I was with you for the first half, but I've seen moose on the road. They sometimes just appear, much like deer would just appear in the midwest. Even when you see them, you might not have much time to respond. It is amazing that they can blend into the woods so readily considering their size.
I hit my first deer during a night-time driving lesson. It just manifested itself in a turn right in front of the car. It happened so freaking fast that even my driving instructor didn't get right away what happened. (To be fair this was his first deer accident too). There were just something flying in front of the car, getting hit and flying away to the side of the road.
It was very different from my imagination which formed during my childhood hearing adults talking about split second decisions in case of a deer appearing in front of the car.
If you ever see a deer cross in front of you, especially with a fawn in tow, slow down and be prepared to slam on the brakes because they might be preparing to jump right into your path. These kinds of accidents are especially deadly because they don't hit the bumper, they tend to smash directly into the windscreen, sometimes breaking through and crushing the front seat passengers.
Possibly time of year dependent, I guess, but seriously, one weekend of nightly midnight drives out in the Shuswap area of BC was all it took. I now/still respect the effects of the deer, but marvel at their unmitigated stupidity.
I have surprised deer on the road, at night, and had them respond by running toward me. That did not help the probability of a collision...