Experts with the Missouri Conservation Department say the deer population in rural Missouri is fairly steady, sometimes even declining. But, it's a different story in urban Missouri.

"In our urban areas deer numbers are probably increasing somewhat," says Missouri Conservation Deptartment deer expert Lonnie Hansen. "And when you put increasing deer populations with high traffic volume, it results in higher deer-vehicle accidents."

And Hansen says that's exactly what's happening in Boone County, which ranked number nine in the top 10 counties for deer-vehicle accidents. Phelps County took spot number 10.

"It's interesting in Boone County, that I think in rural Boone County, especially northern rural Boone County, deer populations are down," says Hansen. "But within the city limits of Columbia and between Columbia and Jefferson City where we see a lot of build up in housing, that actually we're seeing a large number of deer-vehicle accidents associated with that."

A national highway safety group recently reported vehicle crashes with deer have doubled in the last 15 years. But Missouri statistics tell a different story. Since 1999, the number of deer-vehicle accidents have slowly declined, dropping steadily from just over 5,000 in 1999 to just below 3,500 in 2007.

We're entering the most dangerous month when it comes to deer-vehicle accidents. Nearly 23 percent of last year's accidents occurred in November.

Hansen urges mid-Missouri drivers to be cautious between dusk and dawn when deer activity is at its highest. He also reminds motorists not to swerve to miss a deer if an accident is imminent. It could just make things worse.

If you hit a deer, conservation officials say to get off the road and call law enforcement. You are actually allowed to keep the deer if you want.

Deer hunting season opens in just a few weeks. Not surprisingly conservation officials say that will likely cut the number of deer-vehicle accidents.