Illinois motorists warned to look out for deer (25,006 deer-vehicle crashes in Illinois last year

Associated Press via Chicago Tribune ^ | October 9, 2008 | AP Staff

[prolifefirst]

. . . Fall is the likeliest season for vehicular crashes involving deer because it is their mating season.

There were 25,006 deer-vehicle crashes in Illinois last year -- down from the 25,490 recorded in 2006. Injuries were also down from such crashes in 2007 from the previous year, but there were five fatalities last year -- as opposed to only one in 2006.

Naturalists say deer are most active at dawn and dusk, so motorists should be especially alert at those times.

Cook County recorded the highest number of deer-related crashes last year with 995, followed by Madison County with 694.

[rabscuttle385]

I saw deer feeding at the side of I-64 Eastbound near Afton Mountain in Virginia yesterday at dusk.

[BGHater]

In Virginia, cars are one of the main ways thats culls the numbers.

[Pelagius of Asturias]

It’s evolution folks. Deer are learning to look both ways before crossing; that’s why the number of deer being hit are decreasing. In a few thousand years a new species of deer crossing guards will evolve. They will probably have bright yellow coloring around their chest. /s, sort of.

I have seen dogs stop, look both ways, and wait for the car to pass before crossing the street.

[hinckley buzzard]

Large numbers of deer strikes in Ohio also. The deer population seems to be at an all time high. I grew up in the country here and didn't see a deer for years at a time. Now they're everywhere--in the middle of developed suburbs, parks, not even to mention rural areas.

[Lazamataz]

25,006 deer-vehicle crashes

My goodness, pretty soon GEICO won't insure deer-vehicles any more.

[Cyman]

When I left Ohio in 1992, the DNR was reporting a larger deer population then before the immigration of the white man to the area

[flowerplough]

Asphalted whitetails - Over the last twenty years, my wife and I have killed one with the Astro van, three with two different Plymough Voyagers, four for the Chevy S-10, one and a probable to the Pontiac Grand Am, and a double-verified double kill with a Taurus. Wacked the deer and slid into a guy’s front yard & permanently defoliated his Japanese Maple in that particular instance.

[50cal Smokepole]

Ping-a-ling

[MountainYankee]

We call ‘em hard toed rabbits or speed beef. High density meat. High protein, low fat. Makes a heckuva meatloaf. Meatballs and burgers aren’t bad either. The cops will give you a permit to take your roadkill home..

[Ditter]

Road kill makes a good story but Have you ever eaten an animal killed by a car crash? We decided to eat a heifer that had been knocked down and killed by the other animals in the pens. The meat was still warm when we took it to the butcher but the meat so badly bruised that the blood would not drain. We ended up throwing it all away because of the blood.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

We attended our niece's wedding a month ago in south-central Illinois. Deer everywhere. Found out that almost nobody in that particular county hunted and we went to a local gun/sporting guns shop to inquire about getting a non-resident deer tag. We were met with little information, but finally pryed out of the guy that it was a lottery draw for even a doe tag and not that many tags are issued to out-of-staters.

It could be a win-win situation ... lots of cash pumped into the local economy by non-residents and fewer deer with which to collide. Apparently, it makes no sense to the liberals in charge.

[Joe 6-pack]

"We decided to eat a heifer that had been knocked down and killed by the other animals in the pens. The meat was still warm when we took it to the butcher but the meat so badly bruised that the blood would not drain."

Certainly, bruising will sully good meat, but I've had some delicious road-kill. A lot of it has to do with adrenaline released into the muscles prior to death, so a deer killed virtually instantaneously by a bullet or vehicle will generally yield much better meat than an animal that had to fight for its life.

[50cal Smokepole]

Same here. We can claim the road kill. The dang things here are better fed than the cattle (farm crops) and make for some fine eating.

[MountainYankee]

Yeah..well it depends on how banged up they are. I wouldn’t touch one that was busted up. I hit a trophy 8 point buck with a 1988 “K” car. There was some significant damage to the vehicle, ie: grill & hood, but it was funtional. When I skinned the deer, there was some bruising around one shoulder only. The rest was fine. I was a little late for work, but, it was worth the effort. I heard someone was po’d about the gut pile in his driveway, other than that it was a positive experience. I still got the horns and a hood ornament for a memento...