Game birds on the road when you're driving

I’ve had to perform an emergency stop before due to deer waiting in the trees jumping out and trying to commit suicide… whilst on my bicycle between Ciren & Stroud. In the car I had a very near miss with a big dear on the old Cheltenham – Ciren road, it happened so quickly before I could respond.

I’ve yet to come across any game birds waiting at the roadside, but I’ve heard they flock around truckers stops.

The lack of of six fingers is a give away too. 😀

It’s easy to see most of you on here are townies.

Actually, chum, the things I tend to try to dodge whilst driving at night move at 30 mph and jump. They can also be over 7ft tall.

Perhaps its time to recalibrate your prejudice control?

One of my technicians had his car written off hitting one last year. The roo just carried on hopping…

The last thing I hit was adeer not a bird , £4500 worth of repairs…..
I’ll brake harder next time, but still won’t swerve unless going slowly enough.

My uncle told a tale about driving across the red centre (basically right across Aus) with an Aussie chap. Aussie bloke gave my uncle the wheel one evening and said “if anything jumps out onto the road, don’t swerve, just hit it”. Truck had huge ‘roo bars on the front and the verges are apparently soft sand you might not get the vehicle out of again. Anyhow, nothing happened and my uncle woke the Aussie up and swapped seats again. Ten minutes or so later and…. BANG!!!!!!

blood all over the windscreen and big bend in the ‘roo bars + one ver big and very dead red kangaroo on the other side of the road!

The main reason for not swerving is that the surrounding rocks / trees / road-trains are a lot harder than the roos

Well i wouldn’t want to hit one even with those bars on the front of the ‘ute’!

I think the hitting them is the ‘least worst’ option. Sadly most human fatalities in car-roo incidents are because the driver lost control swerving and either flipped the car or ran into something even more solid than the roo.

A few years ago I was driving back from newcastleton. Thats quite a twist road. I wasn’t speeding but came around a bend and in a instance I was confronted by an entire road full of small game. Not clued up but I presume pheasant . Anyhow as it was mid bend and I would have been in danger if I slammed the brakes on (I am a brake for them if possible guy) I went through the lot of them. It was like a machine gun going off as their heads/necks were just at bumper height. I never stopped to see the carnage but I reckon I may be close to the most kills in one incident. Not proud but by god were they dumb

as their heads/necks were just at bumper height

One might almost say ‘glancing blows’ 😉

One might almost say ‘glancing blows’

until they bounce off sump,gearbox,exaust etc. Why do you think you see so much roadkill left where it was hit, if the meat was any good we would be stopping to pick it up before you daft townies could get out here and take it home. If however you want to eat roadkill go ahead there’s plenty of it around.

Fiend was going along a road with sign warning of Deer in road said “Don’t know why that signs there never ever seen deer on this road and I use it daily” Came round the corner and entire herd of 200 escaping deer were crossing the road. Escaped from farm. Wet themselves laughing

I am sure they are edible if they bounce of your helmet. Personally I get mine for nothing when beating and from my rabbit trap. Who would have thought the daft bugger would eat carrots? Mind the only reason they are in my garden is they are the intelligent ones who moving into gardens as soon as the shooting season starts!

It’s the older birds you have to watch out for. They just head out into the road without looking and it’s difficult to anticipate them.

It’ll be your fault if you hit them though.

I once took out about 7 possums at once in my Anglia. That was a good night.

before you daft townies

PMSL. That chip must be hard for you to carry on your shoulder.

I’ve eaten road kill pheasant, it only had a glancing blow so was fine.

My mate hit a deer in his XR2. Apprantley it was trying to stand up but couldnt and making a horrible noise. He sat on it till a vet could come out and put the poor fecker to sleep.

it only had a glancing blow so was fine.

It can’t have done, our resident rural affairs expert says that this is not possible under any circumstances….

17 Pheasant and 4 rabbits in a 3 mile stretch is my record to date. I don’t swerve for em. Had a couple of pheasant loged in the grille and had to pull them out. Pretty grizzly and not worth eating.
Now in Aus an am now paranoid about murdering “skippy” on a dusky rural night.

A full grown roo jumping in front of you at 110km’s hr at night is a scary thing. It’s bad enough if they jump in front of you on the trail.

A hare once jumped out the hedge and proceeded to try and race me down a hill. We were neck and neck for quite some time before it decided to throw it’s self under my open pros.

