BajaNomad - Gimme a brake!

Gimme a brake!

Sharksbaja - 9-20-2005 at 01:05 AM

Here in Oregon it is possible to describe two groups of people.

1) Those who have hit a deer with their car

and

2) Those who will :!:

Is it the same in Baja? Only with cows?
I have narrowly missed a couple myself and my buddy hit one in the head with his Bronco. I once saw a VW bus that hit one. Bad! The guy was ok though.

[Edited on 9-20-2005 by Sharksbaja]

David K - 9-20-2005 at 03:15 AM

Hey sharks... up late? We are having a really freak lightning storm here in Oceanside! I never have seen so much lightning (and thunder) in one storm, ever... Bolts are quick and verticle (to the ground it seems)... Can't sleep with WWIII going on outside... HA!

Diver - 9-20-2005 at 05:57 AM

Reminds me of an road-kill old story;

December, 1975 I was in sothern Colo driving home after dark on snowy roads and with huge flakes coming down. I was following a lady that had pulled out onto the road before me in an old pick-up. As I rounded a curve in the road I could see a dow standing at the edge of the road ahead of the lady's car. The doe stood there while the lady' truck hit it squarly in the head as it passed, missing injury to the remaining torsoe as it passed.

I slowed down, stopped and backed up. Confirmed the lack of injury to the deer's body, swung it head-down in the ditch and bled it out. 30 minutes later, the gutted doe was tied on top of my VW bug and I was heading down the road. Got home, hung her in the garage and added the meat to my locker a few days later !

Road kill ? Who'd a thought ?? Yummy !
.

Bob and Susan - 9-20-2005 at 06:30 AM

True....

This happened just outside of Winnepeg. Ft.

Gary had a call this morning (Saturday) that there was a deer on a pole . . . right! Sure enough there was.

This is right beside the tracks a few miles west of Headingly Station.

They figure that a train hit it and launched it up there.

Bob and Susan - 9-20-2005 at 06:31 AM

Close up.... :wow:

bajajudy - 9-20-2005 at 06:36 AM

oh I am sure that he is just sleeping

Diver - 9-20-2005 at 06:38 AM

Nice white-tail ! Did you eat her ?? :lol:

Frank - 9-20-2005 at 06:53 AM

Its the new Ron Popeil family size beef jerky maker...

Skeet/Loreto - 9-20-2005 at 07:00 AM

Tripletts!!!!
Here at Timber Creek Canyon the Fawns are all over. Yesterday as we went out there was a Momma with 3 little ones trailing along in their order of Size.
At 2;00 this morning on of the older ones likes to run along the fence teasing the dogs and acting like a dog.
sometimes a bow and Arrow come in Handy.
Skeet

turtleandtoad - 9-20-2005 at 07:00 AM

No cows thankfully, but I did nail a goat last trip, out in the middle of nowhere, between San Ignacio and Santa Rosalia and all by himself.

Diver - 9-20-2005 at 07:05 AM

But, did you eat the goat ? :lol:

turtleandtoad - 9-20-2005 at 07:36 AM

Nah, but I did eat a deer I hit in Hayfork, Shasta County CA. Did the same thing you did, bled him out and field dressed him alongside of the road (more of a firebreak than a road) and tossed him in the back of the PU. Fed the whole camp, including a game warden that dropped by. You should have seen my face when he was introduced to me.

thebajarunner - 9-20-2005 at 08:12 AM

We had a wild scene in the 500 a few years ago,
in the forest, following close behind a Bronco, he wheeled around one of those tight turns in the pine trees and center punched a big steer,
Bronco straight off the road with a busted radiator and we just missed the steer which is now lying in the middle of the (very narrow) race road, heart still pumping and blood spurting straight up in the air.
That will get your race road adrenaline over the top for a few minutes!!

Oso - 9-20-2005 at 08:14 AM

Now that I'm a Zoner, one of the main things I miss about NC is the Fall hunting. Friends say the deer are almost the #1 road hazard now.

About 8 or 9 years ago, my wife and I were returning from Charlotte to our small town south of Raleigh. It was at night on a country two-lane. All I saw was a brown blur out of the corner of my eye and then heard the thud. I stopped and looked at the front of the Cherokee. The left headlight was smashed, part of the grill was gone and there was a large dent in the driver's side door. I looked back and saw a large doe lying on the side of the road a few yards back. Well, I'm a redneck, right? With several hundred, maybe a grand worth of damage to the car, I couldn't see also wasting all that meat.

I backed up the jeep and opened the hatch. Here's where I went wrong. I didn't have a skinning knife handy. It was out of season. I was across the road from a private hunting club and we were only half an hour from home. So, figuring I'd hang, gut & skin it in the garage later, I grabbed the legs and swung it into the back. I got in, started up and headed out. About 5 minutes later, the doe came to and started kicking the crap out of a cooler and everything else in the back. Ana was screaming "Esta vivo!, esta vivo! I pulled over as soon as I could, ran around back and opened the hatch. The doe jumped out, shook her head and wobbled off into the woods, a bit unsteady on her feet but very much alive.

