Drivers encounter a deer twice as often in autumn.
The combination of farmers harvesting the deer’s hiding spots and bucks roaming around in search of girlfriends can result in deer appearing in the spotlights without notice.
Female deer, called roe deer, like to congregate and eat corn and bean combines in bare fields, but they have to take cover at night and that can cause them to cross roads.
“And it’s rutting season when the deer mate, so we’re seeing a lot more game movement,” said Ryan McCauley, Indiana Department of Natural Resources officer. “The big bucks in particular will be much more on their hooves and roam larger areas to find mates.”
Deer mate from mid-October to mid-December. They surprise motorists all year round, but the romance picks up in the fall, spurred on by the cooler weather.
Statistics show that deer are usually most active at dusk and dawn, or mornings and evenings, when headlights are less effective.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are more than 1.5 million deer accidents annually, causing an estimated $ 1.1 billion in vehicle damage, 200 lives and more than 10,000 injuries. A single accident with a deer causes an average of $ 2,000 in damage to the vehicle and catastrophic results for the deer.
Avoid collisions
“Slow down and watch your headlights, especially in rural areas, especially wooded areas,” said McCauley. “If you see one, there’s a good chance there is more.”
Wildlife collisions have increased in Boone County since the weather got cooler recently, especially in rural areas, said Wesley Garst, assistant sheriff of Boone County.
“Never swerve to avoid a darling, it is safer to brake and hit the game than to evade the road or into oncoming traffic,” warns the DNR publication “Deer-Vehicle Collisions and You”.
McCauley acknowledged that drivers might want to dodge and said that some situations might warrant dodging. However, evasive action could result in a driver hitting the deer, an oncoming vehicle, a tree or a power pole.
And evasion does not guarantee a wild-free path. “They think they want to go some way, then panic and change their minds at the last minute,” McCauley said.
Instead, stop the vehicle when it’s safe, or at least slow it down to give the deer time to escape, “because there’s a pretty good chance they’ll cross before you,” he said. “And then they might decide that they want to be on the other side with the other deer again, so they cross back in front of you.”
Free meat
Some drivers and others harvest venison to eat.
It’s illegal to ingest free-range meat without a label or government-issued game license, but they’re easy to come by.
Those looking to harvest a carcass here must first call the Boone County Communications Center to ask an officer to examine the animal, Garst said.
Boone County MPs wear tags in their cars and can hand them out on the spot after ensuring an animal has been accidentally taken away, not poached.
Many motorists do not want the animals to be killed by their car or truck, so others can request a tag and harvest these animals.
Boone County has a waiting list of those interested in harvesting dead wildlife that drivers don’t want. To request a day after a wreck or to be put on the waiting list, call 765-482-1412, opt. 8.
Wildlife blogger Dan Schmidt advises against rescuing deer killed on the street because the innards look like “a nuclear explosion” and the meat has been injured by blunt force. He tried several before reaching this conclusion. Squashed meat is generally considered safe to eat, but it tastes wilder.
See Schmidt’s humorous blog below https://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/content/blogs/dan-schmidt-deer-blog-whitetail-wisdom/roadkill-deer-think-twice-before-you-pick-it-up.
