What time of day are you most likely to hit a deer?

Wayne

Wayne

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This research article shows that you are many times more likely to hit a deer as it's getting dark, than you are likely to hit a deer after dark.

We live in an area with a ton of deer, we see them every day. I have seen that deer move around the most just before sunset to dark. A couple times I've had to stop my bicycle to let deer cross the road in front of me, as the sun is setting.

 
dusk and dawn are when deer are most likely to be on the move.. seasons matter too... fair amount of deer where I live, I see one or two almost every day... the Floriduh deer dont seem to hang out by the roadside but the Michigan deer do... I think they get attracted to the shoulders, probably because of the amount of salt on the road edges...

my brother lives in Macomb County Michigan, place is over run with deer. he has hit seven of them with his personal vehicles... I've never hit one but I've sure came close.. I've been in a vehicle when we clobbered a deer.. it is just blind luck to not hit one..

also know 2 different guys who hit a deer while on a motorcycle.. not good.

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Lived in Pa for 48 years, there it's not if you'll hit a deer it's how bad will the damage be. Driving across I-80 you'll see a deer strike every 10 miles. They're definitely more active in the fall. I had 2 friends hit them while riding motorcycles, both in the daytime.

Wayne, any trouble getting stopped in time on the bike? Are you in training?
 
It seems like here in Iowa it is not if but when you will hit a deer... I have got 2 but thankfully both times I have had very little damage. Years ago it was our 2002 Durango and it cost me a grill and head light going to work. Last summer was my 2012 Ram pulling the camper. I have a small dent in the chrome bumper and some deer :poop: to clean up and I was good.

Lived in Canada for 30 years and drove to work ~45 miles each way, never saw a deer. Move to Iowa in 2006 and :eek:! They are everywhere.

I've heard and witnessed that the most activity is roughly the 3 hours at dawn and 3 hours at dusk. This is when deer tend to move the most. It is when both of my incidents happened as well (dawn).

Just my $0.02
 
Azjeff said:
Lived in Pa for 48 years, there it's not if you'll hit a deer it's how bad will the damage be. Driving across I-80 you'll see a deer strike every 10 miles. They're definitely more active in the fall. I had 2 friends hit them while riding motorcycles, both in the daytime.

Wayne, any trouble getting stopped in time on the bike? Are you in training?
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it brought back a memory of growing up in Michigan and when the snow started melting in the spring and the snowbanks receded the roadkill deer ( and mufflers, hubcaps and bottles) would all start showing themselves.
 
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Tons of deer here in rural Virginia too. Fortunately I’ve never hit one. My dad has though in both his big rig and our cars. This poor baby deer once was resting under my dad’s truck wheels in the back got my dad pulled out and ran over the poor guy. He didn’t know he was there till he moved. It flung up and hit the side of the truck. Fortunately it amazingly lived but it was injured so animal control put it down.

I almost plowed into the back of someone the other day because they stopped in the middle of a travel lane on a major road to move an injured deer off the side of the road. The car in front of them hit it and kept driving. I caught up with them after I finally got around the guy who stopped in the middle of the road. They were just trekking along like nothing happened despite them dragging the entire front end of their car and sparks flying everywhere. When I told them at the light they didn’t seem concerned and said they weren’t going fast so there was no damage I said might want to look at the front of your car. It’s amazing how people aren’t even phased by things anymore. When I travel to work it’s dark when I leave and dark when I come home.

When I was a toddler a deer ran right into the side of our car as we were turning out of our neighborhood I remember that cause I got scared. It tore up the car pretty well right next to where I was sitting. It was a 1996 Toyota Avalon.
 
thought I would say I just had my first black bear sighting of the year.. that sucker ran across the road in front of my truck at 2pm ... I don't think black bears follow the nocturnal rules deer do.. :)
 
Azjeff said:
Bears have been hibernating in Pa, but with some warm weather they come out.
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I'm in SWFLA.. I'm unsure if they actually hibernate down here, but my own personal sightings of the beast lessens in the winter months.
 
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