Had to stop and finish it off. Don’t think you can eat hare so left it in the hedge for the local reynards.

Game birds are actually drawn to roads to find gravel, they need it to grind up their food what with the absence of teeth. Someone needs to breed a toothed pheasant.

Hi all well I used to rear 50,000 of these bloody things (pheasents)so you can take me as knowing on or two things about them 🙂

It IS against the law to use ANY motorised vehicle in the pusuit of game, and so this is where if you hit them you cannot pick them up but someone else can come into play. Other wise it’s poaching.

With regards to eating them I really would not bother as they at this time of year they still may have been fed a bit of pellet and still not being fed full wheat. And even if they are on full wheat they may still have the chemicals fromt he pellet food within the meat.

I really would not touch Pheasents road kill or other wise until October.

Pheasents when released into the release pens in the woods are fed on pellet food that has lots on goddies for them in for there development but at this time not really fit for humam consumption over a period of 2 – 5 weeks they are then weened off these onto a diet of wheat plus whatever they can find out and about in the wild (having had the wire on the release pens lifted) within 2- 4 weeks of them being in the release pens.

This time of year (or a bit earlier) they go mad for crane flys (daddy long legs) hence why they end up all over the bloody place chasing them across fields roads etc…… It’s also a time where they like to explore the local and not so local fields, woods and on our croweded little island roads.

I’d suggest you lot drive carefully as its coming up to Game Season and they’ll be fattening them all up right about now.

Hitting them on a bike isn’t recommended either.

What do you mean ‘you can’t eat hare’? It’s bloody gorgeous meat 🙂

What do you mean ‘you can’t eat hare’? It’s bloody gorgeous meat

When you get all the blood out of it. 😉

I replace the blood with red wine 🙂

Only ever hit one pheasant, along a country lane on my way up to the drag racing at Stratford-upon-Avon. I was driving my ’53 Split-screen Minor, and there was a hell of a bang at the front, and a cloud of feathers like someone had ripped a pillow open. Of the pheasant, there was no sign, despite me and the mate who was with me searching along the hedges and fields either side for twenty minutes. Moggies being tough old motors, there was no damage to the car, fortunately.
Nearly got one in the head on the bike once, as well; narrow lane, bit of downhill, following wind, big ring, 32mph according to the computer, and this pheasant comes over the hedge on my left at head height! Close enough I could have grabbed the bugger’s tail, had I fast enough reflexes. That was scary!
Pity the poor bloke who owned the BMW, with whatever that was embedded in the front. Jeeze, what a mess!
Pity also the poor sod tasked with having to clean it out… 😐

I replace the blood with red wine

All 10 pints of it? 😆

Hare slowly cooked in red wine to an old medieval recipe – lovely.

Some of the wine might ‘just’ have replaced some of my blood in the process though 😉

As is should during cooking game MD. Not all wine should be added to food while cooking at least 75% of it should be added to the chef.

Some people live on roadkill….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series6/roadkill.shtml

Some people live on roadkill….

That’s up to them.

Some people live on roadkill….

Most of them are townies no doubt 😐

Whoaaa! It aint me!

There’s only one chance of me feeding off roadkill.

Starvation.

(& thats debateable)

Most of them are townies no doubt

That aint me either.

Gorehound – Member
Some people live on roadkill….
That’s up to them.

How is this possible? I thought it wasn’t even remotely conceivable that us townies (sic) could hit an animal with a glancing blow, thereby rendering it quite edible but also dead.

How is this possible? I thought it wasn’t even remotely conceivable that us townies (sic) could hit an animal with a glancing blow, thereby rendering it quite edible but also dead.

You want to eat roadkill eat roadkill. Anyone with sense would leave it where they hit it.

I can understand if the things been under the wheels! But glancing blows do happen, yes I’m a “townie” to some country folk, but my OHs folk are farmers and that’s where I’ve sampled some pheasant road kill. ’twas quite nice too.

But glancing blows do happen

yeah, not sure if I could pick a random carcass up off the road, but if I saw the creature get killed, surely it doesn’t matter if it’s by gun, knife or car bumper..?

Free food nearly always tastes nicer than bought food IME, although even living amongst a gazillion sheep, cows, deer and pheasants, I’ve not personally eaten roadkill..

I still don’t understand this comment though..

Anyone with sense would leave it where they hit it.

Anyone with sense would leave it where they hit it.

This brings me back to my original point:

“Eh?”

I have and do eat dead stuff off the road