10 Most Likely States to Hit a Deer

[SGOS]

https://autos.yahoo.com/news/top-10-states-where-likely-hit-deer-200024483.html

West Virginia hits takes top honors, which is fitting since the white tailed deer is specifically identified as the Virginia Whitetail Deer (even when they live in Montana), and the whitetail's scientific name is Odocoileus virginianus.

My previous state of residence, Montana, is third on the list (1 chance in 75 to hit a deer next year), and that doesn't seem as high as the way I remember it.  I've hit more deer than I can count.  I've had them end up on top of the car.  I had to apply the brakes one time to get the damn thing to slide down onto the hood, and then off the front bumper.

I've also hit bear on two occasions, and once I hit a moose.  Another time I almost had a moose fall on the car from a cliff above the road.  He missed me by about 10 feet.  On a drive through Glacier Park, I almost hit a mountain goat.  Well, actually missed him by 50 yards, but I like to fantasize that I could have added a mountain goat to my list of road killed trophies.

According to State Farm Insurance, for the eighth year in a row, West Virginia tops the list of states where a collision is most likely. The odds a driver in the Mountain State will collide with a deer are 1 in 39, nearly a 5 percent increase compared to 2013.

Hawaii rounds out the bottom of the list also for the eighth year in a row with odds of 1 in 10,281. Hawaiians are three times more likely to get struck by lightning in their lifetime than they are to hit a deer in the next year.

Here are the Top 10 States Where You Will Hit a Deer (with the odds thrown in)

1. West Virginia 1 in 39
2. Pennsylvania 1 in 71
3. Montana 1 in 75
4. Iowa 1 in 77
5. South Dakota 1 in 82
6. Mississippi 1 in 84
7. Wisconsin 1 in 85
8. Minnesota 1 in 88
9. Virginia 1 in 88
10. South Carolina 1 in 93

[stromboli]

Another reason to move to West Virginia. I have recipes for road kill. Next vehicle- either a 4Runner or a Honda Pilot- will have crash bars on the front and a winch to hoist the deer with.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Ironically WV is also probably the most likely place to be shot and killed by a drunken deer hunter..  I wonder what the odds are there..

[SGOS]

Ironically WV is also probably the most likely place to be shot and killed by a drunken deer hunter..  I wonder what the odds are there..

1 out of 3, probably, but the real risk is in being kidnapped and killed by those guys in Deliverance.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

1 out of 3, probably, but the real risk is in being kidnapped and killed by those guys in Deliverance.

That's why I bought a banjo and can pick out most of the song.. I'm perilously close to knowing how to play it on the guitar though..

[Johan]

I've hit more deer than I can count.  I've had them end up on top of the car.  I had to apply the brakes one time to get the damn thing to slide down onto the hood, and then off the front bumper.

I've also hit bear on two occasions, and once I hit a moose. 

Note to self, never get into a car with SGOS.

[Hydra009]

I'm surprised North Carolina isn't higher on the list.  It's probably comparable to South Carolina.

I've had a couple near-collisions, myself.  I saw one guy's car with heavy damage from a deer - bumper barely on, cracked windshield, rear-view mirror completely snapped off, lots of dents and scratching all across the right door.  Must've really slammed into the poor bugger.

As much as I love fuzzy animals, I don't mind hunters thinning out the herd.  Damn things are everywhere over here.

[Hydra009]

Note to self, never get into a car with SGOS.

Unless it's a Death Race. 

[Mermaid]

Living on the NJ/PA border for a good 20 years, I can't believe I have never hit a deer. They are like rats running everywhere in Bucks/Mercer counties.
I guess I am just lucky. Or I know how to use my high beams.

[stromboli]

For the record, that is a 2 point (western count) or a 4 point (eastern count)

Boy howdy, sum good eatin' raht thayer

(and the hind quarters is already pre-tenderized.  )

[stromboli]

Thing is though, seriously, those things are mouse-colored and move about at twilight or dawn when visibility is not the best. I have fairly trained eyeballs from driving mountain roads and look for them constantly, but they always do the supid thing and dart in front of you when least expected.

[Mermaid]

It's the eyeball reflection that I look for.

What a gruesome photo. The humerus sticking out of the front leg for extra ewwwww.

[Hydra009]

Boy howdy, sum good eatin' raht thayer

(and the hind quarters is already pre-tenderized.  )

*notices the bone sticking out of the skin*

[SGOS]

Unless it's a Death Race. 

I've collected on my comprehensive insurance a lot.  Hitting numerous deer or other wild animal does not affect your insurance.  I asked my insurance agent about this.  He said, "No.  It's considered an act of god, and no one is held at fault."

In line with Stomboli's comment, I have a friend who mounted custom welded crash bars on the front of his wife's sedan.  I've never seen anything quite like that.  Lot's of pickups have them, but not the family car.  He told his wife, if a deer jumps out on the road, don't swerve and don't slam on the brakes.  Don't slow down (I'm not kidding).  He told her to just crash directly into it.  Take it head on.

Well that's even a little over the top for my standards.  While I've hit a lot of deer, I've skillfully managed to miss just as many.

[stromboli]

It's the eyeball reflection that I look for.

What a gruesome photo. The humerus sticking out of the front leg for extra ewwwww.

And pre-boned. What more could you ask for?