Anyone use Deer whistles? Do you think they work?

[cognaccruiser]

They don't work. Period.

I fall firmly into the "they don't work" camp. Have lived in areas, including now, where deer are very plentiful and previously where they wintered in my area. Lots of folks put them on their cars and trucks and they didn't help a bit.
If you live in a high density deer area the best thing you can do is slow down and constantly scan the road sides for them. No guarantee you will see them all or that you still won't hit one but by being vigilant you have a better chance than relying on a deer whistle that will just give you a false sense of security.
And if you see one you can usually bet there are more close by.
Deer are not bright. If one is on the roadside and start running beside you, they have this terrific urge to run faster and cut in front of you rather than stop and go another way. Slow down and let them get away and watch for their buddies.

Gary

 

[CanAmChris]

... and watch for their buddies.

Many times if you see one doe crossing a road, several more will follow. If there is a buck with them he will usually cross last. I have seen this happen many times when I was younger and out deer spotting with my Uncle.This may not always be true, but if I see one, I always assume there are more. Also, dusk seems to be the worst time, at least in my experience in SE PA.

 

[CanAmChris]

:yikes: :roflblack: :clap:That just can't be real; can it?

Here is what snopes has to say: http://www.snopes.com/humor/letters/deercrossing.asp

 

[garb55]

Why should deer pay any attention to the sign when
People don't cross in crosswalks :roflblack:

 

[PaladinLV]

That is ALWAYS #1

AJ

Would you like to know what works even better than whistles?? :dontknow:


Situational Awareness!! :thumbup:

I sell insurance, and I can't tell you how many of those little tooters have been busted by some stray venison... :gaah:

 

[PaladinLV]

I guess the Deer in Upstate NY are just smarter then the ones down south or better trained

AJ

So you know more than the experts? What test data do you have to back up your claim? They work just fine until you hit a deer.

Deer whistles , powered and non powered, have been proven to be useless and may actually cause an accident. We do have an over abundance of deer here in SC unfortunately if you see one on the side of the road it is best to slow down. I am very careful IF I even ride at night outside the city limits. Coming around a curve not much to do except kiss the tank and hope for the best. :thumbup:

http://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/ar...-deer-whistles

Here is another take from Fred Rau one of the original Spyder 5

http://www.thevog.net/threads/deer-w...fred-rau.3439/

 

[Deer Slayer]

While we are at it, no modulated head lights. They stop people frome pulling out in front of you. People just stop and look at the modulated head lights, so do the deer. I have killed two deer and one Goldwing. Deer just dart out stop and die.:yikes:

 

[BajaRon]

It is unfortunate that Deer Whistles do not work. Every scientifically done test I have ever seen has found absolutely no advantage to using Deer Whistles.

Then again, every one of these testing programs have been paid for by a Road Kill maintenance service.... Hmmmm.....

 

[MikeinGA]

They work!

My whole life I lived near deer and never hit one. The deer whistles will help you see the deer at night. The deer hear the sound and will look at you and the headlights reflect off the eyes of the deer, the same with sun light during the day. When you see them you can avoid them. Deer move more at night then during the day. It's what you don't see, that will get you. It helps the good rider, ride safer. That's IMHO.


Mike

 

[pitzerwm]

While driving with my sister in law in her Toyota Matrix around 7pm..speed went from 55 to 40, near my home. Saw what I at first thought was a brown paper bag sailing past the windsheild, which in fact was a deer leaping, and clearing, the front of the vehicle...close, but no cigar..
I agree with keeping on your toes while riding/driving,but, sometimes you never see it coming.

I agree that you ALWAYS need to pay attention to your surroundings. BUT in Montana I witnessed a full grown 10 point buck run across 3 lanes and a medium within the blink of an eye. It had to be 150' and I didn't get my foot from the gas to the brake. It ran into the rear side of a Uhaul trailer in front of me in the outside lane. That driver never saw him and never touched his brakes. I'm still having problems accepting what I saw.

Thankfully, I have not hit any. One did jump off a cliff and ripped off the fender of my father's Lincoln. Looking at the OP's pix, shows that it can be ugly.

