Hyper-awareness. That's the term I used with my kids when they were learning to drive in Jackson County, one of Michigan's hotbeds for car/deer accidents. With an estimated herd of 2 million strong and growing, these collisions will only increase if something isn't done to keep these walking insurance claims at bay and off our hoods.

Michigan's Deer Population is a Problem for Motorists

A car seen in the distance approaching a deer standing in the middle of a Michigan road.
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Each year, the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP) releases data through MichiganTrafficCrashFacts.org that sums up the previous year's accidents. Using this tool, we were able to break down car/deer accidents by county in Michigan to determine which you're most likely to encounter a deer on the road.

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How big of a problem is Michigan's growing deer herd? Well, in 2023, there were a total of 287,953 car accidents in Michigan. Of those, 58,806 of them involved a deer. That's a little more than 20% of accidents in our state, a startling number when you consider that the 2023 Michigan deer harvest was down significantly from 2022's hunting season numbers.

Michigan's Most Dangerous County For Car/Deer Collisions

A deer stands in the middle of a Michigan road with cars honking on both sides of it.
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If you want to do your best to avoid the county with the most car/deer collisions, then I'd advise staying out of Kent. Of the 18,767 total traffic accidents in 2023, 2,171, or 11%, involved our four-legged forest friends.

Oakland, Genessee, Alegan, and Jackson round out the top 5 Michigan counties that experienced a high volume of deer-related traffic crashes. Let's take a county-by-county look at the number in each of Michigan's 83 counties.

Michigan's 2023 Car / Deer Accidents By County

Michigan is one of the nation's worst states for car/deer collisions, with a herd estimated to be over 2 million strong. Here's an alphabetical, county-by-county look at how many deer were involved in accidents compared to the total number of car accidents in Michigan in 2023, according to data found at MichiganTrafficCrashFacts.org through the Michigan Office of Highway Saftey Planning (OHSP)

Gallery Credit: Scott Clow

Michigan's 2023 Final Whitetail Deer Harvest vs 2022 Harvest

Another year and another downward trend continues for Michigan's Whitetail Deer Harvest in 2023. Here's a look at the final numbers from each county, ranked by lowest to highest deer harvested, and how they compare to the 2022 season.

Gallery Credit: Scott Clow

Ranking 50 United States by Deer Population

The United States of America is home to one of the world's most impressive, and varied, deer herds. Using data gathered from each state by A-Z-Animals.com, let's count down to the state with the largest population of deer.

Gallery Credit: Scott Clow

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