Close Call in Marlette: DEER!

[goatflieg]

I've had some experience with deer in cars; hit one long ago; missed many since then. I've read and heard stories about deer on airports; seen a few myself and tried to keep vigilant. But these caught me by surprise. Caught on video and worth sharing. Stay safe out there.

https://youtu.be/kg-3l2xgVcQ

[mturnerb]

Dang! But you kept your cool and kept on flying - well done.

Great video - nice callouts and smooth flying.

[rockwoodrv9]

That was pretty close Martin. I skimmed over a bald eagle the other day near KTEW. A deer is a whole different category!!

[Scott Hersha]

Nice job Martin! I think that whenever I see deer out on the road, there’s usually two or three, especially when driving in northern Michigan. The deer in southern Michigan seem like they are a little bigger - maybe because they are eating corn rather than pine cones. The quick maneuverability of our RV’s, plus a cool head made a difference.

I like to fly for cheap fuel, since I’m just out flying around anyway, but it’s amazing what cheap fuel costs now. I see that as of 7/14 the 100LL price is $7.00 at 77G, autofuel at $6.50. I guess those are competitive prices now. At my airport (KHAO) it’s $8.07 full service (no self serve), so I get it elsewhere nearby for about $6.50.

[riseric]

Nicely done Martin, yep, wildlife is a hazard to keep a serious lookout for.
I once spotted a group of 4 deer on the left side of the runway about 500' from the threshold, just as I was flaring.
That was a surprise. They were standing still, brown on brownish turf, making them difficult to see.
I applied power to overshoot and instead of running back into the woods, they darted across the runway as I overflew the group.
Can't say what would have happenned if I had landed, but I can imagine a not too pretty ending...
Happy to have a surplus amount of power to quickly climb back up if need be!

[abwaldal@gmail.com]

Good story.
My aircraft lives on a grass strip with a pond on one side and the creek going under runway. We have geese living in those areas and they like to cross the runway with their little ones. FUN
Art

[Ironflight]

Feel lucky that they’re just deer…out here, we’ve got wild horses!!

(And then there are the coyotes chasing jackrabbits….)

[Roadjunkie1]

Here we get pronghorns and cows. An occasional horse but not wild.

I had a pronghorn lope across the runway just as I touched down on a dirt strip landing in the Cub recently. Thankfully, the Cub lands slowly and he was pretty interested on getting quickly to the West side of the strip. They can come singly or in groups.

After I saw the deer in this video, my first inclination was to buzz the strip again to make sure there were no others. Or the three that crossed hadn't decided to come back.

It is nice to have airplanes that perform well enough going over (rather than through) the deer was an option. Nice job. Full landing configuration aborts are a good skill to keep up on, especially if one is inclined to use 40 degrees of flap on landing.......like I do. I do just-before-touchdown aborts. My carb heat is just in front of the throttle and full forward throttle puts my hand on the carb heat control. Then SLOWLY raise the (manual) flaps; dumping all that lift suddenly can make you test your gear for flexibility......

[Av8safe]

Martin,

So glad you avoided a deerstrike...I can tell you from experience that it is a high hazard event.

Mine happened on my first day of RV ownership when I was returning home with my good friend and transition instructor Terry Lutz. Second landing of the journey at Hot Springs, Arkansas and all I saw was the blur off my left side immediately before the impact.

Thankfully, we stayed upright and on the centerline. The plane was eventually totaled and a couple of months later I was fortunate enough to purchase my current -7.

Stay safe out there!
Mitch

[David Z]

I flew over a bunch of deer yesterday on short final. Luckily for me they were running along the OUTSIDE of the airport perimeter fence.