So what if they have eaten everything that is green and now starve, never shoot Bambi or her kin, ever, no matter what!
Car wrecks? Too many cars already!
During the fall in deep East Texas, the shoulders of the interstates are littered with deer carcasses. In my neck of East Texas, drivers must be careful of both deer and feral hogs. Both of these can total a passenger vehicle.
My first military assignment was in South Carolina; I had a semi-crazed roommate who was a native of the Palmetto State. He drove a beat-up Chevy Monza (remember those?) with a dented hood and fenders that would barely pass inspection. I asked him why he drove such a heap; he explained the Monza was his “deer hunting car.”
Before joining the Air Force (and while on leave after enlisting), he’d drive down the backroads near Walterboro with only his parking lights on and (if there was enough moon illumination), no lights at all. This technique netted three deer in less than 18 months, with corresponding damage to the Monza. Claimed it was a lot faster than sitting in a deer stand.
Last I heard he was still in the Low Country, but I’m not sure if he’s still hunting by auto.
Seriously, there are a lot of states that need to extend their deer seasons. Virtually no natural predators left in the wild, and the population is exploding.
Not far from where I now live, there’s a growing herd on a local USCG base. Naturally, everyone on the installation is unarmed (except for base security) and the deer have apparently learned they won’t get shot inside the perimeter. So, they hop the fence or simply walk through the gate.
There are probably more deer here in the coastal New Jersey suburbs than there were in 1776. Back then if one strayed into your yard at any season of the year, the musket came down from over the fireplace and venison went on the menu.
PA here, I hit my first one about two years back. I was going 40 MPH (on the nose and legal) and the flippin thing was on the bridge I was crossing. All I could do was slam on the brakes as there was on-coming traffic. I hit it going about 30 at that point and sent it sailing / grazing the on-coming vehicles hood.
All said and done, 3400 in damages; nothing to the the other vehicle (I’m also glad it didn’t launch over the side of the bridge and onto the freeway below (an Interstate).
Costly little buggers. I now hunt.
Not to mention, the deer overpopulation is probably related to increased cases of LYME disease cuased by deer ticks.
I was riding with my father in his pickup many years ago when a deer jumped out of the bushes along the road and ran into the side of the pickup. We did not run into it. It ran into us. The insurance guy could not believe that. He came out to look at it and saw that there was no front end damage of any kind. The damage was from between the doors (a stretch pickup) and back.
D’oh, A Deer!
This morning we had six deer in the yard
the previous record was 4
in our immediate neighborhood we have at least 10 known
soon the wolves will be coming