I received phone call updates late last night and again this morning, that he has a broken collarbone, broken shoulderblade, a gash on his head w/concussion, broken nose, lots of road rash and they are going to x-ray his hand again but they don't think it's broken. They have checked out his internal organs and his back and besides some severe bruising, all that is ok. He'll be in the hospital for about 1 week. Donnie was very lucky. Dr. Vardag of Stephens Memorial Hospital, was two cars behind him and saw the whole thing. Donnie wasn't speeding, he was going with the flow of traffic, which is fairly heavy on that road, especially on Saturday nights. 3 teenagers were in a pickup directly behind Donnie and they stopped. Donnie laid down in the bed of their pickup and the teenage girl helped Donnie, then Dr. Vardag worked on him right there, until EMTs and Careflight got there. When someone said he was like a cat with 9 lives, Donnie told them it was his guardian angel that saved him and I don't think he was referring to Dr. Vardag or the teenaged girl, though they certainly helped. I can believe that, because I think I caught a *glimpse* of one, when a deer hit me. That is something I will never forget. As I have posted to another forum but have extrapolated here, I want to emphasize that there is no migratory pattern for deer here in our area (or even most areas of Texas nowadays). The deer are everywhere and they stay in this area, year round. The most predictable thing about deer, is that they *will* run out in front of you. They tend to wait along the sides of roads, then decide to move when a vehicle comes along. Deer tend to run directly across your path, or into you. It's the same way they would do with most predators. Instead of always running directly away, they use the *element of surprise* and run towards what they fear, before taking off in a different direction. A lot of areas in Texas are dry. The pasture grasses are dying, brush and scrub woods are dry. What rain we've had, accumulated in barditches, so that's where the grass is most green and where you'll find deer, especially at night. Some deer will just stand there while you pass, whereas others may bolt away from the road. Those deer have been around cars and people a long time and have been *conditioned* but even the conditioned deer are unpredictable. The BIG problem is, the deer population has grown so large, that more and more frequently the young and inexperienced deer are more apt to be alongside roadways. They don't gain experience. Their experiences end, when a vehicle takes them out. And unfortunately that vehicle is sometimes a biker. Some people believe that they can learn and determine what an animal will do, if they study their habits through reading, etc. But unfortunately deer do not read, nor do they write auto biographies. They do not adhere to rules, regulations or a standard pattern. A person can only watch carefully while they are riding and try to guess when, where and how a deer will appear on the road. If you ride long enough, odds are that you will have some sort of an encounter. I hope you all beat those odds. Btw, one way to help prevent such accidents aside from all an out hunting war, is to pressure your county into keeping the grass trimmed alongside roadways and remove brush and trees close to the roads, which gives the deer a place to hide until they jump out in front of you. Also, don't depend on luck or guardian angels. Stay aware, stay alert and never let your guard down. Y'all stay safe. -- Sunny Williams (sunny will at txvets dot org) IRPK, ISRA #7123 Director/Webmaster for Texas Veterans Assoc., Chapter 3 http://www.txvets.org/
all too true as you well know. to say Donnie was lucky to have the doc behind him to stop and treat him immediately is the understatement of the year. wow, i wanna take that guy to Vegas. <g> y'all be careful out there.
As soon as he heals up he might take you up on that. You do the same. -- Sunny Williams (sunny will at txvets dot org) IRPK, ISRA #7123 Director/Webmaster for Texas Veterans Assoc., Chapter 3 http://www.txvets.org/
Also, don't depend on luck or guardian angels. Stay aware, stay alert and never let your guard down. Y'all stay safe. Sunny- Yep, it is mainly up to the rider, to watch. Whats so awful about it, since theres been so much talk about increased Deer population, and incidents/accidents happening, that when I ride aorund my area, I hardly enjoy anymore, the sites and stuff, for feeling the need to ''zero in'' ahead, both sides. Personally,I have never, ever, had such a concern, dogGone it. bjay-
We moved away from PK Lake and it feels like the deer moved with us. That isn't the case though, as the deer population explosion is effecting all of Texas and other parts of the country. I've been seeing deer in places that I had never seen them before. I used to enjoy riding at night but even while in town, I have to watch out for deer. It's not just the occasional loose pet or drunk/inattentive cagers you have to watch out for nowadays. -- Sunny Williams (sunny will at txvets dot org) IRPK, ISRA #7123 Director/Webmaster for Texas Veterans Assoc., Chapter 3 http://www.txvets.org/
no kidding. i didn't worry too much about animals at night a few years ago, but it seems like it has gotten particularly worse just in the past couple of years. i'm not too keen on it now. coming back from austin a couple of weeks ago there were two of the disease ridden things standing along side the road and this was late afternoon, not even dusk. i braked pretty hard just because they are so damn unpredictable. i think we should all go deer hunting this fall and get as many of the bambis as possible. donate to the local food bank if you don't like the meat, but they are out of control and it's seriously affecting drivers and riders. iirc, on average in texas there is one damaging/injury collision -per day- (!) and on average one fatality per month (!!!). that's not just m/c's, that's collisions with 4 wheel vehicles too. i hate deer.
