Oh deer, here we go again!

Let’s paint a picture together, shall we? It is a lovely night, and you’re driving down Fall Creek Highway at dusk. It's 7 p.m., the windows are open, music is playing, and you’re thinking life just can’t get any sweeter. That’s when it happens — WHAM!

That’s right, you’ve hit another deer. It is a tale as old as time around these parts, but let’s discuss why this happens and the steps you can take to prevent it from happening again.

Some quick stats for all my number-lovers out there: according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas is home to over 5.6 million white-tail deer. Of these 5.6 million doe-eyed friends, 61,000 of them will meet an untimely demise at the end of a bumper each year, a number that begins to skyrocket in November specifically, but why?

Objectively, November’s a busy month for deer. In Central Texas, deer enter their 28-day-long “rut,” or mating season in mid-November. Coincidently, as rifle season opens Nov. 2, the rut aligns with that special time of year when deer hunters begin to don their camo and take to the woods armed with their rifles and visions of a lovely backstrap pot-roast.

These two factors and how they coincide force deer to act erratically and adopt different migratory patterns. Unfortunately for you, dear reader, sometimes these erratic migratory patterns just so happen to be directly in the path of your poor Honda Civic.

Now I know we’ve all heard the term “like a deer in headlights,” but why exactly do deer freeze when faced with imminent death?

According to an article in the New York Times, “by human standards, deer are ‘legally blind.’” As they are typically most active during the early morning and at dusk, their eyes are adapted to low-light scenarios, meaning their pupils are smaller and more light-restrictive than humans.’ This means that as you suddenly flash your headlights into their eyes, they’re temporarily blinded, restricting their ability to flee.

So, what can you do to stop the madness? According to the Insurance Information Institute, there are several tactics you should consider as a driver to protect yourself — and our town’s native fauna — from incurring any damages:

· Use high beams — Using high beam headlights when there is no on-coming traffic increases your field of vision at night and allows you to see any critters that may enter your path.

· Stay attentive during peak deer activity — deer are most active between sunset and midnight, so be exceedingly cautious during these times.

· Take notice of deer-crossing zones — areas with high deer traffic are marked by a diamond-shaped sign with a deer in the center.

· Understand deer travel in herds — if you see one deer on the shoulder, there likely are other deer in the area that you have yet to see.

· Brake firmly and stay within your lane — give both yourself and the deer time to process the situation by braking firmly and be sure to stay in your lane at all costs in case of oncoming traffic.

· Use your horn — if you notice a deer on or near the road, give your horn a short blast to scare it away.

· Just hit them — if worse comes to worst and it’s too late to implement the above tactics, just hit the deer. The sad truth is that you have much greater odds of not getting into a serious accident by hitting them than you do by trying to swerve around them.

For more tips and tricks, see tpwd.texas.gov.