I have never hit a deer. But, last week was driving home my place, it was just about dark. Saw a blur run towards my passenger side headlight. It stopped on a dime and turned around and ran. Got within inches.

It was a small 4pt. I drive a tundra, which has some Bilsteins to give me 2.5 inches more.l height.

Just curious about the impact, what y’all have experienced for the ones who have hit a deer on the road. Or Hog.

I hit one several years ago at night that stepped out right after I crossed a bridge on a two lane FM road. I T-boned the deer right in the middle of the grill, and only doing about 40 mph.
It shoved the grill and radiator into the fan and it wasn't pretty.
The deer flew through the air like in slow motion.

Have hit 5, only 1 caused damage. Busted a headlight and grill in my 98 Ram 3500 2wd

I have hit three deer, but have had 4 deer hit me. One hit my 16ft trailer as I was going 65 mph. It landed in the trailer, stood up and jumped out, crashed on the road, jumped up and kept going. I expect that it did not survive that.

I hit a doe about a month ago. We were only doing about 20 mph and I still didn't see her until it was too late. Bent my license plate.

I’ve tattooed 4. Grille guard or front end replacement paid for itself each time. One more and I become an ace!

I have had 2 bucks hit me when they ran into the side of the grill guard on a truck on the first buck, without any damage to the truck. The second one was on Hwy 624 east of Cotulla at last light one evening. It was in late summer and I was just about to cross over Quintana Creek when he ran up out of the ditch and hit the extended cab door on drivers side of the truck. Did about $2400 damage back in 1997. Been close on a ton of others over the years.

My daughter hit a 6 point buck Christmas morning less than a mile from my house. Her sports car sustained right at 9,000 dollars worth of damage.

I have hit at least 3. One bounced off, one went under and one did about $1500 damage. My wife has hit 2...one did $800 damage the other $2000. She also hit a turkey...about $400 damage. I can sorta handle the deer...it is the black cows at night that really give me concern. My neighbors have black cows and bad fences!!!

I was running about 75 one night when a 4pt streaked out in front of me about a mile east of Crews. Thankfully the airbag didn’t go off but it did $3700 in damage to my SportTrac. The four cars I passed between Wingate and the impact site all declined to stop and see if everything was ok.

A friend in Nevada hit a burro with a Saturn Skye. Fortunately it was to the right side. Totaled.
Came over a hill and a herd was in the road. He had installed special racing brakes and tires, probably saved his life.
Needed a new Skye,

A long time ago my dad and I were just arriving in Llano and his 1973 Gran Torino Sport had mechanical problems. We stopped the Game Warden to determine if there was anywhere we could take it that late at night. He recognized my dad because he had flown in with one of his partners for a dove hunt that was organized by the same Game Warden. His partner had performed surgery on his daughter's knee. So the Game Warden says follow me to my house and you can use my old truck and he would see that the dealer took care of it.

So I'm sure you know by now that as we were driving in the fog on RR 152 a young buck jumped out and hit the Game Warden's truck! So two cars to fix in one trip!

Hit one on an ATV going way to fast at about 2am. Thankfully I was young and drunk so it didn’t hurt to bad. Rolled me off the back of the ATV

Nice 10 pt hit ran into me right by lease but no damage to either of us luckily. Thought he was going to get creamed but turned last second and only hit back with his chest and antlers and ran off. We destroyed a hog last week though. Felt like a road bump. Only damaged wheel well a little. He was destroyed though with a 3/4 ton. All I can say is never swerve. Guy on our lease did and flipped a F350 several times since wife yelled doe. Luckily no injuries.

Mule deer doe last year doing 75. Front passenger side and perfect broadside shot.
Every airbag blew and totalled the truck that only had 30k miles on it.
Felt like hitting a barrel full of wet concrete.
Exciting but alas: no doe tag

I slammed on the brakes a while back to avoid a group trying to cross a road and managed to miss them all...but a doe ran out and hit my truck in the side. She got up, shook her head and ran back the way she came. Left a dent about a foot wide in the front part of my bed...but luckily it was my old "run around the woods" truck and it really didn't matter anyway.

My son and I were going to our ranch in llano county one rainy dark morning when a doe ran out in front of us. Could not slam on the brakes because we where towing a trailer carrying a jeep. Driving a F-250 with a ranch hand bumper, did nothing to the truck but the doe didn't fair to well.

