# oh deer...



## millipede (May 28, 2006)

I was not sure which section of the forum was best for this(seems to happen to me a lot here...)

Doing some searching online for the answer to this pretty much tells me there isn't really one... But hey, it never hurts to ask.
How do you avoid hitting deer?

I've never done it myself... I've had them jump out in front of me or just stand there as I swerved in between a few... but my wife has not been so fortunate. During the past 3 to 5 years she has managed to hit three of them. 
Her first encounter sent the deer through the air... The result was us getting a new van. 
Second accident was not as bad... the deer trotted off and left us with a crack in the front bumper with some hair in it. We didn't even bother addressing that one.

Sadly... that van died last week... The engine locked up and repairing it was going to be costly... just to figure it out even. So we found ourselves stuck with few options. It's a long story... we're not fond of the van we got to replace it. The old has power EVERYTHING and a dvd player that held 6 dvds. It was an 04 grand caravan. We just got an 07 grand caravan Friday with NOTHING. Sliding doors aren't even powered. 
Eh... doesn't matter. Just got it Friday, haven't even paid the sales tax on it or managed to get the insurance switched over and tonight... my wife hit another deer.... #3. 
It freaked her out big time. she drove right back home and was just about hyperventilating. Driver's side headlight is gone... I mean, ripped clean out. The screws holding it in are still in place but the headlight itself is just gone. I think there's some scratching to the paint from where the headlight ripped out but other than that, I didn't see any damage. It was dark and I only had a flashlight but it all looked okay.

anyway... Why can't there be SOMETHING to help her not hit deer?
She works about 30 minutes from here and she drives on a windy paved road with a 55mph speed limit through a LOT of farmland... lots of open fields and a few forests. The first two deer she hit(different years) were on the same stretch of road. There's a LOT of them around. 
She tells me she's driving safely but not being there when it happens, I can't say... So, I also can't say if there's anything she needs to change in her driving to limit these things. 
I just don't know what to do or say. It stinks though.

This also has me wondering... I wonder what the record for a single person hitting deer is... (unintentionally that is)


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

*"The first two deer she hit(different years) were on the same stretch of road. There's a LOT of them around."*

I've hit one and missed dozens over the years.
If it's a familiar road, learn where they feed and cross the road, slow down, use your bright lights and look for the shining eyes.
After that it's your call whether to drive slowly by, stop and wait or try to beat them to the crossroads of Death, lol.
IOW, some skill, some luck, but learning their behavior will help.


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## driftwood (Jun 29, 2013)

i told wife and kids to drive 40 early mornings,eve and nights and to slow down five mile an hour each time they see a deer....


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

My Son hit 6 one year. I told him to watch sides of the road and slow down.

big rockpile


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

we have deer out the kazoo, I have never hit one, son in law hits a lot, I wont let him use my cars, drive much slower, watch sides of the road, dont drive at dusk and dawn, and they make a thing that makes noise to put on your car.


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## beegrowing (Apr 1, 2014)

millipede said:


> I was not sure which section of the forum was best for this(seems to happen to me a lot here...)
> 
> Doing some searching online for the answer to this pretty much tells me there isn't really one... But hey, it never hurts to ask.
> How do you avoid hitting deer?
> ...


Read reviews for auto deer whistles online since I don't know how well they work. They are devices to attach to the vehicle so they hear you coming. I guess the pitch annoys them so they want to turn Away from it? Your wife has bad odds against her so it seems like it couldn't hurt to try one.


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## dizzy (Jun 25, 2013)

Only way I know to avoid them is to not drive.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I have lived in deer country my whole life. My dad my brother youngest sister have never hit a deer and little sister will soon be 55.
Learned so many years ago from dad to drive with panoramic vision, look well ahead and pay attention to road sides & ditches. drive slow below the legal limit during prime moving time of deer and near cover close to the road. Slow down when cover is on one side of the road and food source is on the other side. 
When your driving in deer country which is every where it seems these days pay attention to the road with your eyes and mind. 

I have a habit when I see deer crossing the road to turn on my flashers and stop as I know they travel in groups. One very snowy morning on my way home from work I see deer crossing the road ahead in some curves so I turn on the flashers and stop. I counted 14 going from a corn field on one side of the road to a pine plantation on the other side of the road. The 15th deer ran smack dap in the left door of my pick up. Guess the dumb deer was hurrying to catch up and didn't see the truck.

