The wife almost bagged a deer last night!, Do deer whistles work? Options

[Mark Henry]

Coming home last night after work.
She says she was doing about 85mph and a deer jumped in front of her, she went across 3 lanes sideways, the POS deer even backtracked on her. She missed it by inches, really freaked her out. She didn’t want to take the teen to work this afternoon, but I made her get back in the saddle.

Do the whistles work? Where could I mount and hide them?

P. S. the 914 is OK!

[MarkV]

You could mount them in place of the driving lights. You could tell people that the are small projector beams.

[TimT]

I have deer whistles on my tow vehicle

I havent hit a deer (YET)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/finger.gif)

Maybe they work, maybe Im lucky.. coming home from Pocono is deer heaven, you see the deers eyes glowing as they stand at the side of the road, sometimes bear too..

The deer whistles cost like 5 bucks.... if they work its cheap insurance, if they dont hey its only 5 bucks.

[bernbomb914]

I hit a deer in Utah early in the am several years ago in my motor home. made a mess of the left corner let alone the deer. We were Luckey no one was hurt and I could drive the MH home after I Taped it up. Had deer horns. They say more people are Killed trying to avoid deer than If they hit them. But that probally dosn't count with a 914. glad to here the wife made it ok.

Bernie (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[ss6]

There are two kinds of deer "whistles", the cheapo bumper mounted ones and the active electronic ones. The cheapo ones rely on airflow, so you have to keep them clean and mount them more or less in the airstream and drive fast enough to get them "loud" enough, tho they're ultrasonic and we'll never hear 'em (and never know if they're really "working"). The active electronic ones are crankin' whether you're moving or not, and some add additional annoying (to animals) harmonics that the simple forced air gizmo's can't. Some of our club members who do a lot of vehicle towing (ditto on Pocono deer haven) have the active ones and swear by them.

[EdwardBlume]

The wife and I were driving to Yosemite and had to stop for a pack of deer.... 14 in all, each passing slowly one at time. I almost expected to see a red sleigh at the end.

Hitting a deer in a 914 must be like standing under a piano being raised up....

[airsix]

The cheapo ones rely on airflow, so you have to keep them clean and mount them more or less in the airstream and drive fast enough to get them "loud" enough, tho they're ultrasonic and we'll never hear 'em (and never know if they're really "working").

Maybe this isn't characteristic of all of them, but I can hear at least some of them. There was a car in my neighborhood once with a pair on the bumpers. I could hear them a good 10-15 seconds before I could even hear the car coming - as long as I was in front of it (on foot, not in a car). I was really surprised at how far the sound carried. I had always thought they were a cruel trick played on gulible peope, but now I can assure you that they do make quite a bit of noise. I don't know if deer respond or if they just stand there going "I wonder what that noise is?" BAM!!!

-Ben M.

[Curvie Roadlover]

Reminds me of a Formula One story. Years ago during practice for the German GP at Hockenheim, Stefan Johannsen hit a deer in his McLaren at like 150+mph. The car? totaled, Stefan? broken collar bone, the deer? well, the deer was, I guess, "totalled" too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

[GWN7]

Never swerve to miss a deer. You are more likley to cause damage to yourself and your car if you do. Plus if you don't hit it and have an accident the accident is deemed to be your fault.

A few years ago I was driving the motorhome thru Saskatchewan and a deer poped up in front of me. I swerved to miss it and ended up recreating the scene from the movie "Blues Brothers" where the motorhome goes off into the water. The motorhome skipped across the water till it hit a stand of willows where it stopped suddenly. I ended up upside down with my back against the windshield. Water/muck/mud had sprayed up thru all the vents and on to everything inside. Even snail shells made it inside. I grabbed for the door handle thinking the ship was going down, but it only settled till water was about 1" below the floor. This was at 2am, so a night playing houseboat stuck in the middle of the slew till a tow truck arrived at 5 am. Dealing with a pissed off hung over COP and spending the next 3 days in a Saskatoon hotel room having front end damage fixed, replacing all the bearings, brakes, all fluids (twice), filters, draining both gas tanks, cleaning the inside and having to pay the $500 deductable because I didn't hit the dam deer, was not my idea of the end to a good holiday.

Oh ya, the motorhome had deer whistles on it.

I get even every hunting season, sometimes twice. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif)

[Gint]

That's quite a story. I like the revenge angle. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

[Mark Henry]

Bruce, your mishap would "almost" be funny, if it happened to the "other" guy. Bet you had to check you pants after that one. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

I think looking straight on with the deers chest is what freaked out the wife. I've told her to never swerve for a raccoon etc. but this was just a tad larger. I'm just glad she's OK.

Not to mention the 914 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[GWN7]

Actualy it is quite funny when I tell the story, Now. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

My first thought was that I was going to drown. After I figured out where the drivers side door lock was and got it open, I was ok. Even joked with the lady that stopped to help that I now owned a houseboat instead of a motorhome.

I've hit a cow (in car, low speed), a deer since (truck, high speed) and glanced off a moose (truck, high speed)

The only thing I'd swerve to miss is a pig or a bear.

They are low to the ground and have solid body mass. If you hit one of them it's like going over a log the same size and likley to put you airborne.

[street legal go-kart]

coming back from one of our mine sites in colorado
i hit a 350 lb buck dead center with a dodge dualy crew cab at about 90 mph
destroyed the truck both air bags deployed
pushed the cummings all the way under the back seat!
both of us walked away
i live just south of yosemite and have a couple of near miss incidents a year
never swerve
and i think the whistles work
our trucks all have the whistles and have not had a accident since the one i center punched
we log upwards of 100,000 miles a year in nevada and colorado
the teener doesnt have any yet
also the louder the exhaust the better
my sc was hella loud and i never even saw one on the side of the road
jt

[rick 918-S]

Man, I'm reading some interesting testamonials advocating deer whistles. I'm not sure they actually work. When I owned my collision shop I must have had two vehicles a year in the shop with heavy front hits and deer whistles (or in some cases the remnents of..) attached to the bumpers,fenders, inside the grilles, etc. Could be improper installation or we could just have extremely deaf and dumb deer here too.