Had to Swerve to Miss a Wild Turkey on my Evening Ride

[Skier]

Wild Turkeys are huge, I think they are way more of an avoid it not splat it kind of animal.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to hit one, either, but swerving is very low on the list of evasive actions I would take. Too much risk for dubious returns.

[Brackstone]

Wild Turkeys are huge, I think they are way more of an avoid it not splat it kind of animal.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to hit one, either, but swerving is very low on the list of evasive actions I would take. Too much risk for dubious returns.

So you would hit it? Just curious because I thought swerving or hitting were the only two options

[drrick]

I had a turkey run out in front of me yesterday...a BIG one. I was in my car though and I was able to slow down quickly and avoid it. My friend actually got chased by a herd of turkey while she was riding her bicycle and had to jump off her bike and ran into a neighbors enlcosed porch. They can be mean. I have had to quick stop for several deer. I am getting pretty used to those scenarios but this was a new one...the other day I was riding on a nice country road. Well apparently I picked the only nearby road where chickens are allowed to roam free. So I see a chicken way off the the side of the road. I start to slow down and all looks like I will pass it just fine and then all of a sudden he makes a B-line for my front wheel. He was going right for it. I start my quick stop and he goes flying in the air and then has the nerve to squawk at me I could have just run him over and had BBQ chicken that night.
You always have to be on the lookout.

[Skier]

Wild Turkeys are huge, I think they are way more of an avoid it not splat it kind of animal.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to hit one, either, but swerving is very low on the list of evasive actions I would take. Too much risk for dubious returns.

So you would hit it? Just curious because I thought swerving or hitting were the only two options

Slowing to avoid the collision is a great alternative.

[Dragon on Wheels]

Wild Turkeys are huge, I think they are way more of an avoid it not splat it kind of animal.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to hit one, either, but swerving is very low on the list of evasive actions I would take. Too much risk for dubious returns.

So you would hit it? Just curious because I thought swerving or hitting were the only two options

Slowing to avoid the collision is a great alternative.

+1. Or, if you know you're in an area with a high frequency of wild animals, ride/drive slowly.

[Talus]

I was hit by a wild turkey one time on a bicycle. It came flying out of a ditch from my right. All I saw was some big flying thing coming at me from my peripheral vision. It mostly brushed me, but I definitely overcompensated and crashed.

[graymojocat]

I'd swerve for the turkey. The ones I've seen are large enough to knock me off the bike.

[joolz]

Shouldn't have taken your bike into the bar then

[ceemes]

My daily commute is always FOWL......okay, bad pun out of the way. Along Highway 17 you'll see everything from Sparrows, to Black Bird, to Bald Eagles, to various types of Hawk, Blue Herons and the odds Owl or two. All seemingly wanting to fly at chest level across the highway as I ride to and from work. Sparrow sized flying hazards make me cringe, anything bigger then that and its brown trousers time. Had a flippin' Red tailed Hawk dive bomb me a couple of months back, sucker skimmed over my top of my helmet and I swear I could hear the bugger laughing behind me.

A wild turkey is something I sure as hell would not want to hit, 20 pounds of feathers and drumsticks are gonna leave one hell of a mark on ya. Come to think about it, aren't turkeys a member of the buzzard family, maybe the ones you lot have encountered were on a kamakazi mission to bring food to their kin.........

[ofblong]

wow no wonder there are so many people who get killed by "swerving" to miss an animal. That is THE WORST thing you can do to avoid a creature. You are BETTER off hitting it at as slow a speed as you can rather than trying to "swerve" to miss it and find yourself hitting a tree or oncoming vehicles. 2 of my sisters found this out. My one sister swerved in her car that she just bought off me (I had never been in an accident with it and was kind of upset that she was in an accident with it but I got over it lol) to miss a deer and found herself hitting a telephone pole. One of my other sisters swerved to miss a deer and she ended up going into a ditch taking the front axle onff her bronco 2 right off. I have NEVER swerved to miss a deer and the only time I have hit one (actually I hit 2 deer but both in the same spot on 2 diff vehicles) was on the very very right hand side of the bumper. On BOTH occasions had I swerved I would have either gone in the ditch on the other side of the road OR I would have hit oncoming traffic or the last one I hit I would have nailed it head on because the deer actually changed directions on me. Tonight I almost nailed a coyote but had I swerved to miss it I would have had a GREATER chance of going down and probably would have hit the thing. I was riding my motorcycle so hitting a coyote would have been less fun than hitting a turkey.

To put in in perspective both my sisters that SWERVED ended up having MORE cost to repair their vehicles than I did by just staying straight and hitting the brakes. They had PL/PD and I have full coverage but had I had to pay the full amount I still would have paid less. The sister that bought my old car had to pay almost 4 grand to have her car fixed. Mine was $1600 because man plastic bumpers arent cheap.

*edit I should mention that just about every person I have known that swerved has either gone into the ditch, hit a tree, or died. The wost damage I have seen from someone going straight on was a guy who had no fear and just ran a deer over in his new dodge truck. All it did was take out his bumper and a head light as well as a broken tie rod. Deer died on the spot and he just kept going till he got home. Said steering was pretty hard but he managed lol.