Glad you're OK. Personally I was always taught to hit instead of swerve. Sometimes (like in your case) you're kinda f***ed either way. Once again glad no one is seriously injured.
Glad your OK. I hit a deer on my way to WFC but I was in my Exploder. The deer luckily slipped and its legs went out from underneeth and I jumped over it. Knocked off the lower valance on my truck and demo'd my fog lights! The rest of the way down there my son was like " dad don't hit anymore deer!"
I would've swerved. The deer can come through the windshield and kill you, my father hit one and it went into the passenger side... nobody was sitting there thankfully.