Oh Deer

I had a little run in with a deer last night, things did not end well for either of us. But I did get my trophy buck for the year. I have been driving in Montana for 10 years and have hit my fair share of turkeys, pheasants and smaller birds. But I have only ever come "close" to hitting a deer until last night. That sucker literally jumped out RIGHT in front of me. There was no deer then the next thing i know BAM DEER RIGHT THERE!!!!! 

I was going about 60mph and was slowing down cause i was about a 1/4 mile from where i needed to turn off the highway to go home. I was going to hit it no matter what i tried to do. I had a few seconds to react so i grabbed the wheel with both hands and slammed on the brakes to try to slow down as much as possible. 

One thing you NEVER do is try to swerve out of the way. It will just land you in more trouble. You're probably still going to hit the deer and potentially also roll over. Its better to just hang on and hit it. 

I was in the fast lane so i got over into the center turn lane to get out of the 5pm traffic and by this time it was completely dark outside. I called dispatch and told them what happened and a sheriff was driving by so he stopped and was able to stop traffic so i could get onto the shoulder of the road. But since i was on the highway other then helping to get my car moved he couldn't do much. He had to leave to go to another call but sent a Highway patrolman to take my statement and call a tow truck. We were only there about an hour but it seemed like a really long time.

I made the claim with my insurance this morning. Since I have really good timing and this happened near the holiday the adjuster probably wont be able to come out until Friday or the beginning of next week. Once that happens I will no more about the extent of damage. It was squirting fluid out of it so there is some engine damage and obviously my headlight is completely gone and the hood and right panel have some serious dents. I am hoping there isnt TOO much damage to the point where they total it and that it is ok to fix. I was planning on trading it in in the spring but i might have to look into getting a new car.