Heart skipped a beat, turkey strike

[1976RD400C]

So, I come around the turn and out of the woods comes a whole flock of turkeys. They charge into the road all over the place. I felt like I was the bowling ball and they were the pins. The one runs a collision course right to me and pow. A slight handlebar twitch and all good. I slowed down after that.   

[JKV45]

Glad you are ok!

There are all over the roads around here as well, but luckily no close calls yet.

[SoCal250]

glad you & the 400 came out of it OK. Not a problem we have around here. The only turkeys we have to dodge are the ones behind the wheel and on their phones.

[RDnuTZ]

and the ones running the state 

[RDryan]

Is that blood and guts on the engine?

[IR8D8R]

 Here in Tennessee if you hit a deer with your vehicle you are legally entitled to take it home and eat it. Presumably it would be demised before you tuck in. Furthermore, if you witness a deer being struck and are not the striker, you may also partake in some venison. Providing that the person who hit it doesn't stop to claim it himself. Not sure about turkeys, groundhogs, rabbits or bears. Matter of taste perhaps?
 Come to think of it. I'm not even certain that you are required to witness the event in order to feed roadkill to your family. Pretty sure you can stew up whatever you find beside the highway. Wild animals don't come with best-by dates so you're taking some risks...

IR8D8R

[m in sc]

glad you are ok.

and I def never hung out a truck window, at the gap, in federal lands with a firearm looking for the pigs and /or boar that almost caused us to crash the night before.  nope. not me.

[Kawtriplefreak]

I will never forget that...

[mnein]

They shoot pigs from helicopters, so why not trucks? Here in Michigan there's deer and turkey to worry about hitting. I try to help some with the deer population....

[JKV45]

I hit a deer on the Interstate, 2-up,at dusk, back in the day on my new '87 Ninja 750.

The worst part was when you stopped sliding and realized you were laying in the fast lane.  I remember looking for grass and crawling quickly while my head was still spinning.

One time I came around a blind corner and was greeted by a herd of sheep blocking the road.  Never know what you'll be greeted with, out in the country.

[RDryan]

Hit a baby deer today on the RD. Really got lucky though I tried to swerve out of the way and just nipped it's left hind quarter. Gave a good wiggle to the bars but the bike stayed bolt upright and watched the poor deer do a 360 on it's side. Very,very lucky! no damage to the bike or me or the deer I figure as it bolted off into the woods.

That was a first for me, definitely a ohh sheet moment.  

[1976RD400C]

You sure retain a lot of memories after those 1.5-2 seconds of "oh no" moments. My last thought was "ok, you're going to T-bone this thing but there's a good chance it shouldn't crash me".

[RDryan]

Yep you're absolutely right about that. Those couple seconds can be very dramatically contemplative. Took a ride today on my KTM 1290, rode a lot further away from home, a lot faster at times and in some very pretty country. Had to keep myself in check, in other words slow down a bit. However at one point I thought to myself even at say 35 mph. Hitting a deer is still not going to end well.

[2 Smoker]

Last month a bird flew into my helmet shield with some good force, it was intense and glad it did not cause me to crash.......first time getting hit in the head with a bird. No helmet law in Idaho but glad I was wearing mine that day.

[JKV45]

Last month a bird flew into my helmet shield with some good force, it was intense and glad it did not cause me to crash.......first time getting hit in the head with a bird. No helmet law in Idaho but glad I was wearing mine that day.

Wow - can you imagine what they would have been like without a helmet?

No helmet law here, and probably over 50% don't wear helmets or gear.  On the road, it seems like about 70% of the cycles are Harleys - WI after all.

Speaking of Turkeys, I rode by a dozen of them this morning.  6 on one side of the road and 6 on the other.  Luckily, none on the road.  It's a common area for them, and a 30 MPH zone, so it's not a big deal.