Does anyone remember there was a Deer deterrent whistle that mounted on a car or truck. The shrill [not audible to humans] kept

[Sarge01]

According to the insurance companies I have the dubious destinction of living in the state with the most deer-auto colisions per capita in the US. That is why our auto insurance rates are some of the highest in the US. My buddy has a colision center and at no time can you go into his shop and not see at least 2 vehicles that have hit deer and 2 more outside waiting to be fixed and we live in a town with 2000 people. Not very good odds.

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


There's a reason that you don't see them on vehicles any more...they DON'T WORK...!!


But here's a thought...have you ever seen a police car with those small, vertical 'push bumpers' mounted on the front bumper?


One little known use they perform is that when one of those vehicles hits a deer in front of the vehicle, it can greatly minimize the damage done to that vehicle...!!

[Carl Huber]

Sorry Dcast I travel upstate NY. Heavy forest winding roads. Bioguy thanks for the informative post.

[Dcast]

Yes Carl, that is what I was refering too. With the highbeams on you can light their eyes up a half mile or more down the road giving you enough time to avoid a collision. I guess I didn't think of where I live, my part of Ohio is pretty much flat with farm fields all around. I can see where this won't work everywhere. I've been to the Outer Banks the last 2 years and drove through West Virginia & Virginia the mountain deer seem to like the side of the road to eat and with the twist turns ups and downs headlights at most times are useless. So not knowing where you live this wouldn't be as good of a choice as where I live.

[Bioguy01]

Chuckles - Kinda like this www.advancefenceco.com/chain-link-fence/commercial-chain-link-fences/ but with some slight modifications to make it more effective and less expensive.

OHH - Exactly, that's the problem with 8-ft deer fences. Some places put in 1-way doors or build land ramps so deer can get off the highway, but those options are very expensive and complicate fence design.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

Yeah, I'm finding those fences are almost more hindrance than help. There's a couple areas on US#2 up on the Hi-Line in Montana where they have put them up. Deer go around the end and if they go the wrong way crossing the road they're coralled in between the fences and running back and forth across the highway. Splat!

[chuckles]

Bioguy what does a one way fence look like? Sounds like a great concept but I am having trouble imagining one.

[Gary Devine]

If a buck is in full rut is chasing a hot doe, then a loud ship horn wouldn't stop him.

[Pray- hunt-work]

My Grammy used to ride around with those whistles on her whip. She never hit a deer, she hit everything else, but no deer. If nothing else, they look cool.

[canvasbackhunter]

Where i come from, people speed up and start filling out their tag when a deer runs out. We also fill our tags on the golf course. You should have seen the jealousy on the other bus drivers faces when my high school bus driver hit a deer.

[Bioguy01]

You can sometimes find them at Wal-mart, but they are a complete gimmick and they don't work. I'm working on phase III of a 3 phase project involving deer-vehicle collision mitigation techniques. In phase I, those whistles were tested scientifically and they failed miserably. Save your money and buy some ammo if you can find it :-)

In case you're wondering what phase III entails, I'm running a field trial of new roadside fence design that is cheaper than the standard 8-ft fence, nearly as effective as 8-ft fencing, and works as a 1-way barrier so deer can escape the highway if they should somehow gain access.

[chuckles]

Carl in Colorado and MN the consensus among plow guys is that the whistles only ensure the deer are looking at you when you hit them.
I know Dcast said the same about the horn but I have to agree with OHH. Repeated honking has worked best for me. I plowed snow for many years and got to spend thousands of hours out and about when deer and elk were moving. The horn honking is what I do and it works better than anything else I have tried.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

Using the horn has worked VERY well for me in the past. Of course, don't lay on it making a constant howl. Honk ... Hoooonk ... Honk! That kinda stuff works best. Flip the lights up and down, up and down. DO NOT leave them on bright or they will not move. Noise does work best for moving them in one direction or the other. That's the most important thing. More often than not they stop as soon as they see headlights and then don't move until you're right on em. Get them moving one way or the other as quickly as possible. I have godzillion miles driven in very heavy deer country over the years and I have only hit TWO. And a LOT of those miles driving through the night. That's a pretty damned good record. Also haven't had an accident in forty years and only one speeding ticket (35 in a 25) in 1978. The judge offered to let me off on that one but I said no. That old 53 Chev Bel Air would be heartbroken if it couldn't get at least one speeding ticket before it went to the bone yard.

[Carl Huber]

Dcast did you ever hear the expression a Deer in the Headlights. Deer have very large pupils good for detecting predators in the shadows. Very slow to react to bright lights. If your close enough to see their eyes it's too late.

[Dcast]

Carl, What would make yo think a whistle is anymore of a deterent than the sound of you vehicle flying down the road?

OH, the only thing a horn does is make the deer look at you with that stupid look they're associated with right before you hit them unless you see them up ahead.

Best bet to avoid deer strike is driving around with highbeams on to help light their eyes and alert yourself.