Photo by Eric Keith / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

MoDOT employee C.J. Bowan pulls a whitetailed deer into the back of his truck after it was hit and killed on Interstate 29 on Friday.

Believe it or not, deer are on the move in Northwest Missouri, well ahead of fall’s arrival.

There are reasons why the animals have been discovered moving about in the region’s urban and rural areas, according to Missouri Department of Conservation officials. The deer’s cycle of life during spring also is resulting in wrecks, tales of near misses and the sight of carcasses along highways.

Certain factors spur deer’s increased activity, said Mitch Miller, wildlife regional supervisor at Conservation’s St. Joseph office. A bounty of food on farms and elsewhere in nature is one reason. Growing deer who lose their preferential family roles is another. Next to fall, it’s the second biggest time of the year for deer — more than likely the young — to move around, Mr. Miller said.

“They’re on their own for the first time,” he said. “It’s also fawning season.”

It’s not uncommon for deer to travel more around cities, and cool spring weather offers better conditions. The department’s research has shown that urban counties tend to experience the highest number of deer-vehicle wrecks.

“Essentially there’s a lot less hunting pressure,” Mr. Miller said. “It’s going to be more of a challenge as we see urban sprawl. We’ve tried to really watch it closely in St. Joseph.”

Deer will gradually start laying down in shade as summer and its heat approach, he added.

It’s well-known that bucks and does reach their peak of movement in the fall, said Lonnie Hansen, a Conservation wildlife biologist in Columbia. “We see a second little, late spring/early summer blip,” he said.

It’s believed that many of the roadkills over spring are small bucks, judging by the presence of short antlers on many of the carcasses, Mr. Hansen said. It’s the 1-year-old males that are being dispersed from the familiarity of their mothers, he added.

“In north Missouri, they can go long distances,” he said, with the deer traveling as much as 20 to 25 miles. “They don’t know the landscape.”

An Illinois study Mr. Hansen participated in revealed the same habits exhibited by young deer in that state.

The Missouri Department of Transportation tracks phone calls to retrieve deer carcasses, according to District 1 spokeswoman Elaine Justus. The district’s records show, for example, 10 such requests answered for May 2009 and 15 for May 2008.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop H spokesman Sgt. Sheldon Lyon called June the third busiest month for vehicle-deer crashes.

“I know I have seen more dead deer on the highway in the last month,” he said.

One means of attempting to control St. Joseph’s deer population in the past several years has been through allowing bow hunting inside the city limits during archery season, said Roger Wolken, protection regional supervisor at the St. Joseph Conservation office.

Written authorization and completion of a hunter education course are prerequisites. Missouri’s archery seasons run from Sept. 15 to Nov. 13 and Nov. 25 to Jan. 15, 2010.

Private property owners in the city also can seek permission to hunt with bows on their wooded lots, Mr. Wolken added.

Ray Scherer can be reached

at rscherer@npgco.com.