Deer hit by Vehicles

[Sam]

I have found 5 Deer in the last 4 months hit by vehicles off our property and those are just the ones i found. I really dislike that we plant food plots on the side of the highway across the country. Any thoughts or idea?

 

[Chainsaw]

That is a tough deal Sam. Having a property bordering a main road means some of the deer from that property will be wasted by vehicles. That is a main consideration when buying a property to my way of thinking; why buy a property that has that liability? Death to traffic from the main road will be a recurring loss to a property's deer population forever. And as you pointed out food plots exacerbate the condition to result in even more wasted deer. Once one has such a property and owns both sides of the road then planting on both sides might help but if you only own one side and the landowner on the other side does not put in food plots then deer/vehicle clashes are inevitable.

Having great bedding on your side of the road will reduce the amount of deer crossing that road daily but will not eliminate it. It is a no-win situation but with meeting all of the deer's needs on your side of the road the damage can be minimized.

 

[George]

Don't take it personal.

G

 

[Buckly]

Around here just like a lot of places, farmers plant right to the road on tens of thousands of acres. I’ve found considerable variance year to year on deer hit by cars. Foe example. I got the bright idea to plant a patch of sweet corn next to the house one year. 5 deer hit by cars that year so I quit doing that. Now on the opposite end this year they plant 200 acres of corn right across from me and right up to the road. Not one deer was hit this year. So who knows. Some deer figure it out and some don’t I guess.