“Oh, the night life, it ain’t no good life, but it’s my life.” — Refrain from “Night Life” by Willie Nelson
Those lyrics penned by Willie Nelson are very much on target describing the challenges Pennsylvania’s deer hunters will face when they take to the woods for the Monday, Dec. 1, opening of the two-week, statewide firearms deer season.
The same is true for motorists on their early-morning and night-time commutes.
Not that further confirmation is needed, but the ongoing study by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and the annual deer-vehicle report by the State Farm Insurance Agency finds that the majority of deer movement — especially mature bucks — occurs at night from October through December. This contradicts the claims by anti-hunters that human movement in the woods is disturbing deer, and seems to indicate the hormonal drive of the breeding season, commonly called the “rut,” is the reason so many deer become less cautious and put themselves in harm’s way at night.
According to the State Farm report, 1-in-71 Pennsylvania drivers will be involved in a deer-related accident during the next 12 months. That ranks the commonwealth No. 2 in the nation behind only West Virginia, where 1-in-39 drivers will be involved in such an accident. At the opposite is Hawaii, where 1-in-10,281 drivers will be involved in a deer-related accident.
Pennsylvania’s rate represents a 7.8 percent increase from last year and indicates a rising trend. Three years ago, the state ranked No. 5 with a 1-in-76 rate. Last year there were nearly 124,000 deer-vehicle collisions reported in Pennsylvania, with an average cost approximately $3,900, which is around a 14 percent increase from last year due to the rising cost of parts and labor.
Adding to the potential of deer-vehicle collisions occurring earlier in the evening and during the morning commute is the arrival of daylight saving time since dusk and dawn are the peak hours for deer activity. Although it is human nature to rush home after work, being alert to movement on both sides of the road and defensive driving — especially on secondary roads — can reduce an encounter of the unwanted kind with a deer.
There is a reason that those “Deer Crossing” signs are placed where they are, and it is not to inform the deer where to cross. Those signs indicate areas of high deer activity where family groups and small herds are known to use regularly for crossing highways.
Many deer-vehicle collisions occur when a driver assumes it is safe to accelerate after seeing deer cross the road in front of them without looking for additional deer that may follow. Deer almost always travel in single file, and a lone doe may often be followed by a rutting buck.
Drivers hitting a deer are not required to report the incident to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, but only Pennsylvania residents may claim a dead deer. Even if the deer will be butchered at home, the deer must be reported to the PGC Region office where the accident occurred for a free permit number.
It is illegal to remove the antlers from a road-killed buck, but they may possessed by paying the PGC a fee of $10 per point. Otherwise, the PGC will claim the antlers for use in educational workshops.
As for the Penn State study, it is being conducted on 40 deer fitted with GPS radio collars on four tracts of between 25 and 40 square miles each in Bald Eagle, Rothrock and Susquehannock state forests. Duane Diefenbach, adjunct professor of wildlife ecology and land researcher, said animations transmitted from the collars showing deer movement from 2013 will be of great interest to hunters and other wildlife lovers.
“New technology allows us to get deer locations as often as every 20 minutes, plus we can turn those sequences of locations into video simulations showing how deer move across the landscape,” Diefenbach said. “Behaviors of some of these deer are fascinating, and we currently are showing the movements of four different bucks during September and October 2013, then we will offer animations showing how the bucks traveled during the 2013 rut.
“We want to start sharing updates and findings from research with the public, and in coming weeks and months, we’ll share how deer movements change over the seasons. Hunters and anyone interested in deer behavior will find it really fascinating to see how these deer move around.”
During the rut, the GPS collars collect locations every three hours, and during the firearms season deer locations are captured every 20 minutes. Animations showing those movements will be available on the website in coming months.
Information on the study is available on its website at www.
ecosystems.psu.edu/research/
projects/deer.