I hate deer with a passion...

So my buddy and I were goofin off on some property that our buddy owns right outside town. Nothing much, just goofin off in the mud. We had our fun then left. That night on the way to his house, I was runnin down the side highway at 50mph when i saw just the glimspe of a big brown eye in front of my car and a white tail that went spinning as the jeep began to shudder and struggle. I pulled over to find my bumper f***ed up, busted grill, a lot of fur and a little blood, and one foglight missing. Mind you, this is the stock bumper.

We make the trek on to his house for 10 more miles. I park it, go inside and crash after being up for 20something hours. Next morning I get up to assess the damage in the light.... just seems cosmetic but I can't stare at it too much. I hopped in and drove on to town to traffic court (i didn't run that stopsign... i just didnt stop completely). So I get back to his house to start taking things apart only to discover a busted radiator too that's bleeding on the driveway. My friend's dad and I replace the radiator ($150), put everything in the back and I drive about an hour and 15min north to nashville to work. During the day, the starter dies and I get one of the amigos to swap it out for me ($70)... on the way back to work from lunch, i go to make a right turn but the jeep barely recognizes the signal. it begins to drift in the road while going straight. wtf?! I take another look and discover my rusty's trac bar has been snapped in two. that night I limp it about 20min to nashville to my buddy's body shop. I call the insurance bitc...i mean, lady. she sends the apraiser out and he says theres no evidence that I hit a deer so now they're wanting me to pay the $500 collision deductable instead of the previous $100 compensation. the total cost of repair is about $2500.

what do you guys think i should do? I've never had a collision or delt with the insurance like this. I'm 19 and have two speeding tickets from last summer which have raised my rates quite a bit so i def dont need this on my record. they only "allowed" $100 for my bumper which sucks cuz i def wanted to try to get an aftermarket one. I'm lost for thoughts...

Who do you have for insurance? I may be moving down that way and it sounds like I may want to avoid them (I've hit a couple of critters with another car I used to own, and nearly squashed a fox tonight on the way home from work.) What was the reason for them doing so? No police report?, No deer meat hanging in the garage? Kinda makes me wonder if their appraisors are like the people that work in the emmisions test centers here, don't know jack about cars and couldn't care less about them either.

yeah it was raining that night and the next day so the few remains that were there were mostly washed away. I have American Express insurance to answer your question. And yeah some guys have big bumpers like my buddy has an arb on his toyota. i wanted either the arb or the warn but i dont know if ill get the money for it... prolly not. which part of TN are you moving too?

Thanks for telling me who you have for insurance, I'll watch out for them. We're moving to the Chattenooga Area once the house here in the Chicago 'burbs is ready to sell (it could take a while though). A couple of co-workers kept telling me I need a big front bumper for mine last summer after I bought it, since it normally see's the street and not much off road anything, I told them I didn't want to add the extra weight over the front end just for looks (I'm not one for show ponies, theres enough Hummers, Escalades, Expeditions, etc. that do that for me).

See this is why there's people like me who hunt the crap out of them. It gets pretty bad up around here too, so many people hit deer but getting permission to hunt anymore is like pulling a tooth :nono: . I'll bag a few for ya this year, sorry to hear about your mis-fourtune. Insurance companies are so nice aren't they? :gonnablow

bjoehandley said:

Thanks for telling me who you have for insurance, I'll watch out for them. We're moving to the Chattenooga Area once the house here in the Chicago 'burbs is ready to sell (it could take a while though). A couple of co-workers kept telling me I need a big front bumper for mine last summer after I bought it, since it normally see's the street and not much off road anything, I told them I didn't want to add the extra weight over the front end just for looks (I'm not one for show ponies, theres enough Hummers, Escalades, Expeditions, etc. that do that for me).

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It does not have to be big, just strong, well, at least stronger than whatever you run into or whatever runs into you anyway... I hit a deer with my 87 Trooper, I was only doing maybe 5mph, slowed down to let it cross the road and the stupid thing stopped with it's butt in the lane. Crinkled the heck out of the left fender....

Your insuraence fiasco was caused by you and you only! not the insurance company!


First off you FAWKED up by not calling the insurance the night it happened. They all have 24hour hotlines now ( Dept of insurance requirement)

Second you started making repairs before you called them disturbing the evidence of the impact.

I did insurance appraisal for a few years and I would have denied your claim too.

Also many companies if not all would consider a collision with a deer as collision coverage and not OTC or comprehesive. So no matter what you would need to

Id say you have a pretty good insurance company. What you can do is have the guys at the body shop give you an inflated estimate to cover the 500.00 deductible.

What where you doing driving beside the road at 50 MPH in the first place?

I was runnin down the side highway at 50mph

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I park it, go inside and crash after being up for 20something hours.

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Sounds like you had partied too hard in the first place to even be behind the wheel. After being awake for that long your body looses about 25% of your reaction time, So dont blame a deer for your mistakes

You're gonna get flamed over that one.

Osprey413 said:

You're gonna get flamed over that one.

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get flamed for what? If he cant handle the truth its his problem

Its people like xjnation that deserve things like this to happen to them. xjnation is an inconsiderate prick who needs to pull his head out of his A$$.

Yes, let us all berate xjnation for telling it how it is! We can't tell people that they did the wrong thing, after all.

Oh come on. Take some personal responsibility.

When my MJ burned, and I had to deal with insurance, it was MY FAULT because I didn't have a fire extinguisher and I didn't have receipts from all my mods.

xjbmx said:

Its people like xjnation that deserve things like this to happen to them. xjnation is an inconsiderate prick who needs to pull his head out of his A$$.

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First off it would not happen to me because I dont drive after being up for 20 hours.

If it did I would have called the insurance company just after I got to my friends house or very first thing in the morning.

