Crash

Let me state for the record, that I am not a fan of deer being anyplace other than perhaps grilled to perfection and served with a plateful of sautéed mushrooms and onions.

I especially am not a fan of having a deer leap in front of my car as I am driving home from work. In my mind, the fewer deer to become road hazards the better.

In the close to three decades I have lived in Wisconsin, I have had run-ins with deer on three occasions. The first two were fairly early in my time in the state and were glancing blows doing not much more than causing a dent in the already beater-level vehicles I was driving at the time.

I have had numerous other less physical encounters with deer over the years. You can’t make regular runs around the county without keeping an eye out for them. I find that it even has impacted how I drive.

By default, I tend to hug the centerline of the road as a way to give me as much reaction time as possible for a deer to jump out from the ditch and launch a suicide attack on my vehicle. I have also learned from reading many hundreds of accident reports over the years that swerving off the road to try to miss a deer is a recipe for disaster. When it comes to roads in Taylor County it is essential to remember that the ditches are deep and even under three feet of snow likely are full of water, neither of which will do good things for any vehicle.

By comparison, my wife and daughter who spend the bulk of their time driving in more urban settings and on state highways tend to drive closer to the fog line. This terrifies me when I am a passenger especially as we go down rural roads. I imagine a deer getting spooked from the ditch and ending up in my lap in the passenger seat. Such a situation would not end well for any of us.

My most recent close encounter with the split-hoofed menace that lurk in our state’s fields and forests occurred last Wednesday night. I was coming home from a village board meeting and was following behind another vehicle on Hwy 102 when out of the darkness I saw a deer dart between me and the vehicle in front of me. That deer made it to safety on the north side of the road. The deer that was following behind it wasn’t so lucky and smacked cleanly into my driver’s side corner shattering my headlight in the process and doing some body damage. At this point, I am nervously awaiting just how much it will cost to repair the damage or at least make the necessary fixes so that I can limp along to my goal of replacing my vehicle in the next year or so. The COVID-19 induced supply chain headaches have already pushed my plans further than I had planned and I have been hoping to ride out my current vehicle as long as possible. Although I will note that more than a decade of faithful daily service, any vehicle, especially one in Wisconsin, is deserving of praise.

Having a deer end its life on the corner of your car is typically not a great way to end your workday. However, it was somewhat mitigated by having my faith in humanity once again restored. Within minutes of having my hazard lights on on the side of the road, a passerby was stopped and helping pick up the bigger pieces of the broken headlight and checking to see if I needed a hand or a ride someplace. In the time it took for the sheriff’s deputy to arrive on the scene several people had stopped to check on me and make sure everything was OK. Passersby stopped and quickly took over the task of using some rope I had on hand to secure the front end of the vehicle and keep it from rubbing on the front tire. Their helped turned what could have been a very stressful event into something that could be handled one step at a time — much like running a marathon.

I even appreciated the deputy offering to drive behind me and follow me all the way back into Medford to make sure I got there OK. I am sure part of it was not wanting to having to fill out another set of incident reports if I didn’t make it all the way there.

If anything, I have a new found fondness for hunters and as the various deer hunting seasons open, I wish them all luck in getting rid of as many deer as possible.

Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News.