Almost hit a deer tonight—any affordable ways to see them earlier? (3 Viewers)

[Ryuke]

Hey everyone,
Driving home tonight, I had one of those heart-stopping moments—a deer jumped out of nowhere from the dark woods right into the road. I only saw it when my headlights caught it. Thankfully I was driving slow, or things could’ve gotten ugly.

It got me thinking: is there any way to spot these guys earlier? I’ve heard the BMW 7 Series has a night vision system that uses thermal imaging to detect people and animals over 300 meters away. Sounds amazing… but yeah, it’s a luxury car for a reason

Does anyone know of a more affordable alternative that’s actually DIY-friendly? Maybe something that doesn’t require taking out a second mortgage? What are you all using to avoid surprise wildlife meetings?

Keen to hear your tips or stories!

 

[cruisermatt]

Some high end LED lights (like Baja Designs) are not cheap but cost a lot less then a collision.

 

[MAR FJ40]

You can try a set of these for ~$6. Do they work? Some say yes, others say no and have still had crunch encounters.

Save A Deer Whistle

The Save-A-Deer Whistle is the smallest and best single unit air-activated animal alert /automobile deer whistle design on the market today. When mounted to a vehicle, car, truck, or motorcycle moving at 35 mph or faster, the deer whistle makes a sound that alerts deer, moose, elk, antelope, and...

deerwhistle.com

You can always go this route for additional protection:

4PlusProducts | FJ40 Land Cruiser | Front Bumpers | Bull Bars

Protect the front end of your 40 series Toyota Land Cruiser with a rigid 4PlusProducts bullbar.

www.4plusproducts.com

 

[charliemeyer007]

Deer whistles work with deer that were near by when some deer took it in shorts - that noise means death. New fawns have no clue what it means. Deer hypnotized in the head light - flash your lights hi-low but turn lights off then back on in a few seconds breaks the hypnosis better than flashing. I would drive by a tree farm with 100's of deer out in the field - come around the corner and the ones that knew what it was would throw their head up and look, the rest just keep feeding.

A deer running away from a cougar likely fears it more than the deer whistle. I was driving home at 2am. 25-30 mph. I see something out of the corner of my eye and hear a thump. I stopped, got out the flash light and walked back 100' or so. Dead Owl - broken neck - it struck right above my upper deer whistle on the passenger side - biggest mouse it ever tried to strike.

You have to make sure the whistles don't get clogged with bug/mud/snow. At the transition speed I think they squeak.

 

[Ryuke]

Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve actually looked into Baja Designs lights before — definitely awesome, but like you said, a full setup can easily run over $2k before installation That’s a pretty serious commitment!

And yeah, those little deer whistles… my neighbor swears they’re hit or miss (literally lol). Not sure I totally trust a $6 fix with something this important.

But recently I stumbled upon something kinda interesting: a DIY-friendly thermal night vision camera for cars. It claims to detect animals or people hiding in total darkness up to like 650 feet away?? And it’s around $500-ish. Sounds almost too good to be true.

Has anyone tried something like this? Would love to hear real experiences before pulling the trigger!

 

[Ryuke]

Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve actually looked into Baja Designs lights before — definitely awesome, but like you said, a full setup can easily run over $2k before installation That’s a pretty serious commitment!

And yeah, those little deer whistles… my neighbor swears they’re hit or miss (literally lol). Not sure I totally trust a $6 fix with something this important.

But recently I stumbled upon something kinda interesting: a DIY-friendly thermal night vision camera for cars. It claims to detect animals or people hiding in total darkness up to like 650 feet away?? And it’s around $500-ish. Sounds almost too good to be true.

Has anyone tried something like this? Would love to hear real experiences before pulling the trigger!

 

[AussieHJCruza]

Big bullbar?

 

[cruisermatt]

$6-700 can go a very long way in LED lighting. That’s like two tires!

Hit me up, I’m a dealer, let’s see what I can do for you.

 

[sogncab]

I've hit and killed 2 deer with my 40 in the last 4 years.

One went under. No damage.
The second went into the radiator.

An ugly front bumper with a prerunner bar should help push them down.

Lighting helps a bunch. Improved headlights and auxiliary lighting. The auxiliary lighting only helps when there isn't oncoming traffic though.




Biggest thing is keeping your head out of your ass and stay vigilant scanning. Those dumbass animals can jump out of the ether though.
Knowing what they like for cover and being aware of the most likely areas to cross.
Knowing that soon they'll be going into the rut and chasing each other around.
Also harvest in the fall pushes them around a bunch too.

Theres a reason both my cruisers have big dumb bumpers on them.

 

[pb4ugo]

I've hit and killed 2 deer with my 40 in the last 4 years.

One went under. No damage.
The second went into the radiator.

An ugly front bumper with a prerunner bar should help push them down.

Lighting helps a bunch. Improved headlights and auxiliary lighting. The auxiliary lighting only helps when there isn't oncoming traffic though.




Biggest thing is keeping your head out of your ass and stay vigilant scanning. Those dumbass animals can jump out of the ether though.
Knowing what they like for cover and being aware of the most likely areas to cross.
Knowing that soon they'll be going into the rut and chasing each other around.
Also harvest in the fall pushes them around a bunch too.

Theres a reason both my cruisers have big dumb bumpers on them.

^^^^^ There's a lot of good stuff in this post.^^^^^^^

I've hit a couple of deer in the last 15 years, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I can say I've missed more than I've hit. I live in the country and commute to the city everyday. The road I take to work is what I call Deers' death highway, it's mostly 2 lane along the Ohio River in southwest Ohio.
During the fall it seems deer are hit daily. It's Robust bumpers and vigilance for me. There are spots during my commute where deer are more likely to be. The 2 deer I've hit was because I was distracted doing something else. Any more I monitor the the side of the roads more than the on coming traffic. My brother drives slowly, me not so much. He's hit deer too. I hit the bright lights when I can, looking for beady glowing eyeballs on the side of the highway. I always leave plenty or room between me and the car ahead of me. You never know when he's going to lock up the brakes. Knowing the enemy is helpfull. They see in black and white and are nocturnal. They stare at the light and freeze because they are blinded. They are active during the night along with a couple of hours before sunset and a couple of hours after sunrise. They see movement extremely well and have keen sense of smell and hearing. The deer are more active in the fall leading up to and following rut, which is their mating season. Around here it's the 1st 2 weeks of November. The bucks are pushing Does prior and after that time. They are horny and the Does aren't. If you see a Doe run across the road near or around rut there's a good chance a buck maybe close by. Good luck and be vigilant.

 

[sogncab]

so take my advice with a grain of salt

Same. I've hit a and killed maybe 5 or 6 deer over the last 28 years of driving.

But I've dodged hundreds of those useless dumb animals. God I hate deer.

I wish I enjoyed hunting them more. The whitetail around here are delicious.

 

[Godwin]

When you see a deer on the road ahead of you, and once it's crossed, ignore that deer but look in the direction from which it came because they often travel in groups and it's the ones about to cross the road that you need to worry about.

I've run over, not hit, one deer in my FJ40. I was doing about 65 mph at night on the interstate and it was young one. When I saw it I had no time to react except grip the wheel tighter expecting a hard hit. Hardly felt it as I went over it.

 

[numby]

Sylvania makes some cheap led auxiliary lighting. Their Rugged series costs less than a tankful of regular. They have spot and flood patterns. The amperage is pretty low. Not sure they can take a beating but they are brighter than the factory headlights.