[Frank Lee]

Lotsa deer here but I'm not going to drive a barge because of it. Heck I even motorcycle everywhere... even at dusk and after dark! As noted, the big thing is to not overdrive your headlights. Once you have that idea down, you need a plan of action- in the event of a deer sighting where it looks like it/they might dart onto the road- other than just stabbing the brakes and bracing for the inevitable hit. For example, I told my passenger once that I'm not ignoring them by not looking their way when they spoke to me; I was listening but keeping my eyes peeled on the ditches for deer because it was prime time at dusk for them to be out. And, I had a plan of action in the event I saw them in either ditch. Wouldn't you know it, minutes after saying that I saw a buck running hell-bent towards the road from my right. Having situational awareness, I knew that the left lane on the two-lane was open and so simultaneously braked, swerved deep into the left, and I think I got a good horn blast in there too. Good thing too- that buck didn't put any effort into slowing down or changing course until the last second. That's as close as I've ever gotten to hitting a deer in 35 years of driving in deer country.

Funny you named the thread "Avoiding the unexpected deer" and your plan is everything but.