Almost hit a deer tonight—any affordable ways to see them earlier?

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I have a thermal clip on that can be used as a spotting scope.

Drive through deer alley with LED headlights on bright. Then looking at thermal screen and you can really see all those dumb donkeys.

Warm weather will lower effectiveness of the thermal.

My vote is for thermal if it's cool/cold otherwise fire the game warden until seeing a deer is rare.
I'm interested in the thermal clip you mentioned. What brand is it, and if you don't mind me asking, what's the price range like?
 
Meh, big bumper, bright lights, stay alert.

Wait until you come across a herd of elk at night, or a lone moose crossing the road, those stupid swamp donkeys don't give a crap, and are basically invisible, even with lights on them.
 
I'm interested in the thermal clip you mentioned. What brand is it, and if you don't mind me asking, what's the price range like?
This is one starting at $500ish .....https://robofinity.com/products/car-thermal-night-vision?variant=42204818964545&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMax-US-0409-T&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22363982859&gbraid=0AAAAA-5VZ9LEkhR6A7t2gK_bsyv9MwbY9&gclid=CjwKCAjwlOrFBhBaEiwAw4bYDRVPGKXQpAqMJCDrRKNvLmqNG-6__xYctVfIOpugDCsyKl3Von47OxoCXuIQAvD_BwE
 
I'm interested in the thermal clip you mentioned. What brand is it, and if you don't mind me asking, what's the price range like?
Infiray mah50r. Last year say $3,800.

This is a handheld thermal viewer that is also intended to go on the front of a rifle scope.

Not all ment to be used while driving. I had it Bluetoothed to my phone and was just goofing around. Still just amazing.

Infiray makes a unit for cars that I would have if I did more driving during hours of high deer activity. If I remember correctly around $800.

Please note that thermal loose there advantage with warm/hot sunny days, even 2 hours after sunset. Still work but the greater temp difference between deer and surrounding landscape the easier to see the warm creatures.

Also thermal does not work though glass.
 
Infiray mah50r. Last year say $3,800.

This is a handheld thermal viewer that is also intended to go on the front of a rifle scope.

Not at all ment to be used while driving. I had it Bluetoothed to my phone and was just goofing around. Still just amazing.

Infiray makes a unit for cars that I would have if I did more driving during hours of high deer activity. If I remember correctly around $800.

Please note that thermal loose there advantage with warm/hot sunny days, even 2 hours after sunset. Still work but the greater temp difference between deer and surrounding landscape the easier to see the warm creatures.

Also thermal does not work through glass.
 
4plus makes a arb bull bar catchers mask clone bumper.
My 40 in the center, I have an older 4Plus grill guard up front, a year ago or so I bounced a whitetail off of it at about 55. No damage to the grill guard but I did bend the OEM bumper a bit.
20250809_180840.webp
 
My 40 in the center, I have an older 4Plus grill guard up front, a year ago or so I bounced a whitetail off of it at about 55. No damage to the grill guard but I did bend the OEM bumper a bit.View attachment 3986040
Nice. He makes a complete bumper too with the bull bar as part of it.
 
This is one starting at $500ish .....https://robofinity.com/products/car-thermal-night-vision?variant=42204818964545&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMax-US-0409-T&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22363982859&gbraid=0AAAAA-5VZ9LEkhR6A7t2gK_bsyv9MwbY9&gclid=CjwKCAjwlOrFBhBaEiwAw4bYDRVPGKXQpAqMJCDrRKNvLmqNG-6__xYctVfIOpugDCsyKl3Von47OxoCXuIQAvD_BwE
Yeah, I’ve been looking at that Robofinity Car Thermal Night Vision too! Seems like it could be a game-changer for spotting deer in the dark or cutting through haze and fog. The price is pretty reasonable as well. Have you had any hands-on experience with it? Is it worth picking up? I’d really appreciate your thoughts!
 
Yeah, I’ve been looking at that Robofinity Car Thermal Night Vision too! Seems like it could be a game-changer for spotting deer in the dark or cutting through haze and fog. The price is pretty reasonable as well. Have you had any hands-on experience with it? Is it worth picking up? I’d really appreciate your thoughts!
Don’t have one but I’ve been looking at reviews and seems to be a good buy but who knows what we’ll get in regards to long term reliability or customer service. Only things keeping me from buying it. Gotta start somewhere I guess
 
or a lone moose crossing the road, those stupid swamp donkeys don't give a crap, and are basically invisible, even with lights on them.


There isn't moose where I live in Minnesota. But northern Minnesota has them.

