Deer Collision Season in Montana

1 in 54, according to State Farm’s 2025-2026 analysis of animal collision claims, which ranks Montana 2nd of 51 (the 50 states and the District of Columbia) and places it in the high likelihood category. The national figure is 1 in 145. That is a lower likelihood than 1 in 53 in the 2024-2025 edition.

46 from 2015 to 2024, about 4.6 a year, with 48 deaths, according to NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. That is 2.5 percent of all fatal crashes in the state, and 16th 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. August is the month with the most fatal animal crashes in Montana, 13 of 46 across the ten years. The deer rut in Montana runs November 10 to December 10. Peak, as the agency describes it: mid to late November.

The deer rut in Montana runs November 10 to December 10. Peak, as the agency describes it: mid to late November. That is the timing the Montana Fish 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 Billings moves from 5:54 PM on the Saturday to 4:52 PM on the Sunday, computed with the U.S. Naval Observatory method.

Mostly after dark. Of Montana’s 46 fatal animal crashes from 2015 to 2024, 52 percent happened in the dark and 11 percent at dusk or dawn, and 50 percent happened between 5 PM and midnight.

Montana drivers meet mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, pronghorn and bighorn sheep, and the state holds the second highest collision odds in the State Farm ranking.