Vaca Caca

MrBillM - 9-20-2005 at 09:57 AM

Back in the 70s, heading North from San Ignacio in the dead of night (stupid) in my Baja Bug, we came around a sharp curve outside of El Rosario and the WHOLE damned road was filled with vacas. How I managed to avoid one, I have no idea, just dumb luck. I have had numerous encounters with Cows and Burros, but never that close.

Slightly off the subject, during that same decade eight of us were heading for Gonzaga in four Baja Bugs when we came across a burro standing in the middle of the road. We stopped and got out to take some photos and one of the group dared another to climb on the burro for a picture, which he did to our amazement. The burro offered no objection at all. Still have that photo.

David K - 9-20-2005 at 10:29 AM

Cows like sleeping in vados, on the warm asphalt... In 1974, doing research for my Baja roadguide, my dad was driving after sundown... north from San Ignacio... He wanted to get to Parador Punta Prieta that night so we could have an early start to go into L.A. Bay on the newly graded road (not paved for a couple more years still)... Well, he managed to avoid the vacas laying on the pavement and it was very fortunate no car was in the other lane! The don't drive at night in central Baja warning is a good one!

Skeet/Loreto - 9-20-2005 at 11:14 AM

Pomp; Same with me with one exception, I did not slow enough and got a Buzzard with the right side of my Winshield.

bajaden - 9-20-2005 at 01:08 PM

I was driving back from Biggs california one night on hwy 99 when a deer jumped out in front of my truck. I caught it with my right front fender. Took out the headlight and didn't do the fender any good either.
The poor thing was laying off the side of the road trying to get up, but she had no control of her rear legs. Probably a broken back. I didn't want her to suffer, but I had no firearms with me. So I pull out my tire iron. There I'am standing over her with my tire iron raised over my head, and the game warden pulls up.

It took a lot of explaining, but he finally bought my story.

Sharksbaja - 9-20-2005 at 01:13 PM

rolleyes: Ugh, tough call eh Den! Tire-iron? Ha!

thebajarunner - 9-20-2005 at 02:46 PM

You know, of course, in this "Enlightened Era" we are living in that no such meat is allowed in any governmental institutions.
Whether a clean kill on the road, or even when we hire state licensed hunters to clean out the deer eating our young nursery stock, none can be used for human consumption.
Ah, the State of California, such a wonderful state (of confusion) we have become!.

DK---- did you call them 'vado vacas"???

Sharksbaja - 9-20-2005 at 03:11 PM

:lol:

Damn girlie boys!

Road kill

tehag - 9-20-2005 at 03:13 PM

Paying attention may be a fine formula at 5 miles an hour, but on a curve in the dark things happen rather too quickly for that one to be helpful.

Driving Baja at night is a bit like Russian roulette: Timing and luck.

The thing about the younger animals is true. Be especially alert if they are on both sides of the road, as the mothers and young will often bolt toward each other when startled.

turtleandtoad - 9-20-2005 at 03:31 PM

RE; Paying attention!

When I hit that goat, I was paying attention, driving at or below the speed limit, it was broad daylight and I still never saw the thing, the bump was the only reason I looked in my mirror and saw the goat laying on the road.

I stopped and walked back but it was dead, so I dragged it off the road and looked around for a possible owner. There wasn't a human or man-made structure in sight (and I hadn't seen either for about 20 minutes).

Of course when you hit something with a 10 ton Class A doing 50 mph, it has to be bigger than a goat to slow you down. There was absolutely no damage to my coach or toad. I figure that my right front tire on the coach got it. After the rear duals crossed over it, there wasn't much left.

TMW - 9-20-2005 at 06:16 PM

When lived in Lubbock, TX there was a guy who had a lion and a tiger on his ranch. It was a party place for big groups, hayrides etc. Anyway he said the sherif and Highway Patrol would call him when they had deer killed and he would feed it to the animals. Kept his cost for food down. You could pet the tiger thru a special fence setup with him there. I was looking out the game room which was next to the tiger lot and the tiger raised up on it's hind legs with both paws above the window looking in. Looked like it was 9 feet tall.

TMW - 9-20-2005 at 06:24 PM

Killed a cow a couple of years ago coming down from the mountains at night. Came around a curve and she bolted out from the trees in front of me. I hit the brakes and slid about 8-10 feet and bam. left front bumper guard hit her.

Road kill

tehag - 9-20-2005 at 06:37 PM

Just lucky. I have well over a hundred passages over the highway, both before and since the full paving. I have a night-hit cow and 2 horses. I'm a day guy now. Too flippin' old to see at night anyway.

Paulina - 9-20-2005 at 06:50 PM

We hit a shopping cart in the Von's parking lot once and broke the grill. We blamed it on a Baja Cow. (sounds way cooler than the truth) Does that count?

I have had a close encounter with a black cow while driving at night (e-gads). I know better, so no lectures.

