Whitefish is a town of only 11.6 square miles, yet about 100 deer were stuck by cars on streets within the city limits last year.  

Local professionals tasked with dispatching injured deer, removing carcasses and repairing vehicles agree that the main cause of the crashes is not the nature of deer. The likely cause of over half the wrecks is inattentive drivers. 

The number of deer the Whitefish Public Works Department picks up each year is not an exact figure. While Director Craig Workman says they collect 40 deer in a year, many are not documented. 

“If our guys happen to see one, they’ll just stop and pick it up,” said Whitefish Street and Utility Supervisor Randy Renyolds. 

Two main streets through town, Wisconsin Avenue and Spokane Avenue, are maintained by the state. Joe Rohrman, acting supervisor for the Whitefish section of the Montana Department of Transportation said he has seen bears on Wisconsin Avenue as well as turkeys and foxes in town, both living and dead, in addition to deer. 

Rohrman reports his team collects 20-30 dead deer from those two streets within city limits each year. Again, the state crew picks up more than what is recorded. 

Since the numbers are likely significantly higher than what is reported, there could be upwards of 100 deer killed by vehicles within city limits of Whitefish annually.  

“Wisconsin Avenue is one of those roads where I'd just expect to see a dead deer a week,” Workman said. “In fact, we just put a deer crossing sign on Wisconsin Avenue.” 

The impetus for that sign was a letter from 7-year-old Whitefish resident Porter Carl who was concerned about the number of deer being killed near his home on Wisconsin Avenue. Workman talked with the state transportation department and installed the sign last fall.  

A COMMON STORY is that the deer “came out of nowhere” and jumped in front of the vehicle. While accidents of that sort happen on interstates, it is not what typically happens on city streets. 

“I understand it on the highway because you're doing highway speed; but in town?” Reynolds said. “We've picked them [deer] up on Central Avenue.” 

With lower speed limits, lights and cleared shoulders making visibility good, the main reason deer are hit by vehicles in town is inattentive drivers. 

“That’s what it is, right there,” Reynolds said, pointing at a cellphone. 

“They’re all paying attention to their phones,” Workman added. “That's most of it.” 

Rohrman, with the state transportation department, agrees.  

“Through the whole town of Whitefish, you have distance off the side of the road, you can see them,” Rohrman said. “Definitely, at 45, 35, 25 miles per hour, if you’re paying attention, you should be able to stop and miss the deer if you see them. 

Whitefish Police Chief Bridger Kelch said his department responded to 43 deer incidents wherein deer needed to be dispatched last year. Add a dozen motor vehicle collisions with deer for a total of 55 reported incidents. 

Kelch agrees that the actual number of deer killed on the roads is significantly higher because many accidents go unreported. For minor accidents, those with less than $1,000 damage, drivers get a white accident form and self-report the accident to the state. 

While Kelch said distracted drivers contribute to some of the collisions, he couldn’t identify that as the root cause.  

“When deer decide to move, they move,” he said. “People surely don’t want to admit to us they were on their phone when they whacked a deer.” 

It is important for a motorist who has collided with a deer to call 911 if there is road blockage or the non-emergency number for the police otherwise. When it comes to accidents, motorists’ safety is the first priority for the police department. 

“The important thing for us is that they’re safe and turn on their emergency flashers, that the deer is removed from the right of way of the road so other motorists don’t hit it and that they call police so we can document the incident,” Kelch said. “We're happy to do so.” 

Sometimes, deer dart into the side of a vehicle.  

“It’s not always a head-on collision,” Kelch said. “It happens a lot. You'd be surprised.” 

Joe Hill, manager of Hill Brothers Auto Body and Towing, repairs vehicles involved in deer accidents in Whitefish and said about a third of the collisions involve deer hitting a vehicle rather than a vehicle hitting the deer. 

He concurs with Reynolds, Workman and Rorhman that distracted drivers are to blame for the rest of the collisions on city streets. 

“Unfortunately, most of the front-end hits are like that, if they’re in town, because deer are going slower, you’re supposed to be going slower, and if you are not distracted, you have more of a chance to brake,” he said. “You should be able to stop.” 

Hill said his company takes in an average of seven deer-collided vehicles each week, but not all are from within Whitefish city limits. He said the average price to fix one of those vehicles is $6,000.  

Montana auto insurance companies do not call a vehicle striking deer a “no fault” accident, as is popularly believed. According to AAA, it is considered a comprehensive loss, so the driver must have comprehensive coverage to get help paying for auto repairs. 

ANOTHER WIDELY HELD misunderstanding is that the food bank will take a deer that’s been recently stuck by a vehicle. 

Lauren Jerrold, director of operations at North Valley Food Bank, said the organization stopped accepting roadkill about five years ago. 

“We don’t take any roadkill any time of year anymore. We haven’t accepted roadkill since 2019,” said Jerrold. “We don’t do it because we can’t guarantee the quality and safety of the meat.” 

All roadkill is brought to the city shop on 18th Street West where they serve as a macabre buffet for magpies, eagles and ravens. 

“The birds clean ‘em up pretty good,” Reynolds said. 

However, drivers can apply for a salvage tag with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks if they want to keep the deer they struck. In that case, Kelch suggests getting the deer tested for Chronic Wasting Disease.