Driving thru Marinette Wisconsin late one night on my way to ST. Paul Minnesota with Kare's brand new Durango 3 deer came from between two homes to cross the road in front of me. I hit the last one never suspecting I would see deer in town like that just one block off main street.
Never put even a scratch on Kare's new less than 3000 miles Durango. I think the deer slipped on the rain slick black top and went under the Durango.

*Also it is the chase phase of the rut here in Michigan. If you have ever see it you know the does only have one thing in mind and that is to get away from the buck. they will run across a road with out even slowing at a ditch.*

*Also the farmers are harvesting beans. Combines are going in the fields 24/ 7 right now. All the wood edges and grassy swales where the deer have been bedding for several month are being spooked by the rare appearance of the combines and the lime spreaders.*

*So be extra vigilant these days. 
*
 Al


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## simplegirl (Feb 19, 2006)

Honestly if you don't hit one around here you are lucky too. I have only grazed one in all the years I have been driving (almost 40 years). My DH hit 2 within a few months of moving up to this area. I know why he hit his first one. He didn't stop when he saw it near the road. I mean stop... if you can. Watch where they are going and frankly I fully expect them to jump into the road every time and they almost always do due to the fact that they run toward the light, not away from it. Drive slowly and stop if you see them near the road.

Sometimes though you just don't have any way to avoid them.


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## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

It is all so very simple......
Just move the deer crossing signs to a place where there are not as many cars.:grin:



[YOUTUBE]RFCrJleggrI[/YOUTUBE]


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## millipede (May 28, 2006)

> and they make a thing that makes noise to put on your car.





> Read reviews for auto deer whistles online since I don't know how well they work.


That's what I was searching before I posted this. Just doing a search I found sites saying they don't work. Before I searched that, I was hoping to ask for opinions on it. Sure would be nice if I could find something saying they work as yes, it would be worth trying. We had a vehicle years ago that came with some on it... 

I don't know how my wife drives when I'm not with her so I can't comment on anything she needs to change. Not something I can have a productive conversation with her about either. She knows to be careful but that doesn't mean she is... and it's not something I can question.



> Only way I know to avoid them is to not drive.


Sounds about right...

And HA... I've seen that video before. If only it were that simple. HA

Just got off the phone with the insurance company. I guess we have a $250 deductible. I don't remember paying anything last time it needed to be fixed. Oh well. The headlight was ripped out. I told them I could replace that for less than $250 anyway so... I'm going to go inspect everything carefully and if it is JUST the headlight, we'll cancel the claim.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

I never used one of those "whistles", so I can't swear they don't work, but based on what I do know about physics, I wouldn't waste my money or count on them.
They are supposed to work as the wind goes thru them as you drive, meaning you'd have to be moving at a decent speed. The sound would naturally be pushed behind your car, not in front, not without a loud, external speaker pointing forward with lots of amps behind it.
Just listen to the boom box next to you sometime, or a guy with his brakes squealing.
The noise would never reach far enough ahead of you in time to do any good.


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## Guest (Oct 30, 2014)

We have huge herds of roving deer around here. The city grew up, trapping pockets of them in the suburban sprawl. When I was working, I saw deer every morning as I left for work! We have a herd of about 20 that use the storm ditch beside our subdivision to move from a huge greenbelt to a natural park. We call it the Deer Super Highway. When it floods, they come up and stand in our yards, grazing, until the water recedes. 

I can say that I have never hit a deer, but I have been IN a vehicle or two where the deer have hit the vehicle! A deer actually tried to crawl up and across the nose of DH#1's pickup... Hoof marks all down the passenger fender! I sat there, dumbfounded, watching her scrabble and try, scramble and try... LOL!

FIL recently took off his driver's side mirror on a deer. But I do believe at 83, his reflexes were a bit slow, as were the deer's...

The deer whistles are popular here, but I also see banged up vehicles with the whistles installed. Methinks they are bogus!

Slow waaaayyyyyyyy down, honk her horn when she sees them, stop if they aren't complying with clearing the road for the Wifey... Not all of them will be avoidable, but a very large portion of them will be.


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## EDDIE BUCK (Jul 17, 2005)

Possum Belly said:


> It is all so very simple......
> Just move the deer crossing signs to a place where there are not as many cars.:grin:
> 
> 
> ...


:rotfl:

PB,bet that lady was kin to this one.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op1fsc9EWgI[/ame]


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## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

Probably sisters EB!!!


