Reminder - watch out for deer on landings at night!

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DaveInPA

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I’m no jerry wagoner but I do film some of my approaches for training purposes. Recently was coming in over the numbers and a herd of deer decided to mosey across the runway. The video ain’t great but you can see the guy that I musta just bearly tapped. My copilot didn’t feel the tap and no evidence of “deer damage”. Mind you it’s a twin and she/he was very lucky thay night!

just a friendly reminder seems this time of year especially in northeast they are out in full force…

 
I have had all types of wildlife run across the runway during the day. Mainly bear and deer, porcupines and a bunch of eagles in the pattern..:rolleyes:

edit: porcupines don't run fast..
 
Nice job landing on the centerline and keeping it there.
 
DaveInPA said:
I’m no jerry wagoner but I do film some of my approaches for training purposes. Recently was coming in over the numbers and a herd of deer decided to mosey across the runway. The video ain’t great but you can see the guy that I musta just bearly tapped. My copilot didn’t feel the tap and no evidence of “deer damage”. Mind you it’s a twin and she/he was very lucky thay night!

just a friendly reminder seems this time of year especially in northeast they are out in full force…

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Very good reminder!

not a scary deer experience but I seen 7 of the biggest bucks I’d ever seen on our north south runway after landing on east west a couple years ago… I taxied over to get a closer look and they had little fear of the plane- one almost acting defiant as I taxied closer.
 
Cool video! I have seen lots of wildlife at FTY, it’s in an industrial area (slum) but borders the Chattahoochee river, we saw a big buck a couple years ago!
 
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Ah, yes, the deer strike. I remember it like it was yesterday. I had just touched down and was beginning to apply the brakes when a handful of deer ran across the runway. They all made it across except the last one and I nailed it head on, the prop slicing right through its hind legs. It was at dusk, near astronomical twilight, so my visual range down the runway was limited. The lesson learned was that I now do a low pass before every landing after dusk (unless there’s already active traffic to do the work for me) in effort to clear any wildlife from off of the runway. Be on your toes! I hope it never happens again!

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RyanB said:
They all made it across except the last one and I nailed it head on, the prop slicing right through its hind legs.
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Wow Ryan that must have shaken you up a bit. I guess they had to tear down the engine for a prop strike. Was any of the meat salvageable...
 
AKBill said:
Wow Ryan that must have shaken you up a bit. I guess they had to tear down the engine for a prop strike. Was any of the meat salvageable...
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Yeah it shook me up. The engine was torn down and shockingly, they didn’t find any damage! I believe these engines that pull us around are quite a bit more stout than we give them credit for. Dunno about the meat or what happened with the carcass.
 
RyanB said:
Yeah it shook me up. The engine was torn down and shockingly, they didn’t find any damage! I believe these engines that pull us around are quite a bit more stout than we give them credit for. Dunno about the meat or what happened with the carcass.
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I don’t know, I think the fact that we have to tear them down after something that in the automotive world is designed to happen thousands of times in routine use* doesn’t really inspire a great deal of admiration…

*For those wondering what I’m talking about, go take a ride in a GT3 with a PDK transmission and shift it from 1st to 2nd at max RPM and WOT. That engine goes from 9000 rpm -> 6000 rpm in less than a tenth of a second and takes a huge shock…. And you can keep doing it as many times as you want.
 
They in the rut right now so they are act stupid and are out in full force. I run deer for a hangar friend of mine at our field and two nights ago it was like a Disney movie by midfield. Deer, foxes, even a skunk. A bunch of years ago someone st our field put a king air down right on top of one. They were cleaning the wheel well out for a week
 
Dusk is a bad time as well. We had a couple of close calls at our strip. Almost took out my neighbor in his Wing Derringer. Of course, most of us have a propensity to make a few low passes before landing which does scare them off temporarily. We're working on getting a predation permit to allow us to shoot them on the runway (on our direct personal property we can, but the runway is owned by the HOA).

Had the same problem when I flew out of Philips Army Airfield at APG. Lots of deer inside the restricted area where the airport and test ranges are without many predators other than the odd C-130 airdrop or collision with a tank or something.
 
Touched down one evening after a late night test flight and as soon as I did, I saw a large doe in the grass next to the runway. Being a large animal with a brain the size of a walnut, it streaked over and threw itself in to the left prop of the Navajo. It was a mess. After turning around and taxiing back, I found the head neatly severed and the hind quarters laying there. Nothing in between was discernible.
 
just brainstorming here.... but I don't think that a low pass is a certain solution. Sure it can't hurt....but I can imagine all sorts of scenarios that begin with a low pass and end with deer back on the runway by the time you circle and land.....
deer seem to cross roads and such in line. A car comes and the ones in the road might scurry on across. A following deer might come on across after the coast is clear....usually a big buck will let the does cross first....
or deer scurry off from an approaching vehicle but really just stop over on the shoulder....then could head back out into the open after passing....
or the low pass wasn't really all that low, and deer used to seeing planes and people aren't the least bit scared off.....
etc....
my point is...don't rest easy just because you did a low pass to clear the runway.
 
