More deer take to roads, DNR educates drivers

It’s deer breeding season, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources wants drivers to know that means more deer on roads.

In Indiana, 50 percent of all vehicle accidents involving deer occur between October and December, said Chad Stewart, deer research biologist for the DNR.

Stewart said during these months, the times when both deer are active and people are driving, hitting a deer is much more likely.

In Monroe County, 3 percent of all county collisions for 2011 involved a deer, according to Indiana Crash Facts 2011 at in.gov.

Neighboring Brown County had 20.1 percent and Owen County had 18.4 percent of their total vehicle collisions involve deer.  

Throughout Indiana there were 15,740 deer-related collisions in 2011, according to the report.

The peak part of breeding season for deer is late October and early November. However, the period also goes through early and mid October and December, Stewart said.

“They may not be actively breeding in December, but their movements are still increased,” Stewart said.

Although some cases are unavoidable, there are always precautions drivers can take to reduce the likelihood of hitting a deer, Stewart said.

Stewart said people should be careful during dawn or dusk, when they’ll most likely encounter a deer.

During these times, drivers should obey or go below the speed limit, giving themselves more reaction time, Stewart said.

If one deer is present, drivers should watch for more.

“Deer are social animals, so if you see one deer cross the road ahead of you, there may be another nearby,” Stewart said.

Drivers should also be careful around roads where there are a lot of hiding spots close to the road, such as bushes or forests, Stewart said.

Lastly, using vehicles’ high beam lights at night is helpful because deer have a reflective capability in their eyes, Stewart said.

However, if doing so, drivers still need to be courteous of oncoming traffic, he said.

“If people hit a deer, I tell them do not approach the deer because it may not be dead,” Stewart said. “Deer are peaceful in nature but they are powerful animals, their back legs are incredibly strong, and their hooves can be very sharp.”

Stewart said it does not take an overpopulation of deer to have a lot of collisions. This could happen solely with many cars driving.

“At this time of year, collisions are going to happen whether there is the right amount of deer or too many deer,” Stewart said.

— Mary Hauber