It’s deer breeding season and motorists need to pay extra attention to deer along rural roads and highways as two motorists found out just north of Salina on Thursday evening.

Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said Friday that deputies and EMTs were called to a location on U.S. 81 just north of the Kansas 143 (K-143) junction at 7:48 p.m. Thursday for the report of a vehicle-deer accident. He said that Anastasia Willits, 20, of Minneapolis, was northbound on U.S. 81 in a 2005 Ford Explorer when a deer hit the driver’s side of the vehicle, shattering the driver’s window. Willits had lacerations on her arm from the broken window, but was treated at the scene, he added.

Soldan said that damage was limited to much of the driver’s side of the vehicle. Willits was able to drive the vehicle from the scene after the accident, he said.

The second vehicle-deer accident occurred on K-143 just east of U.S. 81 at approximately 8:10 p.m., Soldan said. Michael Hulteen, 60, of Salina was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado east on K-143 when a deer bounded out of the north ditch in front of the pickup. Hulteen was not injured, but the Silverado sustained front grill and engine damage and had to be towed from the scene.

In both accidents, things did not end well for the deer.

According to the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism (KDWPT), fall is the prime deer breeding (rut) season and will peak in mid-November.

“During rut, deer focus on mating; they travel more than in other seasons and pay less attention to hazards such as vehicles,” the KDWPT website states.

Here are some tips from KDWPT to help avoid deer collisions:

• Be especially watchful at dawn and dusk when deer are most active.
• Watch for more than one deer, as they seldom travel alone.
• Reduce speed and be alert near wooded areas or green spaces such as parks or golf courses and near water such as streams or ponds.
• Deer crossing signs indicate where high levels of deer/vehicle crashes have occurred in the past.
• Use your bright lights to help you detect deer as far ahead as possible.
• Don’t swerve to avoid hitting a deer – the most serious crashes sometimes occur when drivers swerve and collide with another vehicle or run off the road and hit an obstacle.
• Always wear a seatbelt and use child safety seats for the kids. Even if you are waiting in your car, it is best to wear your seatbelt and have your children in car seats.