Deer Collision Season in Colorado

1 in 253, according to State Farm’s 2025-2026 analysis of animal collision claims, which ranks Colorado 41st of 51 (the 50 states and the District of Columbia) and places it in the low likelihood category. The national figure is 1 in 145. That is a higher likelihood than 1 in 258 in the 2024-2025 edition.

33 from 2015 to 2024, about 3.3 a year, with 36 deaths, according to NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. That is 0.5 percent of all fatal crashes in the state, and 22nd among the 50 states by count. FARS counts crashes with any animal, not deer alone.

Nationally, State Farm names November, October and December as the peak months for large animal collisions. September is the month with the most fatal animal crashes in Colorado, 9 of 33 across the ten years. The deer rut in Colorado runs November 1 to December 31. Peak, as the agency describes it: mid November through December.

The deer rut in Colorado runs November 1 to December 31. Peak, as the agency describes it: mid November through December. That is the timing the Colorado Parks and Wildlife publishes, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ties the autumn collision peak to the rut, when deer are most active.

About an hour. On November 7, 2027, sunset in Denver moves from 5:52 PM on the Saturday to 4:51 PM on the Sunday, computed with the U.S. Naval Observatory method.

Mostly after dark. Of Colorado’s 33 fatal animal crashes from 2015 to 2024, 73 percent happened in the dark and 6.1 percent at dusk or dawn, and 61 percent happened between 5 PM and midnight.

Mule deer and elk move between summer and winter range in Colorado, and State Highway 9 near Kremmling carries wildlife overpasses built for them.