I hit a badger on my AP50 when I was 16. I didn't see it until the very last second because it was in a dark dip in the road. I just braced my arms and went straight over it. Nothing else I could do. It killed the badger and bent my rear brake lever but I stayed upright. Just.
I hit a pigeon at 90 mph on my KTM. It exploded on the screen and cracked the headlight mask, covering the screen and my visor in blood, snot and feathers.
I hit a pheasant on my Harley at 80 mph. I rocketed out of a hedge at the last moment. I tried to duck but couldn't avoid it and it struck me head square on top of the head. It felt like my head had been rammed down into my chest like Wily Coyote after receiving an anvil from a cliff top. It was physically painful even through the helmet. I had a severe headache for ages afterwards and couldn't twist my neck. I reckon if I hadn't been wearing a lid it would have been fatal. If the impact hadn't killed me it would have knocked me out and I'd have crashed.
In none of these incidents was aiming for the soft part of the animal an option. And nothing is soft when struck at speed. You could argue that I should have been going slower of course (the high speed impacts occurred on private roads, naturally

). But if I wanted to ride everywhere at 27 mph I'd have bought an Enfield and I don't want one.