I've only hit a bee while riding, he stung me in the only place open, my neck! I was startled by a huge owl, and an eagle, they were a sight to see as they flew away. You can see deer trails, slow down while crossing them. I almost hit a deer in my Jeep last month, it was so close I could read a sticker on his butt that said, "How's my running? Call 1-800-EAT-S**T".

 

I almost forgot about this that happened a long time ago.

This happened to me when I was 15 years old. I just got a brand new 10 spd for my birthday, but my bday was not until 4 days away. I thought since my parents was not home and my Grandma was watching me that I could sneek in a ride on the new bike. I was in 7th gear going down main st when a little dog started to chase me. I was a little ways away from it when I looked up at a german shepard/mix standing in the road in front of me. After hitting the dog I came off the bike and slid onto the sidewalk and came to rest next to a power pole. Needless to say the dog was dead and after I woke up I carried the bike back to the house, and put it back in the garage. I received road rash on my elbows and knees and bruises all over me. I wasn't punished for doing this because of how I was hurt they said that it was punishment enough. They also made me buy a new front rim, tire & tube, and brake assemble out of my own money.
The only good thing that came out of it was my girlfriend came over to comfort me. That was nice, real nice.

 

I have had a couple close calls with deer on my quad. I served and locked up the brakes to avoid them and luckily missed them. I wasnt quite so lucky on my snowmobile. My buddy and I were cooking along at a pretty good clip...maybe 60 on a beautiful sunny New Years Eve day. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of something....I instinctively ducked! Probably saved my life. I hit a 185 lb doe head on. It hit the hood of my sled and crushed it right down to the motor, then glanced up and over my head and brushed my shoulder. I didnt even know what had happened until I got stopped. My friend who was behind me was horrified when he saw the collision. He said there were parts flying 40 feet in the air and snow dust and blood everywhere. He thought I was probably dead. Actually I was slumped over my handlebars trying to figure out what had happened. I came to rest about 100 yards beyond the collision but I stayed on the trail and never came off my sled. When I regained my composure and realized that I had hit a deer and it was not dead yet, I ran back and we had to literally SIT on the deer and cut its throat to kill it. She was badly injured and actually had 2 of her legs torn completely off.
Since this happened I am not quite so eager to lead as much as I used to. It tends to make a guy a little gun shy and believe me, it carries over to ATV riding also. Being higher up in the saddle on an ATV I hate to think what might have happened had I been on that.

 

Ran down a coyote the other night while heading back from being out bow hunting. I coulda easliy run him (her?) over but I was a little afraid of what would happen when I hit it at 30+mph! With all the bickering about what's faster Grizz660-vs-Prarie650-vs-Sportsman700 I will throw my $.02 in and say that without a doubt that the 700 is faster than a Coyote (whatever it is that they have under the hood!) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I think those coyotes run Acme engines, mounted on roller skates. I've heard there brakes suck!!LOL ............In a shoot-out the results are sportsman 700 in first place, followed by the Acme roller skates,grizz 660,and last is the prarie650 (non-professional riders}.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Wouldn't the treehuggers have a feild day with this thread.

 

Hey it is no different from one of them tree huggers running down a groundhog or deer in their little Honda Insight. Accidents happen. They will get over it. If not I plant a pine tree for them.

 

I hit a dog and a chicken, luckily none of them were harmed

 

I run over a lot of woodchucks. It doesn't seem to kill them. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I've hit a couple small birds accidentally, they tend to roost on the road sometimes. Other than that I have intentionaly run over a few critters the most spectacular of which was a coyote on my own farm( this was posted when I done it on the hunting and outdoors forum ) I have also done some chasing of deer and had plenty of opportunities where I broke off(I don't poach deer, although harrassing and chasing is considered poaching under the broad pen of the regs), they were too docile about atv's last year. This year they'll be better prepared for the onslaught sataurday morning(while my ride will be parked). The view from as a lion would see it on chasing a deer in the open is quite spectacular.