driving to MKE about 3 times a month. and a appointments and such in Mad-town.

my dad also called me today and said I could use hit truck. it sits for winters as he and mom are taking in the sun , beaches and fishing in South FL till it is above 60 on the regular here.

Hope it all works out for you.