You even have to be careful at airports with wild life fences around them. I had a really nice 5 point mule deer watching me from the PAPI's at Ft. Benton, MT one evening a few years ago back before they took out the cattle guard and put in an automatic gate.
 
I’m surprised an airport that big with that level of lighting hasn’t a perimeter fence.
 
steingar said:
I’m surprised an airport that big with that level of lighting hasn’t a perimeter fence.
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The deer don't realize which side of the fence they're supposed to be on.
 
Reminder - watch out for deer on landings at night!

AND....

Reminder - watch out for deer on landings ANYTIME !

Granted, around here we have a time near dusk that we call deer thirty, and they are normally more active then, but.....

I hit a deer in broad daylight 12 noon, just after touchdown.

The main group had passed in front of me, and I thought I was in the clear......until the straggler decided to catch up with the group.

He made it to the middle of the right wing where his head and neck draped over the wing, and caused the airplane to start to skid sideways.

He finally slid off the wing right before I got it stopped.

And somebody mentioned low passes over deer to move them off the runway....... don't trust that......some deer simply could care less.
 
Daleandee said:
Surprised nobody has posted the real answer to this problem ...

https://www.amazon.com/CITKOU-4Pcs-...P,B07Y1C6MLY,B07YCLJ6LM,B09C23ZVJ4,B08RP7VT9W

:yes::smilewinkgrin::yawn::yesnod::lol: :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
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HA Ha Ha HAHAHAHAH !!!!!

Deer whistles !!!

Several years before that stupid deer killed my airplane, I tried that....Ha Ha!!

I was willing to try anything, and somebody recommended deer whistles.

Legal, or not, I stuck a couple of those silly little pos's to the bottom of the Cherokee that I used to own back then.

ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS!!!

I intentionally flew near the deer to see if there was any reaction......zip, nadda, worthless.......
 
steingar said:
The fences around the local airports give them little choice in the matter.
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Fences are great and do help reduce the chances of having deer on the airfield...but they aren't 100%. Someone leaves a gate open, the fence gets damaged somewhere, or even a truly motivated deer can jump over it. My airfield is fully fenced, but we still get the odd deer inside every couple of years or so.

I would add to the OP, make sure to report to airport management. If they are doing their job, they are documenting these events. If the airport isn't fenced, evidence like this can help shake the money tree for a fence.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Fences are great and do help reduce the chances of having deer on the airfield...but they aren't 100%. Someone leaves a gate open, the fence gets damaged somewhere, or even a truly motivated deer can jump over it. My airfield is fully fenced, but we still get the odd deer inside every couple of years or so.
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Plus it better be a tall fence, at least 6 feet high, and those can get pricey. A 3 or 4 foot fence is just entertainment for a deer.
 
I read once that those deer whistles may work the first time or two a deer hears it, then they learn to ignore them just like they ignore other repeated human noises.
 
deer whistles....
reminded me of a youtube video I saw the other day...flight of some chinese fighters flying over with one heck of a whistle sound..... Maybe that's the best answer...a fighter jet!
 
Ed Haywood said:
Plus it better be a tall fence, at least 6 feet high, and those can get pricey. A 3 or 4 foot fence is just entertainment for a deer.
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That would also depend on the area and the typical size/type of local deer. I watched a small group of white tails in East TN clear a 6 foot hedgerow from a standing position. I think there are a few videos of deer jumping completely over bikers on the Dragon.

I worked F35 flight test and one night we had a jet broadside a deer with the rt MLG on landing roll out. Minor wiring and hydraulic line damage to the plane, but the deer pretty much exploded on impact. The clean up was nauseating. We painted a subdued John Deere logo on the side of the plane.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Plus it better be a tall fence, at least 6 feet high, and those can get pricey. A 3 or 4 foot fence is just entertainment for a deer.
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Six feet will absolutely NOT cut it, either. I've seen them go over that (with barbed wire even). Eight feet is regarded as the absolute minimum.
 
Dana said:
I read once that those deer whistles may work the first time or two a deer hears it, then they learn to ignore them just like they ignore other repeated human noises.
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Yep! A few cars in the salvage yard with the front caved in with meat and hair everywhere and the deer whistles are still proudly stuck on what's left. There are things to put on the front of an aircraft that will eliminate deer but it ain't legal to do so (Hint: see Ed's post above). o_O
 
My deer encounter (no impact), right around 1:15:

 
Dana said:
I read once that those deer whistles may work the first time or two a deer hears it, then they learn to ignore them just like they ignore other repeated human noises.
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Well unless it's you racking a round, then they haul rear pretty fast;)

Anyone ever notice that deer and coyotes ALWAYS hang out near the touch down zone? Seems like NEVER at the departure end. Only thing I ever hit was a jackrabbit (huge) with the landing gear of a 152 at night ... no damage, didn't find "Bugs Bunny" either so i guess he survived it.
 
8 foot high fence is the very minimum. 12 foot if you are serious about keeping them out.
 
And it doesn't need to be chain link, but it doesn't need to be fairly sturdy. They sell this mesh stuff that seems to work fairly well if tall enough.
 
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