Driving from Victoria to SA airport at about 60 mph at sunset had a doe run in front that I proudly avoided just as the 2nd doe slammed into into my left front fender and 2500.00 damage. Thankful I could still drive to airport.

I have creamed a few when I had my old 67 F150, just hit them and step on the gas, tough old bumpers.
My friend hit a Buffalo in Yellowstone on his snowmobile and barely lived. He has hearing aids because his head was hit so hard even with top of the line helmet. Those Bison follow the snowmobile trails in winter for easy walking and the new sleds go about million miles an hour....bad combination.

I’ve hit two. One old doe ran out in front of me and lost her footing going down in front of a Jeep I had. No damage to the Jeep. Eight point took out the fender of an Olds Cutlas I had in college. I traded it in with that deer dent still there after I got my first post college job. As I recall from the salesman “ we can’t give you anything for it but we won’t charge you to haul it off”.

Hit a big doe last weds at noon on 183 up by Lampasas. She came out of thin air and I nailed her with my GMC 1500. barely left a mark on the truck but left a lot of hair and blood. First deer I have ever hit.

I’ve lost count of the deer I’ve hit...

Full replacement RanchHand bumpers have saved me several times, including a nice 8 point in Kerr Co.

My old beater farm truck has a grill guard only, not full replacement. Hit a doe so hard and at the right angle that she busted a headlight, bent the grill guard into the hood, and her head slapped around to dent the quarter panel. It was quite the wake up call at 5am.

Last year, a doe did $3500 in damage when she ran into the side of my F150 outside of Zephyr. Started at the driver door and rolled down the side of the truck.

I had RanchHand steps on my old F-250. Doe ran into the side of me and the steps stuck out just far enough to take her legs out to soften the blow to the body of the truck. Just snot on the truck, no other damage!

Thankfully haven’t hit a large hog at high speed yet. Someone did just in front of me this week on the FM road to my house. 3 of them in the road. I dodged 2 of the 3. Thankfully only some blood and guts on my company Ford Explorer.

Probably at least 10. Now I don't do a lot of driving in the dark so I haven't hit any in a few years.

Yes and no! I hit a mule deer in Colorado about 4:30 on morning on the hwy. Fortunately I was only going about 30 miles an hour as I had just seen some deer cross the road. Did $3,500 worth of damage, but no one was hurt.
Coming back from a south Texas hunt, I saw a very nice buck on the side of the road. As I drove pass it, the buck turned and ran full speed into the back quarter panel of my truck. That's the one I said no,I did not hit it, it hit me.

I forgot unlike my first deer, the second one I hit with my old truck that had a grill guard did no damage.
What is interesting to read in the posts, is how some have escaped with little to no damage, and others either totaled or sustained thousands of dollars in damage.
I guess if you are the former, then you are blessed.
I've had plenty of close calls seems every year, but I try to stay vigilant.
Speaking of close calls a several years ago I was hunting in LaSalle County and between Charlotte and Fowlerton, and I was on my way to the lease around 4 a.m. and people knowing the area pre oil boom it was a lonely road with very little traffic.
I had my brights on but still didn't see the huge hog standing with his front feet on the middle stripe.
I didn't see that huge black hog until it was almost too late, and managed to pass close enough that I probably wiped it's snout with the door handle of my Jeep.
I still don't know how I missed hitting that hog, and wouldn't have had he took one half step forward.

First two were in college. Both were fawns. One was really torn up and the other was a massive head wound. hit another one shortly after college just south of Marble Falls on 71. Small buck that hit the edge of the headlight and rolled down the side of the car. Another one in the same place jumped into the side of the bed of my truck. After that, not another one until this past May. Outside of Big Lake a nubbin' popped out and took out the grill and the radiator.

Hit one Near Rocksprings, messed up hood radiator, hit one near Bastrop ,really the buck hit me causing minimal damage. Hit one near Junction, no problem due to guard on front of truck.

Hit a fork horn about 90 mph in a Toyota Tundra. I couldn't have centered him any better on the front of my truck if I tried too. He came out of the dark right in front of me. Never had a chance to do anything. Didn't even have time say a dirty word or two. Airbags deployed and and and scared the crap out of me and burned my upper lip and belly where they hit me. Ended up doing about $9000 worth of damage if I remember right. Was within $1000 of payoff. Insurance said to fix it. Hope to never hit another one.

