DNR wants cops to have on orange hats when shooting deer hit by cars

Every fall the instances of car vs deer crashes goes up. All too often the crash is not instantly fatal to the deer. Thus the officer dispatched to investigate will need to humanly put the animal down. This year the DNR is insistent that during hunting season officers and deputies have on blaze orange.

Realizing that they cannot dictate a complete change to police uniforms only for a single task the DNR is willing to compromise. Cops are only required to have on an orange hat or cap. Law Enforcement will not be required to be blaze orange head to toe by the DNR.

“We at the DNR are reasonable. The officers only need to put on a hat and only when taking a car/deer crash. This is not for every call, just the few times a deputy will need to shoot a deer with injuries.”

Police officers we talked to seemed indifferent to the idea. One officer had this to say. “The twig pigs, sorry I mean the DNR, are always looking for a way to flex their muscle.”

The DNR is insistent this is not just one law enforcement agency trying to bully another. “We have a legitimate reason for this. Most deer end up down in a ditch close to a woodland area or someplace at the edge of a field. So when cops and deputies walk down to shoot them the officer placing himself or herself in danger. Hunters close by might see the movement and accidently shoot. So the officer needs to be in blaze orange to be safe. It should be obvious this is just a mandate to ensure our fellow LEOs are safe during hunting season when close to where people hunt.”

When asked how many times an officer was injured by a hunter during a car/deer crash the DNR could not offer up any statistics. They did tell us that officer caught shooting a deer with out blaze orange will be subject to a fine and lose hunting privileges.