Poor people that used to hunt for food, now can't afford the hunting license. Also, if I shoot a deer on my own property, without a license and I get caught, I will have to prove the deer was causing destruction to my property, or I will be fine heavily. On top of that, I can't even claim and use the meat. I have to leave the carcass where it lands. I found out that on the same stretch of road (183 south out of Breckenridge), on the same night that Donnie hit that deer, 4 others hit and killed deer, in their cars and trucks. All sustained vehicle damage but except for Donnie, no other injuries. I also just talked to Darlene (Donnie's wife), at the hospital. The doctors will be operating on his hand tomorrow evening. It seems his left thumb isn't attached like it's supposed to be. :-( Not nearly as much as Joe and I do. Stay safe, -- Sunny Williams (sunny will at txvets dot org) IRPK, ISRA #7123 Director/Webmaster for Texas Veterans Assoc., Chapter 3 http://www.txvets.org/
A friend of ours did. He had a set on the front bumper of his pickup, one on each side. He was going home from work one night and hit a deer. A few nights later, he hit 2 deer. Wrecked his truck but the whistles were still on the bumper. He _discarded_ the whistles and hasn't used any since. That was about 3 or 4 years ago. -- Sunny Williams (sunny will at txvets dot org) IRPK, ISRA #7123 Director/Webmaster for Texas Veterans Assoc., Chapter 3 http://www.txvets.org/
well, maybe so, but i bet he hasn't seen any rhinocerous ! <g> (deer whistles don't do a thing; emergency vehicles with lights and sirens running will hit the stupid animals)
(another viewer) i think we should all go deer hunting this fall and get as many of the bambis as possible. donate to the local food bank if you don't like the meat, but they are out of control and it's seriously affecting drivers and riders. iirc, on average in texas there is one damaging/injury collision -per day- (!) and on average one fatality per month (!!!). that's not just m/c's, that's collisions with 4 wheel vehicles too. i hate deer. Me two. I think I'll recruit about 50 Arkansas Deer Hunters, to help. Those guys are like David Crocket, when it comes to long rifle shooting. (chuckle) I told a fella at a Mom&Pop gas station around Fredricksburg back in march, that they need to encourage a bunch of Arkansas Hunters, to clean up in the Hill Country, rid them of those pesty critters. heh-heh-heh-
oh hell yeah. they will reproduce past the point of starvation so the herds have to be culled just from a wildlife management standpoint. toss in the damage done to vehicles, people and crops and they become seriously damaging pests. kill bambi.
since when are deer top of the food chain ? we whacked all their natural predators so the deer population is out of control. somehow i think ppl might be upset with the reintroduction of wolves and puma that used to keep the deer population in check. since deer aren't controlled, their reproduction runs rampant and this is the result. the state of texas knows it's a big problem is currently doing a study to verify the impact and determine a course of action to remediate the problem. i think larger bag limits and extended hunting seasons along with active game management/culling will be the result. i think the recomendations are supposed to be out this year, none too soon.
I've never spent too much time around deer. Just out of curiosity, what do you think that deer in the Valkyrie collision weighed? I guess small is quite relative, but that deer looked small to me. Gary
Some of the hunters around here have told me of bagging does weighing in up to150 lbs. Must be all that corn they are fed. Joe was driving to work one evening in his pickup, when a buck glanced off the front bumper and busted the right headlight, then ran off into the darkness. Joe didn't have time to go look for him but when the relief operator came in the next morning, he found the deer dead, less than 100 yards from where Joe had smacked him. It was an 8 point buck. People treating the deer like pets and feeding them, is a big problem around here. One day when I had a doctor's appointment and I was still wearing that external fixator that was holding my leg together with wires and screws, a woman asked me what happened. When I told her, she got very upset that the deer had died, then she told me she feeds them and they are like her pets. I told her, "Lady, one of your *pets* just cost me $50k and a lot of pain. If they are your pets, then keep them locked up!" She didn't like that at all. Some people just don't get it, until it happens to them. -- Sunny Williams (sunny will at txvets dot org) IRPK, ISRA #7123 Director/Webmaster for Texas Veterans Assoc., Chapter 3 http://www.txvets.org/
I'm not really too savvy on dear.... Much to the contrary of others here, I do hate to see damage/injury/death, whether it be deer, pedestrians, drivers, or riders. Obviously, I think the deer should stay off of the roads. But, I guess that's much easier said than done. However, my earlier questions concerning weight, have certainly taught me something. I thought that adult deer usually weighted in at 350-400lbs. Not that any weight diminishes the severity of these collisions reported here, I just thought they were much larger. Gary
(Gary Walker) I've never spent too much time around deer. Just out of curiosity, what do you think that deer in the Valkyrie collision weighed? I guess small is quite relative, but that deer looked small to me. Gary Anywhere from 75 to 125 lbs. Weight ain't the problem, it is the Motorcycle running into the Deer, and wrecking your ass, if you are unable ta' miss the wild creature. (grin) 'Ya'll take care'' --BJAY--
they think it's a damn disney movie until one of the things goes thru their windshield. so long as it's someone else, everything is just groovy to those bozos. kill bambi.
You are correct. Joe had to wear a cast. I had an external fixator, with 2 bolts in the shin bone, to hold the whole contraption in place. http://www.pkriders.org/leg2.htm I wouldn't mind more predators. I get upset when I hear a rancher talk about hunting down and killing a mountain lion (yes we have them in our area), because it is going after _deer_ and not his cattle! Venison tastes good. I like it barbecued, chicken fried, in chili, whatever. I'm not saying get rid of all deer, just cull them down to manageable numbers. Out in the middle of the roads. -- Sunny Williams (sunny will at txvets dot org) IRPK, ISRA #7123 Director/Webmaster for Texas Veterans Assoc., Chapter 3 http://www.txvets.org/