I've hit three, all with different vehicles.
You know when you see someone fall or slip or peel out and it looks just like a cartoon? That was my first. Buck was in the middle of the hwy as the fog was setting in, at the bottom of a little hill. When I popped over and finally saw him, he started running, but he wasn't moving off the road. Hit him in the shoulder with a 95 Bonneville. Broke one headlight, one fender, bent the hood, but I think he was losing height as he was slipping in the road, and that kept him from coming over the hood into the windshield.

Second was with my 07 Silverado 1500. $3000 damage, hood, grill, headlight, fender.

F250 superduty I hit a small doe and barely hit the brakes. She was mangled and tangled, no damage to the truck.

Gotten close a time or two but never hit one.

ive hit more than 5 and less than 10.

hit two last year....chevy 1500 w/ ranch hand grille guard. truck didn't sustain any damage one was hit around 70 mph and caught the lower end of the drivers side the other about 30 dead centered it. the one hit at 30 did sound pretty loud.


I hit a hog in my F-150 and thought my truck was gonna flip. I don't care to hit any more hogs.



Fortunately I've never had any real damage caused by hitting a deer.

I can't count the number of close calls I have had, but never hit one...knocking on wood as I type this.

i hit a doe a few years back while driving a buddy's super duty at night during bow season. she hit the front right corner, destroyed the nerf bar and her head put a decent dent in the rear passenger door. it was pretty loud. got real close to hitting pigs a few times, would imagine that would be way worse if a decent sized pig.

Funny story I heard from an old football coach.
He was headed home late after a game when a doe ran through the driver side window. Shattered glass all over him.. he was doing 50+ mph iirc but hadn’t a clue what happened in the moment. He had the deer in a headlock and was throwing punches as the truck spun out of control. After a few, he realized what had happened.. called the insurance company down asap so they’d believe what happened.
Not a funny situation but his story telling skills were high. Lots of enthusiasm.

Several close calls for me but no actual collisions. I did have a cow run into the side one morning heading to the stand. That did some damage, cow appeared to suffer no harm.

way to many to think about. I do remember what an old guy told me about hitting deer and how to avoid, he said "aim for them, and you'll never touch another one" ... I have tried and it seems to work well. I did hit a pig last year, big boar, and it took out the lower skirt on my ranch hand replacement front bumper.

Great advice

Yes. I do not recommend it.

Hit one in OKC late one night many years ago. No warning and didn’t see it until impact. I had a Honda prelude at the time and there wasn’t a straight piece of metal left on the drivers side of my car. It took out the grill, left headlight, hood, and windshield on impact along with front fender and wiped down the side to get the door and rear fender. I also had to replace my boxers.

State trooper saw it from across the freeway and came over to check. The doe was still alive trying to get up so he dispatched her.

Wife hit one last night.

I've hit two and had one hit me. The first was a pair of does that jumped out of the bar ditch as I came around a curve on a small county road in Llano. I nailed the first doe and killed it on the spot, and the second one ran into the passengers side of my truck leaving only a deer shaped smear in the layer of dust on the truck. The second was on that same road, we were coming into the ranch one evening in the dark and a buck appeared out of nowhere. I tagged him with the right corner of my front bumper and knocked him down, but he got up and ran off. I was surprised because it was a pretty good hit. Had to replace my bumper and grill after that one. I've had plenty of other near misses over the years driving at night around llano. Good thing is I normally don't drive too fast and the deer are mostly kinda small.

Ive hit four....totaled two separate vehicles.....light damage on one and moderate damage on the other......

I hit one in my Tahoe at 70mph coming out of Groveton. Not a fun night. Took out everything in front of the serpentine belt.

I have lost count of the number, but I have hit several. A lot of driving on rural roads at night really ups the odds. That poor 2006 F350 I had when I was cementing wells took a heck of a beating due to deer strikes. The last one was in Janurary, and we had been out to have supper for my wife’s bday. On the way home, we were passing by the Bridgeport airport and I center punched one in her Expedition. It put a crack in the grill and messed up that plastic bumper cover.