They'll kill you in a modern vehicle where safety was taken into consideration.
An FJ40, (where safety wasn't even a word yet) , it'd probably shear everything above the hood off.

Scary


Deer kill a ton of people annually, that's probably more due to proliferation though.
 
I use a set of auxiliary driving lights linked to the high beams. Pull a switch to enable them when in deer country and then I can flip them on and off with the high / lo dimmer switch to avoid blinding oncoming traffic.

I'm an incandescent guy so I use inexpensive hella 500ff driving lights but you can find led options in a broad price range.
 
Infiray mah50r. Last year say $3,800.

This is a handheld thermal viewer that is also intended to go on the front of a rifle scope.

Not all ment to be used while driving. I had it Bluetoothed to my phone and was just goofing around. Still just amazing.

Infiray makes a unit for cars that I would have if I did more driving during hours of high deer activity. If I remember correctly around $800.

Please note that thermal loose there advantage with warm/hot sunny days, even 2 hours after sunset. Still work but the greater temp difference between deer and surrounding landscape the easier to see the warm creatures.

Also thermal does not work though glass.
Whoa, mounting an Infiray MH50R on your rig for spotting animals? That sounds so cool!I haven't looked into Infiray's dedicated automotive systems yet. I'm just looking for a more budget-friendly option to try out first. I stumbled upon Robofinity's automotive thermal cameras—seems like you can self-install them behind the grille or on the windshield, which should give a pretty decent view!

Yeah, you're totally right about thermal being affected by the temps. During the day it's not a huge deal, you can just slow down a bit and stay sharp. But at night when you can't see a darn thing? That's when it gets sketchy. Really makes you wish you had something to give you a heads-up.
 
I usually say slow down no matter what you drive . Night driving where there are deer is an accident waiting to happen. Good lighting, cattle guard, deer whistles and "slow" driving help but nothing works better than staying home. But we all know that is not option for some of us.
During breeding season I saw several deer on road with Hella lights. They are not the prettiest lights but they light the road well. The ones I have a 50% brighter than normal on low beam. Anyhow, I see them so I start slowing down. Honking the horn helped a little by then I was going 45 mph, several deer take off. But all sudden I see a buck charging towards the 45. I led off the brakes a little, still slowing but start to swerve a little to the right but not fast enough. He lowered his head and charged, I hit it on the left side of bumper next to the driver's side headlight. I heard the deer's horns shatter on the truck and then you see horn pieces flying. The whole truck shook, and his body swung around the driver's fender. I felt bad but than I started to worry and thought the worst, possibly busted front end or a busted radiator. So I stopped and checked for leaks. No leaks just deer hair on crevices. I also noticed the head lamp assembly was broken but the lamp was still on. After driving to the next gas station, the damage was not all that bad. I evantually hammered the dents out of the fender with a dolly. I purchased another Hella assembly. The bumper still has an awkward bend and a tiny dent on the bezel. After this incident l learned the best one can do is definitely take precautions to protect the front end, good lighting and slow down.
 
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Whoa, mounting an Infiray MH50R on your rig for spotting animals? That sounds so cool!I haven't looked into Infiray's dedicated automotive systems yet. I'm just looking for a more budget-friendly option to try out first. I stumbled upon Robofinity's automotive thermal cameras—seems like you can self-install them behind the grille or on the windshield, which should give a pretty decent view!

Yeah, you're totally right about thermal being affected by the temps. During the day it's not a huge deal, you can just slow down a bit and stay sharp. But at night when you can't see a darn thing? That's when it gets sketchy. Really makes you wish you had something to give you a heads-up.
Sorry I did not mean to imply that I mounted my thermal on my truck . Was simply playing with my new toy . Left hand holding it out my window and resting on mirror. Phone sitting on dash.

I had considered making mounts so I could move it between vehicles but I usually do not drive and avoid driving during deer hours. Did not go any further with the idea as that is a lot of money to put in a position of being struck by bugs, rocks or deer. I am guessing that the dedicated automotive thermal units will have a heavier/stronger lens.
 
I hit a calf with mine and it pushed the turn signal into the fender and that calf went flying doing 360s in the air.

When I was in Newfoundland the last time I was headed into work and the car reacted before I even knew there was a moose in the middle of the road. The auto high beams when off what my first clue then the cruise cancelled was my second clue. The I could barely see the outline of the moose walking across the road.

4 of the Millwrights were riding together and hit a moose on the way into work, none were hurt but totaled the truck and the moose up up and ran off on 3 legs.
 

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