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Triumph vs deer

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tomshobby

tomshobby

Yoda
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Shirley and I were pretty lucky tonight. We were on the way home on a country road when a deer jumped out in front of us. It hit front and center then flipped across the bonnet and into Shirley's side of the windscreen. We were going 55-60mph when it happened so I have even more respect for how tough these little cars are.
 

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The windshield is fine. The only damage was to the front lip of the hood. Could have easily been much worse. The deer was a buck about 120lbs with 8" antlers in velvet.
Now we need to get it repaired for our upcoming trip.
 
Sorry to hear about your misfortune and also for the deer. 8" rack at this time of the year would be a respectable buck this fall. Glad no one was hurt. However I would like to get my dibs in on some chops. They are my favorite!
If your in a high deer traffic area like I am the deer whistles work quite well as long as you don't block the air flow through them. Most seem to be mounted in front or against something. The forced air can get into the whistle but can't exit it and renders the device useless.
 
They are a serious problem here on Long Island also...and I don't mean just on the sparsely populated east end. Local government has extended the areas in which hunting is allowed, but public backlash about killing Bambi is always at the forefront. Besides, many people around here feed them all winter. There was a guy who 60 Minutes had on a couple of years ago that was willing to move about 500 deer upstate <span style="font-weight: bold">at his own expense</span>, but was shot down by the locals. I've had them run out on the road in front of me on several occasions. Fortunately, I've never made contact.
 
Tom,

Glad to hear that no one was hurt and that the damage appears relatively minimal considering I've seen much much worse around here from deer encounters.

Scott
 
I hit one, actually it hit me a couple of years ago going to work. I was in the XKE. Luckily the deer hit the bumper spear on the drivers side and bounced back. Only damage was a cracked parking light lens. They are a problem here as well. Glad everyone is okay and only minor damage.

Marv
 
Glad to hear you and Shirley made it thru as good as you did. Just curious was it around dusk or later at night ?
 
Wow, I am often afraid of that on these WI country roads. Glad that everyone is okay and the car wasn't destroyed. I have had a few try to ruin my fun but luckily I have spotted them before they could.
 
Wow, glad you are ok! Triumphs can be tough cars. I hit one with my Spitfire 2 days after I got it back on the road after it sat for 15 years. I have a kinked bumper but no other damage. Moving at that speed with a very similar sized deer, well, my Plymouth Voyager wasn't so lucky. Shortened the van by 6 inches...
 
Glad to hear both of you are well. I hit a doe in my 6 at a lesser speed. She fortunately kicked forward, but unfortunately scurried away on broken legs. Similar damage to the hood, and minor damage to the cowl. Deer are my biggest concern while driving in Western PA.
 
Doug, they are pretty bad in RI and CT too. The infamous Lyme's Disease comes from deer ticks and started in Lyme, CT.

I see two to three killed every day that I drive from MA through CT on 95 and the back roads can be even worse. It's nearly always doe and rarely do I see a buck laid down.

I'm just glad that Tom & Shirley are OK. Now Tom may have a new project for the winter?
 
martx-5 said:
They are a serious problem here on Long Island also...There was a guy who 60 Minutes had on a couple of years ago that was willing to move about 500 deer upstate <span style="font-weight: bold">at his own expense</span>, but was shot down by the locals.
Click to expand...
Thing is, he'd probably have been "shot down" by the upstaters as well. We "upstaters" already have all the deer we can handle now, and then some, so thanks but no thanks! (Just ask my son, or my daughter, whose car my son was driving when he hit a deer in Northern NY, to the tune of $5400!)
 
WOW, that must have been a shock. Glad you're OK. And yes the damage could have been much worse. The windshield didn't bend up from the seal at all? The deer ended up on the shoulder?
 
not to stray too far off topic but this morning I was on the front porch of my new house this morning watching traffic on Rt119 when I noticed a deer in my yard. It ran across 119 missing several cars. I was pretty impressed that it made it across. Sadly it didn't survive it's impact with 9,000 horsepower and 40 cars of a Buffalo & Pittsburgh coal train on the other side running parallel to the highway...
 
Well I'll add my story.

A few months ago while returning from a club slot car racing event I almost hit a deer. 65mph, hard on the brakes, tires squeeling and missed it by about 5 feet. Funny thing is that I was so close to it that when the tires squeeled I could see his eyes open real wide. Went by him at maybe 50mph. That same thing happened several years earlier too. It seems that the squeeling tires gets a reaction from them. That time the deer turned and ran along side of me going the same direction. So if you see a deer smoke those tires. It may help to avoid it.
 
Tom, you were very lucky. We also have deer running around here, but I don't think we have nearly as many hit as you guys in the northeast. I think the wide open spaces have alot to do with that. But I've seen some cars and trucks that have hit deer around here, and the damage was pretty heavy. In small cars like what we drive, it can really be bad. Count your blessings!
 
Thanks for all the words of concern they are appreciated, good to have friends.

PB, it was about 7pm.

We are very grateful for how this is turning out. First is that we had no injuries. Seeing the deer heading for Shirley's side was a very intense feeling for sure. This photo shows the damage better than the ones I took last night. Stopped at my insurance agent this morning and he could not get over how little damage there is. He did say the hood should be replaced rather than straightened. He also told me it would be fine to wait until winter to have it fixed so we could enjoy the driving season. That is unless we could get parts and a shop lined up to meet our time schedule needs.
 

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