Yesterday morning I avoided a deer with braking, followed by an abrubt lane change. The road surface was very wet and I hydroplaned into a ditch lined with trees. Even though two drivers side tires were blown and the whole drivers side was damaged, she managed to pull herself back on the road being the "torque tank" she is.
The Sherriff's deuputies arrived (always in three's) and asked if someone helped to pull me out
I'm a bit stiff and sore from being jostled around, but the ARB bumper is looking more like a necessity in deer populated areas.

_________________
2005 Black CRD Limited w/105,000 miles
Mann Provent 200, Airbox Mod, ORM Mod
New 545RFE, TC & Redesigned pump @ 25,020 miles
New EGR Flow Control Valve @ 25,020 miles
New Transfer Case input/output seals @ 32,787 miles
SEGR Kit @ 52,000 miles
SunCoast TC and Transgo Shift Kit @ 52,000 miles

For deer this is "car season", they are bagging plenty in the heart of the country.
Lewis

_________________
Mail Rated 2005 Red CRD Sport with large rectangular hole in top right behind the EVIC and above the heated leather seats.
2004 Jetta TDI

Sorry to hear abouth the damage. I work on a government base and it can be like a petting zoo at times, with all the deer running around in the dark. Coworker hit one last week and insurance wanted to total his car and the damage wasn't that much. He opted for the quick check and pocketed the money except for replacing the drivers mirror.Sometimes the damage done to avoid a collision is worse than the collision itself. Good time and justifcation to upgrade the bumper.

_________________
Solar Yellow 2001 TJ Sport 4.0 auto 4X4
White 2006 Liberty Limited 2.8 CRD 4X4...SOLD 4-21-2012

I'm all for hitting the brakes as hard as possible -
but in the end - deer are softer than trees.

glad you're not hurt and Jeep sounds fixable

_________________
2005 CRD
stuff
Skeptic quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur

My agent told me to always be sure there is hair on the car for a deer collision. Increases my chance of avoiding insurance cost. He told me to be sure and hit the deer!

Glad to see you are ok..

_________________
Jim

2005 Liberty Sport Stone White
SAMCO Hoses
Provent
HHO System
In-line thermo
'95 Moto Guzzi California 1100

I learn more from my struggles than that which comes easy......

I've always been told, that while it sucks to hit animals, it's usually safer for you to just slam on the brakes and hit them.

_________________
Aaron

A vehicle isn't yours till you learn to wrench on it yourself.

2002 Jeep Liberty Sport (Eugene, I am the Passenger, And I ride and I ride.)
1999 Chev Astro 2WD (Green, Daily Driver)
1997 Chev Astro AWD (Grumpy "The Heep", $250 Rally Van, 335k miles, 2" lift, 31" tires)

Glad to hear you're not hurt - would hate to lose a knowledgeable diesel owner and long time member such as yourself.

As far as the advice to hit the deer instead of the trees - easy to talk about before or after, but I can well understand when it comes down to that split second decision on a dark road - the natural instinct is to avoid hitting anything.

_________________
Mitchell Oates
'87 MB 300D Diamond Blue Metallic
'87 MB 300D - R.I.P. 12/08
'05 Sport CRD Stone White
Provent CCV Filter/AT2525 Muffler
Stanadyne 30 u/Cat 2 u Fuel Filters
Fumoto Drain/Fleetguard LF3487 Oil filter
V6 Airbox/Amsoil EAA Air Filter
Suncoast TC/Shift Kit/Aux Cooler
Kennedy Lift Pump/Return Fuel Cooler

Hit a deer, you live. Hit a moose, you die

I had a brand new truck, wife and 3 kids.
The choices were: oncoming car, telephone pole, stupid deer.
I chose stupid, tasty deer.
The damage$ and hassle were a drag.
A moose is a different story, many people get killed in moose colissions.

_________________
'06 Jeep Liberty Sport CRD with: GDE Hot Flash and Tranny Flash, ehm, Cummins fuel pump, 3" Magnaflow muff, Moog K3199's, Skids, 225-75-16 10 ply, OME springs, Euro T/C, Shift kit, Trans cooler w/thermal bypass, Bigboy bkt, Samco CAC, Brake controller, Trans temp gauge, Al's Upper Arms

Yes, this is very true. I was in the Canadian bush in July and encountered a cow and her calf on a logging trail north of Ear Falls, ON.
Juding from about 15 feet away, the bottom jaw of the cow was at least a a good foot above the safari rack on the CRD.

You hit a moose and knock those stilt legs out from it and you have a 1200lbs of moose in your lap as it crashes through the A-pillars and windshield.

