Deer Whistle?

[ptfjjj]

Has anyone had any experience with something like this? I ride on a lot of rural roads and frequently see deer grazing of the side of the road at night. Do these things really work?

http://www.kuryakyn.com/Products/1064/V-120-and-V-120c-Hornet

 

[colorider]

IMHO, save your money......

 

[Koinz]

I have the cheepo 5-$10.00 ones on my bikes. Do they work? Who knows? I wouldn't spend ton's of money on the ones in your link.

I have passed many deer on the side of the road just grazing, but they have never jumped out at me, so I don't know if I was just lucky or those cheepo whistles actually did something.

YMMV.

 

[fredz43]

I have a piece of my 87 Concours that I have saved. It is the front fairing panel that goes underneath the headlight area. It has two deer whistles on it. The reason that I have it is that in 1992 I totalled my Concours in a collision with a deer. Those were the old cheap ones and I know they don't work. I have no experience with the electric ones, but wouldn't count on them. We have a lot of deer around here, I see them in my back yard most days. I have seen groups (herds?) of a dozen or so in fields along the country roads around here and you never know what they are going to do next. If I honk my horn, some may look, some may not. I have had a few running toward the road and then suddenly veer off. I didn't have any deer whistles when they did this, so I am convinced it was the air vents in my Shoei RF1100 helmet. Or maybe it was the FM transmitter in my Sirius radio. No, I'll bet it was my Cardo Scala Rider headset. Wait, I was on my red ST11300 at the time, perhaps they don't like red? Man, I'm in trouble, I ordered a blue Super Tenere..........................

 

[fjr1300]

I have a friend that has one. He has still had to lock the brakes up to avoid hitting deer. Why did the animal cross the road? They just do, and no noise is going to prevent them. The Wisconsin State Patrol has deer whistles on all there vehicles. And as I was at a body shop, they had just finished an estimate on a squad for a deer hit and the officer came back in and reminded the estimator to add the deer whistles to the repair estimate.

 

[jajpko]

I try not to ride at night in deer country or when they are in rut.
There are places in the country, where I'm sure the deer out number the people..I guess ya just take your chances..

 

[fredz43]

I try not to ride at night in deer country or when they are in rut.
There are places in the country, where I'm sure the deer out number the people..I guess ya just take your chances..

Same here. Ever since I hit that one at night in 1992, I don't ride at night. Your lights may shine down the road very well, but they don't shine out in the fields or forest off to the side of the road, where they come from. At 60 MPH you are going 88 ft/second, so if one runs into the road 100 feet in front of you, you aren't going to stop in time., you're only chance is to brake and swerve and hope you chose the right direction to swerve.

I tell my friends that if you see me riding at night, you have made a mistake. It isn't me! ;D

Having said that, I have had many occasions when deer run onto the road during the day, but I can see them better.

 

[Mellow]

I wouldn't put a dog whistle on my bike, why would I want a deer whistle?.... LOL

 

[fjr1300]

I've only hit one on the road and five off road. The one off road cost me $ 3000.00 (deductible and co-insurance) for a new pinned thumb.

 

[Buckeye56]

Back around 1990 the Ohio Highway Patrol had deer whistles on their cruisers. But they stopped using them no long after. i was at the Hertiage Homecoming in 1992 and I asked a trooper why they stopped. He said they did not reduce the number of crashes with deer. I decided to not waste any money on them at that point.

YMMV,

 

[Koinz]

I've only hit one on the road and five off road. The one off road cost me $ 3000.00 (deductible and co-insurance) for a new pinned thumb.

Was that with or without a deer whistle? Hope your thumb is better.

 

[markjenn]

If you're bar is that something has to be proven NOT to work and they can't make the situation worse, go for it. You're not going to do any harm.

But if your bar is that something has to have some evidence that it actually does work, save your money.

- Mark

 

[k woo]

I think if they DID work as advertised insurance companies would REQUIRE their use or at least give you a discount for using one.

 

[RaginCajun]

Best reply to this issue I ever saw was on another forum:

Quote:
"I suspect the only danger in using deer whistles is assuming they actually work."

 

[fjr1300]

Was that with or without a deer whistle? Hope your thumb is better.

Without. I have a big problem with suicidal animals. They are always walkingout in front of me. Foxes, squirrels, coyote, turkeys, deer, you name it.

 

[Brntrt]

Deer respond to stimulus in their environs. Any movement or sound that is different triggers their survival instinct and they typically behave with a "flight response". I lived in SW Colorado where indeed deer outnumber people. When approching road side deer by maintaining the same speed, not changing gears, tapping your horn the dear generally will not respond and ignore you witht there head down as you drive by. I think deer whistles do arouse the deers attention and elicit a response. Steady as she goes and you will decrease your risk of hitting a deer. That beeing said, some deer are just plain stupid/suicdal and there is nothing you do about them! +1 on deer in the rut(totally nuts).

 

[2XADV]

Deer Whistles are like Shark Repellant: Depends on the Deer/Shark, temperature, how hungry they are, how stupid they are and other factors. Lab testing proves both out, but real-life a lot of people have hit deer even when they had whistles.

The problem is that some people drive/ride harder in Deer terrain because they think that their whistles will scare all the deer away. They may be right 35% of the time, but....
Someone without whistles drives/rides more cautious most of the time and has better odds of coming out ahead.

Deer still are only as smart as deer!

 

[markjenn]

Lab testing proves both out, but real-life a lot of people have hit deer even when they had whistles.

If you have an "lab testing" that has ever shown deer whistles to be effective, I'd like to see it.

- Mark

 

[colorider]

Deer still are only as smart as deer!

Forest rats!!!

:exclaim:

 

[toompine]

The cost next to nothing, weight next to nothing, use no electricity. They might work and they might not, but whats is the harm in having one, just in case they do work