SMA HITS A DEER ON NON TWR ARPT RWY. NIGHT OP. FOREIGN OBJECT DAMAGE ANIMAL.

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MY 3 PAX AND I WERE RETURNING FROM A DAY AT THE BEACH. FLT WAS SMOOTH AND UNEVENTFUL. I CANCELED IFR ABOUT 5 MI FROM W52; IN GOOD VMC (SEE ABOVE) WITH WINDS CALM. SINCE I WAS COMING IN FROM THE E; I DECIDED TO ENTER THE TFC PATTERN ON A 45 DEG ANGLE; AND FLEW A NORMAL L DOWNWIND; BASE AND FINAL TO RWY 9. APCH WAS INTENTIONALLY SLIGHTLY HIGH (SINCE IT WAS DARK AND GND REFS ON THAT APCH ARE FEW; AS IT IS A RURAL AREA); AND THE PLANE TOUCHED DOWN APPROX 1/4 MI PAST THRESHOLD (RWY IS 5000 FT LONG). AT ABOUT THE MID-POINT OF THE RWY WE CAME UPON A HERD OF DEER XING FROM R TO L. THE HERD WAS XING MORE OR LESS SINGLE-FILE; AND EXTENDED TO THE L AND R AS FAR AS I COULD SEE IN THE DARKNESS. WE WERE TRAVELING AT APPROX 50 KTS AND THERE WAS LITTLE TIME TO RESPOND. I BRAKED MODERATELY HARD AND THERE WAS AN IMPACT THAT ACTIVATED THE ELT AND SPUN THE PLANE AROUND TO THE L. I REGAINED DIRECTIONAL CTL WITH R RUDDER; AND CONTINUED TO ROLLOUT; AND DEACTIVATED THE ELT. AFTER PARKING THE PLANE AND CONFIRMING NONE OF MY PAX WAS INJURED AND THERE WAS NO FUEL LEAKING FROM THE PLANE; I TOOK MY HANDHELD COM RADIO; (TO WARN ANY APCHING AIR TFC) AND MY PAX AND I REMOVED THE DEER FROM THE RWY. THE DEER APPEARED TO HAVE DIED INSTANTLY. THE AIRPLANE SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO THE L WING AND L MAIN GEAR DOOR. NO OTHER AIR TFC WAS OBSERVED IN THE AREA. SUBSEQUENTLY; I LEARNED THAT A GROUP OF COMMERCIAL PLTS BASED AT W52 HAD BEEN DISCUSSING HOW THE UNIVERSITY THAT OPERATES THE ARPT HAS PARTIALLY INSTALLED A FENCE TO KEEP DEER OFF THE FIELD (SINCE THERE HAVE BEEN 4 DEER STRUCK BY PLANES IN THE PAST 2 YRS); AND THAT; IRONICALLY; THE PARTIALLY COMPLETED FENCE ACTUALLY ACTS TO FUNNEL THE DEER SO THAT THEY TEND TO CROSS AT THE MID-POINT OF THE RWY. THE COMMERCIAL PLTS HAVE ADOPTED PROCS TO REDUCE RISK OF A DEER-STRIKE: 1) SURFACE WINDS PERMITTING; THEY LAND ON RWY 27 BECAUSE A) THE LIGHTED GND REFS ARE BETTER THAN RWY 9 APCH SO IT'S EASIER AND SAFER TO MAKE A LOWER APCH AND LAND CLOSER TO THE THRESHOLD; AND B) THE TXWY IS NEAR THE THRESHOLD OF RWY 27; SO THERE IS LESS TENDENCY TO CONTINUE TRAVELING AT RELATIVELY HIGH SPD DOWN THE RWY; AS WHEN LNDG RWY 9; TO GET TO THE OTHER END; BUT INSTEAD; TO TERMINATE THE ROLLOUT MORE QUICKLY; TURN AROUND AND BACK-TAXI TO THE TXWY; 2) THEY ROUTINELY EXECUTE A SHORT-FIELD LNDG TECHNIQUE WHEN LNDG AT NIGHT AT W52; THEREBY STOPPING WELL BEFORE THE PLANE GETS TO THE MID-POINT IN THE RWY WHERE THE DEER COMMONLY CROSS. IN THE FUTURE I WILL ADOPT THE ABOVE PROC. I ALSO PLAN TO WRITE AN ARTICLE FOR OUR CLUB NEWSLETTER SO THAT OTHERS CAN AVOID SIMILAR EXPERIENCES OR WORSE.