If you're lucky to live in a place where deer are plentiful, you'll know they're pretty cool creatures. You can watch them for hours as they graze, play, and generally act like deer. They're also delicious.
But in that same vein, if you live in a place with a lot of deer, or in a place where deer roam freely, you'll know how hazardous they can be when they begin to cross roads. Suddenly, this intelligent, highly skittish creature that can disappear in an instant when you're hunting them, turn into blithering idiots and decide not just to cross the road when traffic is present, but run headlong into you as if drawn by magnetism.
I mean, the joke in Gilmore Girls about the deer hitting Rory and not Rory hitting the deer is one that could've only been written by someone who's experienced the stupidity of a deer. And in the last two years, I've been hit by a buck square in the side of my truck while trying to dodge him, and drifted around another deer on Honda's CRF300L Rally because they were both stupid as all hell.
This Harley-Davidson rider, however, wasn't as lucky as I was and hit the deer square on. Surprisingly, he managed to keep the bike upright and rubber side down. Watch the video and put yourself in that situation.
That deer got annihilated.
Honestly, just the sheer force of the hit is staggering, but the fact that the rider kept the bike not only straight but upright after that hit, that's amazing. According to Cowboy State Daily, which covers Wyoming news, the rider in question was one Kyle Hamilton who was riding in Hulett, Wyoming right near the Devils Tower.
That's the place where I kicked off the Devilstone Run last year, and I can confirm there were a ton of wildlife near or around the edges of the road. So much so, I began pointing them out to my colleagues who weren't used to watching for deer and antelope.
Hamilton's riding partner, however, wasn't as lucky, as after the deer was hit, it's body slid across the roadway and into the motorcycle following Hamilton who recorded the initial impact. His partner's motorcycle was totaled from the incident, though Hamilton's hopeful insurance will let him keep his prized 2023 Harley-Davidson Street Glide.
Speaking of the moment he knew it was going to happen, Hamilton told the Cowboy State Daily, "I had just enough time to accept it and think, ‘Yeah, this is gonna suck.'"
He wasn't wrong.
But the incident acts as a reminder to everyone throwing a leg over their motorcycles this summer and into fall. If you're riding in a place where wildlife is present. If you're riding in a spot where you can't see around the next bend. Be more cautious, keep your eyes up, and be aware of what's not just ahead of you, but what's around you, too.
Deer can be incredibly smart animals, but they're also absolute idiots.
