An on-duty Guthrie County Sheriff’s deputy struck a deer with his patrol vehicle south of Guthrie Center late Tuesday night.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, 29-year old Deputy Kent Gries of Panora, was heading southbound on Highway 25 near 270th street, when his 2012 Chevy Tahoe struck a deer that was standing in the roadway at about 11:40pm.

Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright says such accidents are common this time of year when the deer are out in greater numbers.  He advises local residents to use caution, especially when driving at night on rural roads.

“The deer are on the run again and will run across the roads because of the fall season and the harvest season.  They’ll come out of the fields.  You just need to be prepared.  Like always, speed is a critical factor in being able to stop.  Sometimes you can’t even help to avoid hitting a deer, and the rule always is ‘don’t veer for a deer’ and that means don’t try to go around it.  If you try to go around a deer, sometimes you end up in a ditch in a rollover and that makes it even worse.”

The crash only resulted in $2,500 in damage to the Tahoe, thanks in part to the ‘deer guard’ equipment the department has installed on their vehicles.

Arganbright says accidents with deer aren’t a rarity for his department to deal with this time of year since they’re always on call and the deer are always out.

Arganbright estimates he and his deputies will deal with between six and ten accidents with deer a month during the fall and early winter season.  Again, he asks that drivers be careful and prepared when traveling at night during the months ahead.