So my wife and I were riding along the coast tonight on a secondary road- speed limit about 35 MPH, and the road is a two- lanes with tree cover along both sides. Out steps a deer (whitetail deer, medium sized) on the right side of the road and runs parallel with us for something like five seconds and then cuts across the road in front of us. I wasn't going fast to begin with and slowed pretty rapidly to keep the forest rat in front of me as I expected this insane behavior; we were never at risk of hitting him. After perhaps another five seconds it crossed the road again, ran along the right side a bit and then disappeared into the woods. Nothing all that unusual unfortunately but here is the odd thing- it was a buck rather than a doe. I do not think I have ever seen a buck running along a road before, in the past it has always been does (almost never alone) or does with fawns in tow. This one was not young one either and had at least six points on his rack, maybe eight (hard to see while he was running). Pretty animal and very graceful but they are as dumb as a box of rocks.

Brian

Had a similar, but larger experience several years ago on a seasonal road in Vermont.  Moose... just like deer, only bigger.

Am I to assume that Moose activity closely resembles Deer activity and a good rule of thumb while I'm in Vermont is to avoid riding in the early morning/early evening and also all of the night? And, I'm thinking Moose tend to be a more solitary animal than deer, so, we won't be seeing packs of 20-30 Moose at dusk grazing the fields or swamps or whatever they do, we'll most likely see one if we see one at all?

Had a similar, but larger experience several years ago on a seasonal road in Vermont.  Moose... just like deer, only bigger.

I don't believe that moose are quite as "darty" as deer.  Deer tend to freak on proximity, rather than sight or sound.  I could be wrong, as I have only encountered (not the close kind, fortunately) deer and elk on the road, but never moose.  Brian's reaction of immediate braking upon sighting the deer was right.

Actually, one of the elk encounters was pretty close.  About 6 feet at the closest, but the elk never seemed to  blink, much less change pace or direction.

They're EVERYwhere around my area.  A large family of them lives in the parcel in back of my house.  The only thing stupider and more useless than an ex-girlfriend is a deer.  Although they're often better looking.

Yes, as Clyde said in the post above, moose are slower to act and react than deer (no experience with elk). Probably the result of being the biggest thing in the woods. Also I do not think there are that many moose in southern VT as there are further north in New England but I would defer to the locals on that issue.

Moose have proven to be highly unreliable in my experience. I stopped by a sign and waited for hours but the moose never did show up.



 

All kidding aside, any of the deer family poses a huge risk to anyone traveling in a vehicle, but especially those of us on motorcycles. Not a bad idea to avoid twilight and pre- dawn as riding times, and some folks just do not ride at night to reduce the likelihood of crossing the path of one of them. It is one of the very few instances where rider skill, preparation and anything else I can think of that we use to 'swing the odds' just cannot change the situation. We are basically at risk in deer territory and that risk just cannot be eliminated.  Deer are stupid and unpredictable; in some odd cases, people have actually stopped a car successfully after seeing deer movement only to be hit by another deer following the one(s) the driver saw.

I think whitetail deer are pretty common over most of the US and Canada so anyone riding to the National in VT should be familiar with them but if not.... they are most active just before dawn and just after sundown. Females (doe) tend to travel in small groups so if you see one, assume there are others behind her. Males (bucks) tend to travel alone but are much rarer around roads, at least in my experience.

Brian

Am I to assume that Moose activity closely resembles Deer activity and a good rule of thumb while I'm in Vermont is to avoid riding in the early morning/early evening and also all of the night? And, I'm thinking Moose tend to be a more solitary animal than deer, so, we won't be seeing packs of 20-30 Moose at dusk grazing the fields or swamps or whatever they do, we'll most likely see one if we see one at all?

If any of you find yourself in a position where you're about to hit a deer or a moose, aim for the a$$......

Am I to assume that Moose activity closely resembles Deer activity and a good rule of thumb while I'm in Vermont is to avoid riding in the early morning/early evening and also all of the night? And, I'm thinking Moose tend to be a more solitary animal than deer, so, we won't be seeing packs of 20-30 Moose at dusk grazing the fields or swamps or whatever they do, we'll most likely see one if we see one at all?

I agree with the other comments made about moose.  Also probably due to their size the do not change direction or speed abruptly like deer. I've only seen moose while riding the hard pack seasonal roads that go through heavily wooded areas. The only other encounter reports I have heard form friends have been moose standing in the road, but these are rare.

There is a large elk herd residing in PA within an easy ride from Wellsboro, a favorite COG destination. Jason made up a PA Elk herd ride available to memebr for download.