Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Deer Alert

Many of us commute to our ponds from the city and often that commute takes us through deer country. With two damaged areas on my truck and another near miss last week, I searched for some help...ran across the Deer Alerts that can be mounted on your vehicle. They supposedly send out a warning at a frequency we can't hear, but deer can and then avoid your vehicle.

Anyone have experiences with these products and do they work?....or do they scare all the cows away in all the road-side pastures?

i knew a painting contractor that swore by them. he had em mounted on front bumper of his cherokee. little plastic doodads that look like a small horn. i guess they take in air and produce a sound we cant hear.

personally, i just take it easy, and watch the road......25 years living in deer thick country.....plenty of near misses, no hits yet.......knockin on wood.

I have been threatening to mount a pair of those backwards on a tractor to use as a deer attrator during hunting season.

ML, I have a friend that has them and hasn't hit a deer yet. I don't have them and also haven't hit a deer.

He claims they also work on elephants. He must be right. He hasn't hit one yet. But, neither have I.

All kidding aside, I have known people who use them in heavy deer country. Some say they work and others aren't sure. I don't see any downside to them unless it gives you some feeling of safety that might be unwarranted.

4 inch heavy wall pipe front bumper, 2 7/8 inch grill guard expanded metal grill. Run over them if they get in your way. Warning you might still consider side impact air bags. Some times the deer run into you. And by all means look out for moving reflector post at night.

I always wanted a "railroad track" front bumper! Not only for animal strikes but to "help" the gas pedal impared reach their destination...

"good answer, I like the way you think"
Wasn't that what the professor said to Rodney in "Back to College"?
What a classic scene!!

What I decribed above is actually how most folks trucks and suburbans are rigged up out in south west Texas Deer Country. There is another reason they have such massive front bumbers it is called a bump gate.

I would be one to question weather thaey work or not. I know from hunting deer they generally want run from noise. For instants if I shoot at them even at close range many times they want run, even thou they may feel threatened they don't know were the threat is and there fore don't know were to run. Assuming they here this alert does not necessary mean they are going to run for cover. Just my opnion. Perhaps there is a deer BIO guy among us that knows the real answer as how they react to it.

Meadowlark,

I have no experience with these things. My dad swore by them. Try checking out this wesite and look at the counter measures pull down and there is an article in there regarding these whistles. deer crash institute

Having worn tires on your vehicle, or mudding tires on your truck that "howl" will also work well to spook deer off the road.

My father-in-law had one said that he never hit a deer...UNTIL he installed the deer whistle....like someone said maybe he installed it backwards

Fozzybear,

Thanks for the link...but they didn't make any solid conclusions on the deer whistles one way or the other. They did mention what DD said above as a warning about a false sense of security.

With a sighting almost every trip, frequent near misses, and about one per year hits lately, we aren't likely to get overly secure.

The deer in our area have seen a steady increase in numbers over the years. It has generally been a good thing, except for the road hazard. Because we have deep, heavy timber that comes right up to the road right-of-way in many places, it can be very difficult to see deer emerging from those places. I hit one last winter during mid-day that just sprinted out of the deep woods and into the side of the truck...a glancing blow.

I hate to kill a deer this way, but even more hate to read about people loosing their lives while trying to avoid collisions with deer. I'll hit the brakes but will not swerve sharply to miss a deer and put the lives of myself and family at risk. I was hoping these whistles might be an answer, but it seems they are not...at least conclusive. Thanks to all for the responses.

Meadowlark, hitting the gas pedal instead of the brakes is a much better option as a deer typically bounces off the vehical when you are accellerating. Braking a lot of times cause the deer to slide over the hood and into the windsheild as you are deccelerating. A few years ago south of here there was a deer that went straight through the windsheild and the back window and into the bed of a pickup, luckily the driver ducked as it went through. The gal driving the pickup was braking hard when she hit the deer.

Shorty,

Interesting thought...not sure I am sold on it, however. I just missed one a couple of weeks back returning to ranch from Grandson's LL game. Braking hard is the only reason the deer survived and the truck wasn't damaged.

I do see your point and it makes sense to me in certain situations. Things happen so fast that there isn't time to think about what is best...accelerate or decelerate. The whole event happens in seconds or fractions of seconds.

Ducking as the deer goes through...now that's a quick thinking gal!

You are very right Meadowlark, it is very hard to go against your instinct to start braking when an event like that happens so fast.

ML, I guess you know I'm a widllife bioligist as well. I attend the southeast deer study group meeting. It is renowed as the finest research based group on the subject. I remember one presntation I think from VA that did a study on just that product and found no conclusive evidence that deer car collisions were reducded at all.

Greg,

The study you referenced agrees with the one Fozzybear cited also. No solid evidence that the product helps. Thanks.