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

If you wife listens and drives like mine save your breath. I also have life insurance on mine because of her driving. Scares me to ride with her.

But that was all taken care of this spring. She no longer has any thing to drive as she won't drive my stick shift truck.


 Al


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

alleyyooper said:


> I have lived in deer country my whole life. My dad my brother youngest sister have never hit a deer and little sister will soon be 55.
> Learned so many years ago from dad to drive with panoramic vision, look well ahead and pay attention to road sides & ditches. drive slow below the legal limit during prime moving time of deer and near cover close to the road. Slow down when cover is on one side of the road and food source is on the other side.
> When your driving in deer country which is every where it seems these days pay attention to the road with your eyes and mind.
> 
> ...



like Al said you learn to hunt them , your less likely to hit them , when you see habitat that just looks right your mind is already watching for them and your foot is easing off the accelerator and covering the brake in corners you can't see around.

the suburbs are horrible the deer are everywhere as no one wants them hunted in their back yard and they don't follow the usual patterns , just drive lik there are 2 kids in every yard playing ball , your just expecting one to run out in front of you.

I have hit 2 **** that walked right out into the side of the van and been very close to hitting several deer but I was going slow enough that I could jam the brakes and miss them 

the wife used to have a lot of close calls got her looking for deer watching for eyes , looking for the second and third deer , and slowing down in habitat 

the one i came the closest to hitting came out of the front yard of a farm right where the state highway divides and goes 4 lane

work on that peripheral vision seeing tree line to tree line or corn to corn , 30-40 yards off the side of the road in each ditch and you see a lot more deer not uncommon for me to pick out a deer a hundred or more yards out in a field because i I am watching for them , same for turkey

cats and **** they just come out of the tall grass and right into a wheel, my wife thinks the cats are suicidal but they don't beat up your car so no big deal.

I know a lot of the people I know that keep hitting deer drive with tunnel vision they see from white line to white line and not well into the ditches never mind distracted calling talking on cell phones.

my dad drove truck a lot of years doing rural deliveries , and never hit a deer in a million + miles he was regularly still out at dusk in prime deer areas , but he was also going slower not over driving headlights a brakes , and that is slower when you have a load on 

time to pull out the words written on so many a shop wall , *Safety is no Accident.*


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Around these parts, so long as you're in your truck, it's considered free meat if you see one starting to cross the road...


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

much north of here and you hardly see a semi without one of these http://www.semiguards.com/

I know a number of people that put something similar on their trucks , it turns most deer hits into minor damage 

I thought about adding something like this but since I have not had a problem hitting them I haven't gotten to it or the cost of adding it


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## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

Neither dh or I have ever hit a deer. Now dh has been hit by a deer. We drive deer central.

I drive by scanning the edges of the road, helps a lot.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

mrs whodunit said:


> Neither dh or I have ever hit a deer. Now dh has been hit by a deer. We drive deer central.
> 
> I drive by scanning the edges of the road, helps a lot.



that reminds me a few years ago on a late night run to the hospital the rescue squad full light and sirens had a deer run right into the side of the ambulance about 9 deer crossed the road all at once they missed all but the one that plowed right into the side of the ambulance 

if full lights and sirens don't keep them away not sure anything will


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

I live in a rural agricultural area, their movement is really picking up right now! I second the advice on learning(through memory), where the popular crossing sites are. There is a State Park a couple of miles from my house, and the State subsidizes food plots directly across the Highway from the Park. It is one of the biggest Deer Kill spots in the State. Not sure, but having Your bright lights on probably affects their depth perception, just like ours? I mounted a couple of those 'as seen on TV whistles, under the front grill, didn't stop a large doe from running full speed into the side of my truck several years back. I try to limit driving in the dark this time of Year-to only necessary trips. I know it's hard to do when You go to work in the dark, and get home after sunset. If You look at the vehicles in parking lots in town-Half of them have dents and fur hangin' from them! Be careful out there*


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

I grew up in an area with many, many deer. Now I live in a different area, but still TONS of deer. I have never hit one, knock on wood. I hear of people who hit multiple deer, and I wonder how that happens. 

Some of it is luck, but I really think most of it is lack of attention on the driver's part. Keep your eyes on the sides of the road, and stop/slow way down if you see one, because there are likely more. When I see one on the side of the road, I flash my lights at them and beep the horn. I find flashing the lights helps break the "deer in the headlights" trance. 

Also, pay attention to the roads because most deer have certain areas where they like to cross, so slow down near those areas.


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