Thanks for the timely reminder about encountering these animals on the road. Last year, I was driving a country road in the dark and was definitely driving on auto-pilot. For some reason, the idea that there could be deer/elk on the road popped into my head and I shook off the fog and became vigilent in scanning the road and areas along the side of the road for movement. Several minutes later, a deer jumped out onto the road. If I had still been in auto-pilot, I'm sure I would have smacked right into it. My guardian angels were definitely watching out for me that night. Especially since I happened to be driving our '75 Old Beetle. Not much protection for people in that tin can, you know.

I know someone who honked at a few deer once causing one of the deer to jump on his hood just like Gen described. Strange. Did the horn spook the deer into attacking the car? I have no idea. Another friend had an elk run into the back corner of her car. The elk had been crossing the road in front of her. She slowed down for it to pass and then kept on going. The deer ran into a fence and, apparently, was spooked by that and ran back out onto the road as she was almost past it. I'm not sure that there is any one right way to deal with this situation.