It’s ‘Deer Season’ For More Than Just Hunters, Drivers Beware

For the first time in 27 years as a driver in the state of Iowa, I had to file my first “I hit a deer” claim with my insurance agent.

It's “Harvest Season” in North East Iowa, and “rut season” is right around the corner. Because for those facts, it should be no surprise to any of us that this is the time of year that we need to pay extra special attention to deer trying to cross our rural roadways.

For my past 27 years, I've been driving home from either a dirt track or a baseball diamond in the dead of night. The fact that I've NEVER hit a deer over those 27 years, honestly, is quite astounding. Apparently all good things come to an end as I had to file that first ever “I hit a deer” claim.

I've always looked for those glowing eyes in the ditches, but this past week, I missed those glowing eyes and was burned by a female deer that popped up on the road running in the same direction that I was driving.

I never saw her eyes!

This female deer suddenly decided to cut right in front of me. I have always remembered hearing that you should never swerve to miss a deer. It's always better to hit them head on. That being said, I decided otherwise when I was faced with this “head-on” collision with this female deer.

The female deer was a BIG one, and I determined that if I hit her head on, her upper torso would have ended up crashing through my windshield and directly hit my chest. In the one second that I had to process the ENTIRE situation, I guessed that this female was at least 400+ pounds, and I doubted that I would survive a direct impact.

I decided to veer slightly to the right to avoid the direct impact. I am HAPPY to say that it was the right decision, as I was able to walk away!

All that being said, it is a big reminder that all of us need to be cautious this time of year. I was lucky to walk away!!