The state's deer population has increased 25% over the past three years. With more than a quarter-of-a-million deer moving around our area, drivers face a greater danger of having an accident.

With that many deer in the state they are bound to ruin corn and soybean fields and run into cars.

It’s the time of year that motorists really need to keep an eye on and off the road and try to prevent a collision with one of the many deer moving about.

Andrea Lesac often drives between Fort Calhoun and Blair and has hit quite a few deer over the years.

"Its very scary to hit a deer. You hit so hard it feels like you hit a wall. They're big and you feel like you're gonna get hurt and you get out and look at your car, you can’t believe the damage you did to your car."

“Generally speaking, we see front end damage, radiators, condensers, bumpers, headlights, most of the expensive parts of the car is up in the front, so they average $2,500 to $3,000 in damage," says John Engdahl of AA Collision Repair.

He’s been in the auto body business for 30 years and says he’s never seen this many car-deer collision repair jobs come into the shop.

"About the last three weeks to a month, it’s been increasing. We stared at one to two, maybe now its up to one to three every three weeks. The last week to a month we've done an average of two to three a week.”

The deer population has hit record highs in our area and this is the time of year they're really on the move.

"We do have high deer population around the area and throughout Nebraska this year,” says Greg Wagner with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

“We're gonna issue more deer permits than ever before. The big thing is the deer breeding season is rolling now and deer are moving around, so you gotta watch out."

Make sure you slow down when you see a deer warning sign, pay close attention to that area.

It’s important to remember that most deer crash injuries and deaths happen when drivers try to avoid the animal. Many times swerving causes the driver to lose control.