| Colorado | The move to winter range, which is also the rut | October 14First Rifle | “Wildlife-vehicle collisions can happen year-round at any time. There is an increase during the winter migration season, especially between dusk and dawn hours, when animals move to lower elevations for the coming winter. Deer are extremely vulnerable to being struck at this time of year because it is their peak mating season.”
— Colorado Parks and Wildlife — Wildlife Collisions, checked Aug 30, 2026 Colorado is the one state here where the drive down off the high country matters as much as the rut does: elk and mule deer are heading for lower ground in the same weeks the bucks stop paying attention. Parks and Wildlife counts about 3,300 wildlife hits reported to the state transportation department each year, and names I-70 at Floyd Hill, US 285 at Morrison and US 550 north of Durango among the roads to slow down on. |
| Georgia | October to late December, and it moves by county | October 17Firearms | “Deer mating season occurs between October and late December, depending on location. Male deer go into ‘rut’ and begin actively searching for mates. This behavior results in an increase in deer movement, bringing them across roadways.”
— Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division — Prevent Deer Car Collisions: Driving Tips, checked Aug 30, 2026 Georgia is the state that refuses to give one date, and says so: the Wildlife Resources Division publishes a county-level rut map precisely because peak breeding in the mountains and peak breeding on the coastal plain are weeks apart. Its state deer biologist adds the rule that saves the most fenders — if one deer crosses, the second one is the one you hit.
Also read: Georgia DNR — deer rut map |
| Indiana | September through December, worst in October and November | November 14Firearms | “From September through December, particularly October and November during deer mating season as bucks cross roads more frequently and are less cautious when crossing.”
— Indiana DNR Fish & Wildlife — Deer-Vehicle Collisions and YOU, checked Aug 30, 2026 The same Fish & Wildlife handout puts the annual count at more than 14,000 reported deer-vehicle collisions, and picks out the ground they happen on — suburbs where hunting is prohibited, and roads that separate a farm field from the woodlot behind it. |
| Kentucky | October through December — nearly half the year in three months | September 25CWD Antlerless Season | “Nearly half of all deer collisions occur during the last three months of the year.”
— Kentucky Transportation Cabinet — 2024 “Antler Alert” (Oct. 11, 2024), checked Aug 30, 2026 Kentucky reported 3,228 crashes in which a vehicle struck a deer in 2023, the highest of the previous five years, with three deaths and 30 serious injuries. The Transportation Cabinet's state highway engineer puts it plainly in the same release: crashes involving large animals tend to increase from October through December. |
| Michigan | Two peaks — April to June, and October to December | September 12Early Antlerless Firearm | “Deer are most active from April through June and from October through December. During those months, most vehicle-deer crashes take place, although such crashes are a year-round problem.”
— Michigan State Police, Office of Highway Safety Planning — Deer-Vehicle Crashes, checked Aug 30, 2026 Michigan is one of two states here whose agency names a spring peak alongside the fall one, and it is the half of the year most drivers never hear about. More than 58,000 vehicle-deer crashes were reported in Michigan in 2024, about 80 percent of them on two-lane roads. |
| Minnesota | Autumn, without a month named | November 7Firearms Season A | “Deer-vehicle crashes peak in the autumn months, but Minnesota's large deer population makes them a safety hazard on the road all year long.”
— Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety — Deer-vehicle safety, checked Aug 30, 2026 The Office of Traffic Safety names the season and stops there, which is a fair reading of a state where the herd is big enough that no month is quiet. Its one specific hour is 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Missouri | Mid-October to the end of November | October 9Firearms Early Antlerless Portion | “Deer/vehicle collisions are at their peak from mid-October through the end of November”
— Missouri Department of Transportation — Cute But Deadly, checked Aug 30, 2026 MoDOT is the only agency on this page to bracket the window inside the months rather than name whole months — mid-October to the end of November is the Missouri rut, more or less exactly. |
| New York | October, November and December | September 12Early Antlerless Firearms | “During the months of October, November, and December, it is breeding season for deer and the animals are more visible.”
