I always watch for eye gleam along the road. Driving 10 miles at night you can pass over a hundred deer near the road. I try for roads that the sides are clear of brush and corn. Don’t startle the deer as you pass or they will jump into your car. Waiting until your close and hitting the horn is a bad idea.
Not a deer, but I almost hit an antelope going down US-285 in eastern New Mexico once. Stupid thing would not get off the highway. Middle of the day and it’s just standing there. I had to stop and wait for it to move.
And then there was the time I was stuck for a while because of a cow that was taking up both lanes of a two-lane highway.
My friend lived halfway between Athens and Madison, and we used to count deer when we were leaving his house at night. It was nothing to get up to 30 or 40 very quickly.
Did the deer have any doe?
Yeah 2 bucks! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
A friend of mine hit a drunken sorority girl with his F-150 going 50 mph or so back in 2004. The girl went through the windshield and landed in the passenger’s seat, which was thankfully empty (prior to infenestration). He considered salvaging the remains for dinner, but glass and bone fragments were everywhere and would have been too much work to clean up. He called and offered me the carcass, and though I felt guilty for letting the meat go to waste, I had to decline. Final exams were in two days and no meal could be delicious enough to distract me from my studies.
I was with you until the “most” part.
Why not all of them?
I especially single out the hunting regulations that specify you can’t go after does. They’re the ones that are spawning new deer right and left. Whenever I nearly hit a deer it’s Diane the Hesitator, not something with antlers.
I believe, though can’t find for sure right now, that there are a limited number of licenses. I’ve been reading a bit and found that a lot are done at night and by the park police. They also say that the deer have started to move down county, which for us mean more towards Bethesda and DC.
depends on where and the populations. there are places with ‘doe only’ seasons or that to be able to shoot a buck you have to already have shot a doe.
in terms of number of deer killed to control population to kill bucks is way more effective.
bucks are for trophies, does are for better eating.
This thread reminded me that about 5 years ago a deer ran quickly out into the road and managed to hit the door of my truck and put in a dent/scratches that ran the length of the truck bed. After that I saw that it got up and ran off!
In Democratic Canada you don’t hit the deer. The deer hit you.
Apparently, in New Hampshire this is true too. I was driving very slowly in the fog one evening and these two deer came bounding out of the woods and slammed into the side of my brand new car. Grrr… Had to have the front fender and two doors replaced.
However, having lived in the mountains of NH with the threat of deer and moose all around, I’d really rather just shoot all the tourists. Can’t count the number of times I came around a blind corner on the highway and had to come to a screeching halt because the bloody tourists had turned the road into a parking lot – to take pictures of the moose hanging out in the bog on the side of the road, or some other damn thing. Rats with cameras, I say. Slithering up from southern locales to infest the place.
To the states, hunting is big business. There lies the problem. On one hand they want a lot of deer to keep the “success” rate high and attract hunters to the state so they will buy licenses, gasoline, supplies, ammo and beer (gotta have the beer). On the other hand, overpopulation of deer is a problem. They end up starving and running in front of cars. Not good. So the state game officials try to “manage” the herd.
I’m not a hunter. It’s not my thing. However, this time of year I stop into the cathedral and light some votive candles to pray for a successful hunt.