deer spotting

Growing up in suburbia a deer siting was few and far between.  Sometimes you'd see them near the highway or if you went leaf peeping but other than that never.   When I was in 6th grade I went to my aunt's (pronounced AUNT, not ANT) camp in rural PA for summer vacation and it was there I learned I how to go 'deer spotting'.   We loaded in the car at dusk with some big flashlights and went down some wilderness roads looking for deer.   It was an exciting adventure.

Fast forward to my new life in central New York surrounded by farms, open space and lots of undeveloped land.  There are TONS of deer, everywhere, all the time.   There is never just one either, usually at least 4.  A few years ago my husband and I were driving back from dinner along Rt 20, a main road where people travel approx 60 mph.  The road is up and down hills the whole ride and this particular night it was my turn to drive home.  It was also the night we had dinner a few town away so it was a thirty minute ride of my husband coaching (yelling) at me about my driving and needing to pay more attention to deer.   Of course there wasn't a deer in sight that night...until we were about 1 mile from home.   All of a sudden hubs says 'don't you see that deer, are you going to speed up"  Not knowing any better I thought he said that with a question mark...in his mind he said it questioning my rationale.    So, in the split second this happen I did what I thought he meant and floored it hoping to out pace the deer and speed past him before Bambi got to the middle of the road.  

Apparently that is not what he meant.   I did not hit the deer but did get an extra arm across the steering wheel swerving us out of the way.  That was when he asked what the heck I was doing (not as nice though) and when I responded "speeding up like you told me to do"   he could do nothing but shake his head in disbelief.    It was a good reminder he did not marry a country girl by any stretch because a country girl would have known to slow down and let the deer cross instead of trying to speed past it and end up playing chicken with it.   Oops.

For the record I have lived here for 9 years and have yet to meet a deer with my bumper but now I always slow down when I see them.