ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – With deer mating season on it’s way, deer in the big country area are constantly moving around. They are moving closer to Texas roadways as peak rutting season begins in mid-November.

Annaliese Scoggin, Wildlife biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife department, said deer like to travel near roadways because of the greenery near roads, since when it rains, still water stays on roads allowing for new plant life to grow.

James Cummings, Texas Game Warden, said during the fall, deer love to move around a lot, making it unpredictable to track their whereabouts.

“Rut has started and that is best described as deer junior high. The doe’s become receptive so the bucks start fighting each other for their attention. They get a lot of pressure from that and then you’re going to have hunting, pressure is going to push them around,” Cummings explained. “So, there’s going to be a lot of movement within the next few weeks.”

Ricardo Gutierrez, Owner of RGF Insurance, said filing an insurance claim is crucial in order to get your car fixed. He added that the first thing drivers should do if they hit or are hit by a deer is call the police and file a police report.

“Whether they are going to show up or not, of course you have it at three in the morning in the middle of nowhere you’re not going to be able to do that,” Gutierrez said. “As soon as you get to the place where you can make the phone call it will make the process of the insurance company the claim much easier because now, we have something to look at legally.”

However, even though you filed an insurance claim, it doesn’t mean your car will be fixed right away. Alonzo Sanchez, owner of West Texas Collision, said you might have to wait weeks to get your car fixed due to supply chain issues.

“A lot of things have been on back order, some have dates [so] you know how far they are back ordered. It’s two weeks, three weeks, some don’t have an eta. It just depending on the model,” said Sanchez.

Sanchez said last year, his collision shop fixed around 40 cars that were damaged by deer. He recommended that drivers who hit a deer to take their cars to get checked, regardless of how much damage was caused, since there might be internal car damage like a cracked radiator that can lead to more damages.