JTHarley
Northeast, Michigan, USA
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Joined: 02/27/2003
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While traveling down 96 to south haven michigan this weekend we had an odd event occur. I'm going about 65 mph on the freeway and spot 2 turkeys walking in the grass on the side of the road. I slow down to about 60 just to get a better look when all of a sudden one of them decides to launch right in front of the coach!!! I had no idea they could FLY!
We hit going 60 and it came right thru the drivers side windshield and into the coach....feathers and glass everywhere, it was like a wind tunnel sending the bird in the living room and feathers and glass all the way back to the bedroom. My DW, what a trooper, grabbed the bird by the legs, opened the side door and tossed it out while I brought the coach to a stop, it was already dead when it hit the grass. I've got to figure out how to post some pictures because we have plenty.
Thank God I was able to calmly slow down and pull off the freeway. No other damage to the coach except the windshield but both my wife and I had glass stuck in our hands and I had a few specs in my face.
The turkey was HUGE, at least 40 pounds and when it came thru the windshield it hit me square in the chest and shoulder. I measured it from head to tail and it was over 3 feet long. We're laughing about it now but it was terrifying at the time and could have been a disaster if either of us would have panicked.
Turkey vs. RV......RV wins!! Needless to say we didn't go camping and as luck would have it my dealer was at an exit 5 miles down the road so I limped in to the dealer to have them take care of the windshield and clean out the inside of the coach. I never want to go thru anything like that again.
Jim , MJ & Spirit of Sambuca Bear
"He's one big Newfie"
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SteveAE
Bend, Oregon
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Joined: 02/20/2012
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I am glad that no one (except the Turkey) was hurt, but bummer on the damage. Too bad you didn't think to put that sucker in the oven rather than tossing it out
Safe travels,
Steve
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fatmanobx
Russellville, Ar. Home Base
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Joined: 12/27/2004
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Yep, they can fly short distances...I've had enough fly off after shooting at them to know...glad no one was seriously injured...next time cut the breast of that sucker and fry em up....
2003 Four Winds Infinity 37'
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past-MIdirector
Michigan
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Joined: 03/03/2007
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Glad you OK, we're had several close calls with them flying up in front of the RV and vehicles over the years. They can differently fly but landing can be also something to see. They are not the most graceful bird.
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Don Parrish
AZ
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Joined: 12/15/2008
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JTH,
Just sent your story to a friend just back from a Texas turkey hunt...he uses guns not Super C's. He's gonna love your story and I know he is going to ask if you made your "limit".
Good to know this ended well for you and DW except for the windshield...oh, and yes, the turkey.
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MrWizard
Traveling
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Joined: 06/27/2004
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JT
put your pictures on a hosting site like photo bucket or picture trail
then post the img link here for each picture
make sure the pictures you want to display are in a "public" album, not one that is private
use the advance post form and just copy the picture links one at a time using the photo icon to place the link from the picture host
once you do it a couple times it becomes real easy
Options, always have options, and the journey goes much smoother
....
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fla-gypsy
North Florida
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Joined: 04/19/2005
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That is quite a story and a very close call.
09 SuperDuty Crew Cab 6.8L/4.10(The Black Pearl)
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mph_medic
Southaven, MS (Outside Memphis, TN)
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DEATH by RV...LOL Glad to hear you and the wife are safe...
Never do anything you wouldn't want to explain to the Paramedics...
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sowego
northwestern corner of the Nebraska panhandle
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Joined: 03/14/2006
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I'm sorry to hear of the turkey of a day. We have had 90 of the fine feathered friends hanging around our barn home all winter and roosting in the trees close by. Ours are so tame they do sometimes get in the way but we don't drive 60 mph on our old rough dirt road.
Usually when we see any type of wild life along the road we slow down a lot and as quickly as is safe. We have alot of deer and turkeys so we tend to be very watchful. It is turkey nesting season so the turks are wandering around in different locations than they wintered in.
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Big Katuna
Deland, FL
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I am phobic about big birds flying into the path of you vehicle. When I used to ride motorcycles, there were a few years here in FL that vultures killed a motorcyclist every year or so. Dang things spooked right into the rider.
Turkeys can fly up to 55 MPH and 1/4 miles flights are common. They can fly up to a mile and run 30 MPH. We have lots around our house which is in a remote, primitive area. We see 20-40 at a time.
You are really lucky you werent hurt.
My Kharma ran over my Dogma.
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