KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- A northeast Missouri family gets its second big buck this fall; unfortunately the "weapon" was the family minivan.
Melissa Billington of Novinger just hit a deer Tuesday night.
That makes deer strike No. 2 in less than a month.
The Billington's van had been back from the body shop for less than a week from the first time around when she hit another big buck.
She said she nearly had a meltdown after this second run-in with a deer.
"I said some bad words, and I hit the steering wheel, and I hit the dash, and once I got the van stopped, I jumped out and slammed the door, and I started kicking the tire,” said Billington.
Billington said her husband, Rick, told her she'd better move to the side of the road to have her fit before she got hit by a car.
The first deer strike did $25,00 worth of damage to the van.
The vehicle went back to the body shop Wednesday where the latest damage estimate totaled just over $1,500.
Fortunately, the family does have insurance, but of course, they still have to pay the deductible.
Billington said her son, Nick, was disappointed because, in both instances, the bucks kept on going so he wasn’t able to get himself a nice set or two of antlers.