_________________
2005 Black CRD Limited w/105,000 miles
Mann Provent 200, Airbox Mod, ORM Mod
New 545RFE, TC & Redesigned pump @ 25,020 miles
New EGR Flow Control Valve @ 25,020 miles
New Transfer Case input/output seals @ 32,787 miles
SEGR Kit @ 52,000 miles
SunCoast TC and Transgo Shift Kit @ 52,000 miles

DZL_LOU you were in m neck of the woods, i live In Kenora, Ontario about 3 hours southwest of Ear Falls... I will say this, you will never forget the first time you see a full size male moose on the road while in your vehicle... it would make the KJ seem small...lol. I am also a paramedic so i have also seen first hand what an average size cow will do to a civic.... ... let's just say there was just barely enough room for the driver to survive and no roof, windshiel, A pillars, passenger seat left in the car...

Deer on the other hand are soft for the most part unless it's a big buck or if they happen to jump right before impact and you get them on the hood/windshield. I have also learned form past experience that it is not worth it to really try to avoid them, damages are covered if you do and insurance won't go up... well here in Canada anyway...

Oh Yes, I passed through Kenora after "portage" in Fort Francis coming over the border. I was staying on land owned by the Wabauskang First Nation Peoples adjacent to Lac Seul.
I have been to Canada many times with the CRD but this was the first time I got to see "the snot" on a moose nose.

_________________
2005 Black CRD Limited w/105,000 miles
Mann Provent 200, Airbox Mod, ORM Mod
New 545RFE, TC & Redesigned pump @ 25,020 miles
New EGR Flow Control Valve @ 25,020 miles
New Transfer Case input/output seals @ 32,787 miles
SEGR Kit @ 52,000 miles
SunCoast TC and Transgo Shift Kit @ 52,000 miles

Buffalo are no fun either. Saw a r-e-a-l-l-y compact pickup on the side of the road-- it was three feet from front bumper to the beginning of the truck bed. I asked the forest ranger on the side of the road if it was a head on-- he said "Yep"-- with a buffalo. The driver died, witnesses said the buffalo got up and walked away.

Funny, I had 4 deer on my front lawn just last night. Usually they come around in the early hours and eat the wifes flowers. Must be getting harder to find food now that winter is setting in. I fed them apples.

I am also a paramedic. I can confirm many stories like these.
I have seen a car vs a full size bull. The bull walked away while the passengers died.
I haven't seen a moose vs car, but have seen a horse vs car and imagine the results are very much the same. No one lived (driver nor the horse).

Unless you have a very low slung vehicle (Vette, Camero, etc) you can hit deer all day long with little chance of driver injury.
It almost certainly would be cheaper to hit a deer with a Jeep than it would be to hit a tree.
Also, swerving often leads to rollovers.
While it is easy to say "Don't swerve", in the heat of the moment reflexes do strange things.

_________________
06 Silver CRD
SEGR, Provent,
3" exhaust w/o muffler, Cummins fuel pump

Ever since I had one try to eat my car at 60mph, I find it more enjoyable to feed them bumpers or lead shot.

Not really, but it's nice to think about. Since I'm driving through deer-infested woods almost every day, I'm thinking that an ARB bumper and grille guard would not be the worst upgrade to get.

What really irritates me - That deer strike I had? From the way I hit it, I KNOW it died instantly... But it was too dark out to find the steak that it owed me for my front end.

a big moose is like 3 time sthe size of a average horse, in fact they are still half again (at least) the size of the biggest Clydesdale you've ever seen. In case anybody wonders why a guy in Georgia is saying this, my Mom lives in Newfoundland....

_________________
2005 Liberty CRD Limited
Light Khaki

I know someone who has hit three moose and lived to tell about it. Only one of the moose was killed on impact. The other two walked away.

_________________
2006 Liberty CRD Limited

Provent @ 43,000 km
SEGR in progress
SAMCO Sport hoses @ 48500 km
Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac LT225/75R16

Elk are bad too. Both elk and moose are difficult to see in the dark as they are generally darker than deer and often all you see is the legs. A few years back I noticed what looked to be 4 skinny fence posts in the middle of the road.....odd think on any night, even a rainy night. Flipped up the lights and there was a very large bull. Not in a hurry, never are. I passed slowly and around the corner I see an older Ford P/U kinda off the road and slightly in the ditch. I pulled over and asked if he needed help. He said he was fine and would get it out OK on his own. I offered a word of caution that there was a big bull moose about 200 yards ahead. He replied that he already knew, that is why he was in the ditch.

_________________
Dave

'06 CRD Limited, Lt. Khaki, MOPAR Slush Mats/Skids, DrawTite Front Hitch, Mag Lite, Yakima Bars, Thule Bike Rack, Fumoto, ORM, 245/70 Revo 2

Wish list: Lift, Boulder Bars, Something Bigger in the Front and Back, More Lights

I won't post pics here as some of them can be a bit graphic, but you can find some crazy shots by searching Google for "Moose Accident"...

http://images.google.ca/images?rlz=1C1G ... a=N&tab=wi

I've come close to deer a number of times but haven't hit one yet.

_________________
Black '05 KJ Sport