Im not the ones here with their head in a dark place. I can actually see the world around me, and know whats going on.

The facts are:

He was driving after being up for 20 hours. in most states that is considered driving impaired and is a ticketable offence.

50 mph on the side of the road? not smart at all

Attempting to fix things before insurance was called? Why would anyone do that? Most insureance companies would have rejected the claim because of this.

I do feel sorry for him but its time to buck up and pay the piper. His actions before,during and after his accident created the problem.

This is a good learning lesson for many here.

If something happens like this call someone before yout ake any actions on your own if you have any questions about what to do.

Always call insurance the second things happen or ASAP

after any accident or even heavy romping completely check out the vehicle


A police report should have been filed, this would guarantee your insurance claim. Then game and fish can take care of carcuss

Never attempt to make repairs before the insurance adjuster has a chance to look at the vehicle. This can totally negate your claim

I hate it when this happens to anyone but it is a part fo being responsible for your actions. I know its not taught in schools anymore, so its a hard lesson to learn on your own.

You can ask many here that Im not a jerk, I will always lend a helping hand if possible , Ive even taken parts off my rigs so others can keep playin you can ask BillR, Fergie, MJR, lincoln, etc.

Just dont get ****ed at me for stating the facts

Hope all works out well with your rig. Also tell the insurance company that you had to make emergency repairs to keep your jeep drivable and submit the receipts for the parts replaced the might apply it towards your collision deductible.

I'd actually agree mostly with xjnation. Always call insurance, ASAP. And if someone, who has experience and knowledge in an area comes in and states what the other side of the story is, we shouldn't jump on them and wish bad things upon them. My two points of contention tho are I think what he meant was like a back highway or something, a small two lane stretch of highway or something, not necessarily the side of the road (or at least I hope so...). And while being up for 20 hrs may have had an impact on it, that wouldn't be the main factor. My mom, who's always been a very good driver and everything hit a deer in my grandpa's Safari van. It was dusk and it just ran out across the road in front of a large minivan (sounds odd, but Astros and Safaris are very large minivans, almost fullsize...) doing 55 mph and there was no way to avoid it without swerving crazy and possibly losing it. She did however call insurance immediately upon arriving home and they sent her money and she got it fixed.

you should let him find that out for himself, thats the best way lessons are learned, dont tell him hes stupid.

:rattle:

xjnation said:

First off it would not happen to me because I dont drive after being up for 20 hours.

If it did I would have called the insurance company just after I got to my friends house or very first thing in the morning.

Im not the ones here with their head in a dark place. I can actually see the world around me, and know whats going on.

The facts are:

He was driving after being up for 20 hours. in most states that is considered driving impaired and is a ticketable offence.

50 mph on the side of the road? not smart at all

Attempting to fix things before insurance was called? Why would anyone do that? Most insureance companies would have rejected the claim because of this.

I do feel sorry for him but its time to buck up and pay the piper. His actions before,during and after his accident created the problem.

This is a good learning lesson for many here.

If something happens like this call someone before yout ake any actions on your own if you have any questions about what to do.

Always call insurance the second things happen or ASAP

after any accident or even heavy romping completely check out the vehicle


A police report should have been filed, this would guarantee your insurance claim. Then game and fish can take care of carcuss

Never attempt to make repairs before the insurance adjuster has a chance to look at the vehicle. This can totally negate your claim

I hate it when this happens to anyone but it is a part fo being responsible for your actions. I know its not taught in schools anymore, so its a hard lesson to learn on your own.

You can ask many here that Im not a jerk, I will always lend a helping hand if possible , Ive even taken parts off my rigs so others can keep playin you can ask BillR, Fergie, MJR, lincoln, etc.

Just dont get ****ed at me for stating the facts

Hope all works out well with your rig. Also tell the insurance company that you had to make emergency repairs to keep your jeep drivable and submit the receipts for the parts replaced the might apply it towards your collision deductible.

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hey thanks for your help. but just to clarify everything. I was on a back highway not driving on the shoulder like it may have sounded. and the speed limit was 55 and i was doing 50 at the impact without braking. I had to repair it because it's my only vehicle and I had to have it running asap. I kept the receipts. I also wasn't worried about it because it's a buddy thats doing the work at his body shop so he's helping me deal with the insurance in anyway he can.

and as far as the insurance company goes, the girl i've been dealing with (who was a high-key b****) tried to threaten me that they would count it as a full collision because there were no deer guts on it when the apraiser saw it. well after i had my dad call (noone believes a 19 year old), they understand that it was a deer. i had witnesses that saw the fur and blood including my friend that was behind me at the time of the accident who saw the deer "spinning matrix-style off the road" as he puts it. I also can contact the old guy that picks up the dead animals every morning as he remembers the exact one i hit.

I can't imagine what kind of damage wouldve been if my cherokee wasnt sitting up higher. if my buddy had hit in his audi it prolly woulda gone up the hood and possibly through the windshield. i dont see myself owning a vehicle any smaller than this one anytime soon.

bjoehandley said:

We're moving to the Chattenooga Area once the house here in the Chicago 'burbs is ready to sell (it could take a while though). .

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that's cool man. I lived in cleveland, Tn. which is about 20-30min north of chatty on I-75. I went to school there last year. what brings you down that way? job opportunity?

xjbmx said:

Its people like xjnation that deserve things like this to happen to them. xjnation is an inconsiderate prick who needs to pull his head out of his A$$.

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How 'bout you just go fcuk yourself? Sounds fine to me.

You dont know Xjnation or half the shite he has gone through. If anything, he deserves for bad stuff NOT to happen to him.

Fergie

Parent's retirement and new opportunities in general for my sister and myself. We've actually looked at places in that area when we went that down that way in Feb. If you saw a stock green Limited with Illinois plates about that time, that was us.