REPUBLIC, Mo. — It’s the time of year when you might see more deer around, and although a dream for hunters, it can be a nightmare for drivers.
With this weekend’s opening firearm deer season, those deer in the woods could end up in the middle of the road causing damage to your car.
Case Howard recently hit a deer in his truck. This was his first time hitting a deer and he said the deer came out of nowhere.
“I’m behind the wheel of my truck driving. We’re down in Branson West kind of Kimberling City area,” Howard said. “And coming off DD highway, I got back on 13 Highway and 2 minutes after that I hit a big six-point deer”
After the collision, Howard was looking to get his truck fixed, which brought him to Kirk’s Collision Center.
“On a given week during the typical season, we will do an estimate, a week on a deer hit,” said Kyle Kirk owner and operator of Kirk’s Collision Center. “Once the temperature drops like it has, we’ll do 8 to 10 deer hit estimates in a day.”
Kirk said the temperature dropping, deer hunting season, and the sun setting earlier can all contribute to seeing more deer on the roadways.
“There are a lot of people out in the woods right now that aren’t typically, so the deer are more spooked than normal,” Kirk said. “So they tend to run out in the streets and try to run away, and it doesn’t end well.”
“We see anywhere from 6 to 12 deer in the evening when we go down to the lake,” Howard said. “So, yeah, absolutely. I had my head on a swivel and was looking for the deer.”
According to Kirk, deer collisions can cause significant damage and repairs can be expensive. So it is important to have the right kind of insurance.
“If it [a deer] damages the radiator, radiator or condenser, they pretty much need to call a tow truck and have it towed,” Kirk said. “We’ve seen some as far as busting out windshields, busting inside windows, a lot of airbags have gone off. So, they are pretty significant hits.”
Drivers are encouraged to call law enforcement when they hit a deer to help clean up debris in the roadway.