— NYSDEC and NYS DMV — DMV and DEC Warn Motorists to Watch for Deer and Moose on or Near Roadways (Oct. 26, 2022), checked Aug 30, 2026 The same joint release from the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Motor Vehicles puts 41 percent of New York's 2021 deer-vehicle crashes inside that three-month span. New York is also the rare state where the warning has to cover moose as well. |
| North Carolina | October through December — November alone is 23.2% of the year | August 22Special Early Season | “Deer are on the move throughout North Carolina between the months of October and December, and drivers should remain vigilant on the roads to remain safe.”
— NCDOT — Avoiding Collisions with Deer, checked Aug 30, 2026 North Carolina publishes the sharpest month split of any state here. Of 63,487 animal crashes from 2022 through 2024, November carried 14,725 — 23.2 percent of the year in one month — with October at 9,238 (14.6 percent) and December at 8,181 (12.9 percent). That is half of a three-year record inside a quarter of the calendar. About 90 percent of the state's animal crashes involve deer, and animal strikes are about 8 percent of all crashes in North Carolina.
Also read: NCDOT Traffic Safety Unit — North Carolina Animal-Related Crashes 2022-2024 (PDF) |
| Ohio | October through December, 47% of crashes — 22% in November | October 10Early Gun | “from 2019-2023, 47% of these crashes occurred in October, November and December, with 22% occurring in November alone.”
— Ohio State Highway Patrol — Ohio continues into peak time for deer-involved crashes (Nov. 7, 2024), checked Aug 30, 2026 The Highway Patrol had counted 109,507 deer-involved crashes on Ohio roads since 2019 when it published that. Ninety-five percent were property damage only, but 44 were fatal and killed 45 people. Stark, Richland, Hancock and Defiance counties alone accounted for a tenth of them. |
| Pennsylvania | October, November and December | October 22Special Firearms (Antlerless) | “The months of October, November, and December are when deer are moving around the most, and for longer durations during the day”
— Pennsylvania Game Commission — Deer crossing roads more frequently (Oct. 27, 2025), checked Aug 30, 2026 That is the Game Commission's executive director, in a release the agency issues every autumn because Pennsylvania has the worst odds in the country: the Commission puts a Pennsylvania driver's chance of hitting a big-game animal at 1 in 62 against a national 1 in 139, and the state led the nation in animal-collision insurance claims in fiscal 2024-25.
Also read: PennDOT — Crash Facts & Statistics |
| Texas | October through December statewide, but the date moves by region | November 7General Season | “In the fall months, especially from October through December, deer are beginning their natural breeding behavior and are moving around to find mates.”
— TxDOT — Deer in headlights (Oct. 31, 2024), checked Aug 30, 2026 Texas is the state where “the rut” least means one week. Parks and Wildlife's own breeding study puts peak conception at September 30 on the northern Gulf Prairies and December 24 in the western South Texas Plains — nearly three months apart inside one state. TxDOT timed the warning above to opening day of the general whitetail season, which is the other reason deer are moving. |
| Virginia | October and November — 42% of the year's crashes | September 5Early & Late Antlerless-Only Firearms | “Last year, 42% of the crashes involving deer in Virginia happened in October and November”
— VDOT — Oh deer! It's mating season, and drivers should be alert (Oct. 8, 2024), checked Aug 30, 2026 Virginia reported 7,335 crashes involving deer to law enforcement that year, with 690 injuries, after a 20 percent rise between 2022 and 2023. VDOT narrows the activity window further than the months do: mid-October through November. |
| Wisconsin | October and November, with a second peak in May and June | October 3Gun Hunt for Hunters with Disabilities | “Deer crashes tend to peak during the months of October and November during the ‘rut’ or mating season for white-tailed deer.”
— WisDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety — Deer Crashes in Wisconsin, 2024 fact sheet (PDF), checked Aug 30, 2026 The same fact sheet names the peak nobody expects: “Another peak typically occurs in May and June when female deer give birth and young deer separate from their mothers.” Wisconsin recorded 17,432 deer crashes in 2024 — 14 percent of every crash in the state — and nine deaths, seven of them motorcyclists. About 42 percent of motorcycle-deer crashes end in a death or a serious injury, against less than 0.1 percent for passenger vehicles.
Also read: WisDOT — Be on the lookout for more deer on the roads during the fall rut (Oct. 25, 2024) |