Hired a van to go off on a road trip this week. Got just north of Ullapool, deer everywhere, so I decided to slow right down just incase one of the suicidal **** decided to try and wipe me out. Unfortunately, it would appear that 20mph still isn’t slow enough to stop if one of the stupid **** things forgets its green cross code. £500 excess on the van hire. Probably about £2500 worth of damage. I’m now home, skint and looking for free stuff to do on the bike round here. I can feel a long audax coming on. I am not going to be popular when I take it back as it had 60 miles on the clock when i picked it up and was the first hirer.

Before anyone else says that I should have paid for the zero excess option, just like TJ did, I am still well in profit by not doing so.

Self insurance works if you don’t do it often 🙂

I am still well in profit by not doing so.

How?

The CDW was more than £500?

You can also get it much cheaper on line

Self insurance works if you don’t do it often

I keep telling myself that.

The CDW was more than £500?

No, it was £70, but add up all those £70s where my gamble has paid off and I’m still around £3000 up over the course of my driving career.

As an aside – have they cut the cull numbers this year, or has there been more successful breeding, because deer numbers are huge. On the way down the A9 last night I saw the aftermath of two collisions with deer. One a luton van was written off and a megabus coach had its front end stoved in.

£3000 up over the course of my driving career.

Is that still true if you worked on £3 per day if you bought the CDW from someone else?

You could of covered yourself for about 165 days or 12 years at £40 per year.

I haven’t seen anything about numbers increasing or less culling taking place. I guess we are at about peak annual numbers at the moment though.

I notice that most of the locals drive with fog lights on at night. There’s some notion that helps (though I fail to see how).

There are “deer whistles” available that attach to the bumper and emit a high-pitched squeal whilst driving. Again, I’ve no idea of the efficacy of these devices.

Was it a road deer? (Roe Deer)

My mate’s uncle totalled a Discovery on the Ullapool road as it happens, many years ago. Poor weather forcing them lower down at the moment?

There are some well known deer crossing spots. Same mate had previously hit a deer outside Forres once (by Logie turnoff) we were belting along, he warned me to slow down (this was late evening) and lo first one then another deer cross just as he had warned..

I haven’t seen anything about numbers increasing or less culling taking place.

Only on a few landowners patches (SNH, NTS etc) is it increasing.
You could not tell from the number of the beasts still wandering around.

Just as well you didn’t hit them.

That would have been too dear.

OP story reminds me of a guy I know a few years back travelling through Glenshiel and spotted a stag running for the road.
He slowed down, the stag kept coming, slowed a bit more, bit more – until he had to stop…and the stag ran full pelt into the side of the car 😆

Remember kids, they’re only wild animals when you run them over and trash your vehicle. At all other times, they’re private property.

we were belting along, he warned me to slow down

Was it a Triumph Stag ?

[Edit] Bedmaker ,that sounds like a Stag Triumph )

Is that still true if you worked on £3 per day if you bought the CDW from someone else?

You could of covered yourself for about 165 days or 12 years at £40 per year.

Gobuchul – here is what it would cost me using the link you supplied: £87.92 with a £100 excess. That makes no economic sense to take that out when history shows that there is significantly less than a 1 in 3 chance that i’d have an incident.

I was out on the roadie a few months ago and two deer suddenly jumped over the high fence and into the road, which was in a deep cutting. My mate and I stopped, as did the car coming up the hill and the deer freaked out, trying about six times to jump the second fence. After a lot of leaping and bouncing off fences and scrabbling of hooves one went one way and the other the other way, leaving a cloud of dust and debris in the lane. We were spitting out deer bristles from our mouths for the next few minutes.

I wonder if more deer survived because last winter was so mild (although there was lots of snow)

This would never have happened in an Independent Scotland

It could just be a movement thing, they tend to roam about in search of preferred foods etc so anything that affects the growth cycles of plants- weather, grazing- can cause them to turn up in unexpected places in numbers

Just release a pack of wild, hungry wolves into the Glens of Scotland. Job done.

What could possibly go wrong ?

What could possibly go wrong ?

Given the number of deer, you’d just get fat wolves.

Given the number of deer sheep, you’d just get fat wolves.
[/quote]Wolves aren’t that stupid. Why run around the mountains after the occasional elusive deer when there’s a buffet waiting in the glens.

Usually spot the Deer nearer Inchnapamph up that direction. Spotted a lot more near Lochinver and near out campsite this year.

Talking to a guy who culled in Glen Clova (op might be au fait with the area) a few years ago.

Basically it became uneconomical for him to cull given the outgoings, about three years ago, while waiting for a DofE group we saw a huge herd.