Seeking deer alerter opinions

we're experiencing increased deer sightings on our local roadways, probably due to the 2006 day fire to the east of us and the 2007 zaca fire to the west of us denuding the forests, as well as our current two-year old drought.

i'd hate to have the DW or me share the front seat with one. i've seen pictures and it isn't pretty.

i've seen deer alerters for less than $10.00 a pair @ target and over $20.00 online.

do they work?

anyone know first hand of someone who struck a deer - or vice versa - while having these installed on their vehicle?


bsmith

My mother had some on her car when she became the only person in the house to get a deer that year.

So... Yeah, I'm not convinced they are any good.

I tried a set one time and removed them after a few days. I don't know if I installed them wrong or if they were defective but there was a high pitched wistle that was realy annoying.

I think that's the point, they are supposed to whistle like that so the deer can hear them coming.

Like electronic mosquito repellers, you might scare a few off, but it isn't going to be predictable.

Our "real" home is in deer country, and lots of people there have them on their vehicles, including the CHP units. Some cars hit deer, some don't. Some people swear that they will scare the deer off of the road ahead of you, others swear that they tend to make a deer that might have cleared the road before you got there instead stop to see where the sound is coming from. Who knows. We do not have them on our vehicles...

They work until you hit a deer.

Sheriffs dept and county road workers and the Forest Service
in Eastern Washington found they reduced (but not eliminated) the number of deer/car accidents and use them.

I've had them and like a siren on a squad car they work great at slow speed, 30 mph or less. At faster speed they tend to spook the deer when you are so close you can't react. The deer don't always run away some times they cross in front of or into the side of your car. I guess I'm now one that swears at rather than by them.

Take Care and Stay Safe,

The Zaca fire? Like, Zaca mesa winery? <gasp!>
No idea if they work. But, being a CA boy myself, I found that having a Wisconsin girlfriend works wonders. She has radar for deer, aka 'deer-dar' that sees deers in the roads about 5 seconds before I do. I guess it's just practice.

I've read elsewhere that the sirens only work below 40mph.

Friend of mine that lives in an area prone to deer impacts had them on his truck and said that the worst run in with a deer was in the truck with the noise makers. So i don't think that they work all of the time.

Here is a couple of photo's of the aftermath of a deer impact, not for the squeamish.






Fortunatly, the deer went over the car instead of though the windshield.

Save your money.

Like most animals, if nothing bad happens to the deer they'll tend to ignore it after a while.

I know that a police cruiser can "out-run" it's siren. So, it makes sense that you could "out-run" this gadget. If you're traveling fast, by the time the deer hears it, all you are doing is startling the deer and causing him to stop in the middle of the road instead of walking across it. At slower speeds possibly, the deer hears this gadget before he hears the car, alerts and has time to evade.

Just a theory - somehow, it makes some sense.

My wife also has that radar like capability. Only its effectiveness is reduced considerably becuase it's non-directional.

Wife: DEER!!

Me: Where?

Wife: Over there!

Car: Sreeching brakes...

Me: sigh....

Yea but I thought it might be one of those things that would be beyond my hearing range and I wouldn't here it. I guess it did keep me from hiting dear when I had it on my truck though, it drove me crazy and I didn't drive much as a result.

My wife once said "deer," I replied "what sweetie?,", then then pointed and said, much louder, "deer!!!" I barely missed them...

There are two groups of people:

The ones who say, "There! There!"

And the ones who say, "Where? Where?"

One thing I've always wondered about: if you have a deer hunting license in your car, and you hit a deer, can you keep it? Can you keep it if you shoot it to put it out of its misery?

Sue

Here is a link to a study on these devices.

http://www.deercrash.com/Toolbox/CMToolboxWhistles.pdf

The short story is the results are inconclusive.

thanks to all of you for your replies.

i've decided to pass on purchasing these. based on your first-hand experiences, and the study referenced, there's not enough evidence to support installing them.

I did have a friend in Lousianna who had an excellent deer deterent he would drive down the road with a .357 on the seat and every time he would see a deer he would poke the gun out the window and shoot at the deer. This worked great since he never in the 5 years I knew him hit a single deer .

That sounds like a Cajun Prevention system!!! Lessez le bon ton roullez !!!!!!

Deer are stupid. Whether they hear you coming or not, they still might run right in front of your car. It's happened to me several times in just the last year. A deer is on the side of the road. As I get close it starts to run. Half the time, they choose to run across the road instead of running away from the road on the side they're already on.

I haven't hit one yet, but that's entirely due to my own corrective action. The deer deserves no credit for being a good survivor.

Take an old harmonica instead and glue it to the front of your car.