There are plenty of deer up here that we keep an eye out for. Our freezer isn't big enough.

P<*)))><

bajaden - 9-21-2005 at 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by thebajarunner
You know, of course, in this "Enlightened Era" we are living in that no such meat is allowed in any governmental institutions.
Whether a clean kill on the road, or even when we hire state licensed hunters to clean out the deer eating our young nursery stock, none can be used for human consumption.
Ah, the State of California, such a wonderful state (of confusion) we have become!.

DK---- did you call them 'vado vacas"???

Runner, when I operated a privite license pheasant club, I got to know several of the game wardens. Nice guys who went out of their way for me at a time when I needed it. But thats another story. They let it slip that they ate venison regularly. I wonder where they got it? Hmmmm.

turtleandtoad - 9-21-2005 at 11:40 AM

As a kid in Lyle, WA. my dad was the owner of the local grocery store/butcher shop/Freezer Lockers. He was also the local game warden. Whenever he caught a poacher we would butcher/package/freeze the game and put it in the local school's meat lockers for school lunches.

As a student at that local school I never saw any cuts of game of any kind on the lunch menu, although some times we would sometimes get venison or bear stew or hamburgers.

I'll bet the school kitchen staff and teachers were eating pretty good though!

TW

Skeet/Loreto - 9-21-2005 at 01:10 PM

You Actually lived in Lubbock Texas???

Several years ago virginia and I on a nght trip across Pacheo Pass between Los Banos and Gilroy came across a young female cougar that had been struck and was laying on the pavement. The car that hit the animal had called the CHP. We removed said Cat from the road and awaited the Fuzz. he arrived ,loaded into the tunk of the Cruiser and left.

I ask him if I might have it to Skin, he said; all Road Kills such as this go to the Game Warden.
I would bet that it is in his Den at Home!!

bajaden - 9-21-2005 at 06:47 PM

Some jobs do have their priviliges. Being a game warden is not an easy job. It can be a dangerous job too. Their dealing with people with guns. There are a few nut cases out there. Had a few of them in my club.

Lousy shots though.

Sharksbaja - 9-21-2005 at 10:30 PM

During elk season here it gets a little more dangerous. These large animals skirt our property and when they travel they travel en masse. Usually a scout will come off the hill, cross the road and hurtle the fence and into a field directly in front of our home. Somehow the others know when to cross next when "the coast is clear".
Sometimes a dozen cars will stop to admire the herd typically with at least one bull present . Their awesome posture and boldness always intrigues me. Elk will follow historic paths that former generations used. Whether a clear-cut or a highway they stay the course.
As long as the spectators along the road mind their business, distance and movement the elk will continue to graze, but always with one eye keeping alert as well as a "sentry", normally a watchful older bull keeping his distance. Then without any further ado they're off across the field, down the drop-off and across the river. The water being high and fast does little to slow they charge. A rare sight to see. I shouldn't take it for granted. Life ..........................................................................is good.

Sharksbaja - 9-21-2005 at 10:36 PM

Last year my friend had an elk clear the hood of his truck while driving. The elk leaped and almost cleared the entire roadway and kept on goin' like nothing happened. The same thing happened to a couple who weren't so fortunate. The elk landed on the cab and crushed them both while going 60 mph few years back. This time of year we see more and more deer, particularily little ones feeding along the roads. Mom's always nearby.

Sharksbaja - 9-22-2005 at 11:06 AM

Sounds like a good trip, Whistler! Guess that just shows to go ya that our Mexican neighbors get around.......kinda like our own fishermen. You go where ya gotta go. Too bad that means traveling so many miles from home.

Real life Nomads?

Shrimp has been good this ano. What's the call onsebastes sp. for the next year?

Sharksbaja - 9-22-2005 at 01:01 PM

Interesting to hear what happens with the rockfish Whistler. Most is coming out of Canada these days. That just puts that much more pressure on their grounds I'd think. I had a Canadian tuna skipper in the other night. Told me it took 3 weeks to connect zig-zagging the 100-200 mile line. Not too happy. Cost of fuel, ouch!

Sharksbaja - 9-22-2005 at 01:04 PM

I hear that 90% of the Oystermen and a big chunk of shrimpers are out of biz for now in the Gulf area disaster.; Now look whats coming! Better get a bigger gas tank. Today!

Gulf Shrimping

MrBillM - 9-22-2005 at 01:58 PM

What about Forrest Gump ?

turtleandtoad - 9-22-2005 at 02:05 PM

He went down with his boat.

daveB - 9-23-2005 at 10:27 PM

Four of us were walking the sidewalk to a restaurant in San Jose del when we came upon a disaster on the road. Yikes! a downed cow!
Now abreast of the scene, the mess was terrible. Cow down, had a "finished" look in her eyes, the pickup truck was in a sorry state, dented with the bumper off and various appendages belonging to it strewn over the asphalt. We carried on as the driver picked up the pieces.
Having one last look as we finally passed on revealed the stricken cow was now up and trotting off the road and into the field while the driver was still looking for truck parts.