 

[redflasher]

I was an LEO for over 24 years. My MOS included being an accident reconstructionist as well as accident investigator. I saw a lot of dead deer and smashed up cars/drivers including a couple of fatals for drivers. Lots of deer whistles on the wrecks as they were towed off the highway. No way is a stupid little piece of plastic going to be louder than the engine/vehicle noise generated while driving down the road.

 

[robmorg]

I agree that you ALWAYS need to pay attention to your surroundings. BUT in Montana I witnessed a full grown 10 point buck run across 3 lanes and a medium within the blink of an eye. It had to be 150' and I didn't get my foot from the gas to the brake. It ran into the rear side of a Uhaul trailer in front of me in the outside lane. That driver never saw him and never touched his brakes. I'm still having problems accepting what I saw

You are correct. Of course we should all be vigilant, but all too often, those deer seem to come out of nowhere. It's indeed a scary thought. :yikes:

 

[Bob Denman]

I was an LEO for over 24 years. My MOS included being an accident reconstructionist as well as accident investigator. I saw a lot of dead deer and smashed up cars/drivers including a couple of fatals for drivers. Lots of deer whistles on the wrecks as they were towed off the highway. No way is a stupid little piece of plastic going to be louder than the engine/vehicle noise generated while driving down the road.

While I DO agree that the whistles are not effective; it's not for the reason that you suggest. The whistles are making their noise up in a frequency range, that the deer can hear... and it's an unusual noise for them to be hearing: they notice it. :shocked:
It's that nobody can predict what they will do, AFTER they notice it! :yikes:
Often; they just look at the sound source...
But when they decide to run; there is NO way to tell the direction!

 

[pickelhead]

They work for Dogs

I don't know how they work for deer, but it has stopped the neighborhood dogs from chasing my Spyder!

 

[robmorg]

This discussion seems to be leading to one obvious conclusion... Our government needs to spend more of our hard earned tax dollars for programs that will train the deer how to more successfully avoid collisions with moving vehicles. :sour:

 

[cognaccruiser]

My whole life I lived near deer and never hit one. The deer whistles will help you see the deer at night. The deer hear the sound and will look at you and the headlights reflect off the eyes of the deer, the same with sun light during the day. When you see them you can avoid them. Deer move more at night then during the day. It's what you don't see, that will get you. It helps the good rider, ride safer. That's IMHO.


Mike

My experience is the same as yours except I don't have a deer whistle on any of my vehicles. At night we drive through a heavily populated deer area. They look up as we approach and we can see the lights reflected in their eyes. Often many eyes. They do hear the vehicle coming and we get the same result which leads me to think that they would look up just based on the sound of the vehicle coming. Usually we are going fairly slow through some of the area and they hear us and probably see the lights first anyway.

Gary

 

[Netminder]

The last deer I hit ( I have hit three, two no whistles, last one whistles) the cow came out and I was able to avoid it and for a split second thought "wow that was close" only to hit the calf dead on!:yikes: About 3k of damage. I am on the fence of whether they work or not, and as said above awareness of your surroundings and decreasing your speed are your best bet, but I figure for the price of them it is an added feature in my avoidance strategy!:thumbup: I live in an area with a big deer population and have had friends following me and said they have seen deer on the side of the road tilting their head like they were hearing something, as will my dog used to wail at a certain speed when he had his head out the open window! So whether they work or not, they are a cheap addition to the fight! JMHO.

 

[Saluda]

So whether they work or not, they are a cheap addition to the fight! JMHO.

That's how I feel. I have always run them and I always will. About $ 4.00 for a pair now. Some believe and some do not.
Through the years have seen about 25 deer, but never in front of us. If that's been good luck that's OK too. Realize the rest as far as slowing down and being alert.

 

[AY4B]

Interesting thread. Im still hopefull they work but will not count on it. Ive never used one but if I did, Id use the Spectrogram app on my phone to measure and see the sound waves. From the info I have been reading, some may not make any noise at all. It seems the electronic ones are better than the air at making the noise. How the deer react is the big question. Another question is what do the deer hear?

 

[NautiBrit]

Many years ago I read an article in Motorcycle Consumer News, MCN, that was penned by our own Fred Rau. He tested many samples and came to the conclusion that they didn't work. I had an opportunity to talk to Fred about his testing and he confirmed that none of the whistles he tested were effective.