Anti-Deer devices

[Frith]

Hey guys, Dad and I are coming down for the Eagles game on the 20th, and as we always come on the friday night down 81.  I have to say I'm a little terrified of hitting a deer.  Before I wouldn't have cared too much, but I just bought a new car and my car at that time will be 2 months old; the thought of paying a write-off for 7 years is daunting.  I've been reading up on deer alerts and there seems to be a 50/50 split over whether they even work or not.
 
So I put the question to you fellow NY/PA drivers... what do you do to avoid deer?
 
So far, I'm leaning towards 'rental' lol.

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[weeze]

deer rifle

[LennG]

 
 Mount an AK47 on the front bumper and fire away at anything that moves.

[babywhales]

GAP INSURANCE

[weeze]

when you see two reflective red thingys on the side of the road drive in the opposite direction!

[Webster29]

Brent:   A good question.   Living in western NYS that is a problem I have to live with all the time.  The deer population has exploded over the past several years.  They are all over the place.   If you are not careful you can hit one in the middle of the city.
 
I have been lucky over the years.  I have only hit 3.  The first one I hit pretty good but was driving a 67 Pontiac Catalina that was build like a tank.  The deer got creamed, the car, not a scratch.  Deer number 2 was not much bigger then a large dog and just knocked my front license plate bracket off.  And number 3 sort of just bounced off the side with no damage.
 
My family and I use deer alerts on our cars but I am not sure if they work or not.  Some times you will drive by them on the side and they will sort of look up to see what they hear and just stay there or they may scatter into the woods or they may get spooked and run right in front of your car.  And I think several people that use them just assume they are safe and speed down the highway not worrying about deer and CRASH.
 
And now that I ride a motorcycle a lot I am more worried about hitting a deer then ever before.  Those bikes, no matter how big do not stand up real well when you hit a deer.
 
The best advise I can give sounds rather old fashoned and fatherly but being alert of the problem is the best way to avoid it.  Keep your eyes moving from side to side and watch for movement or something that doesn't look right.  And should one run out in front of you always look for it's buddy that may be right behind it.  Many drivers miss the first and clobber the 2nd. 
 
Bottom line is that you can do everything short of staying home to avoid a deer and still hit one.     
 
Anyway you and dad take care and have a safe trip.

[babywhales]

What are the best automotive deer warning whistles?  deer whistles| Apr 18th, 2011 | by Owen Ferguson    The results are (1853 votes):
  23% voted for Airflow Activated Deer Warning Alert Whistle By Bell Automotive   19% voted for Custom Accessories Deer Alert Warning Whistles   19% voted for Wind Activated Wildlife Warning Device for Deer   19% voted for Allison 96-2470 Wildlife Deer Warning   20% voted for Deer Alert Whistle Wind Activated Anti-collision Device   
 
Just something my coworker found when I asked them if they use any devices.

 
Iam in deer country 70-90 per square mile of habitat.  I shot 4-7 a year, that is for weeze too.
 
The best thing to do is support regulated scientific based hunting seasons designed for herd control.  An uncontrolled deer population in a geographical area providing cover, food and browse can double every 2.5 years. 
 

[Frith]

The biggest concern I guess would be visibility, driving down at night means I have no traffic or border times, but at the same time, I expect the deer to be a lot more active with the lack of cars on the road to scare em off.  If it's daytime, at least I'll have some time to react in advance.
 
I think I'm gonna try to convince Dad to leave early morning so that while outside Kingston it's still dark, but about to get light for when we cross over to 81 at the border.  I sincerely doubt that the Kingston border will be busy at 5am on a Sat morning and as for traffic, I was looking at past trends for Saturday mornings over the google traffic and looks to be smooth sailing for the interstates.
 
If there's anyone who regularly drives 81 on weekend mornings could give me a heads up on traffic, it'd be greatly appreciated
 
Edit:  As a side note, I've heard venison is delicious, but I don't think I want to use my car to make the kill lol.  Weeze?  Little help? heh

[weeze]

ive hit 4 or 5 in my life with a personal best of 2 deer, 2 nights , exact same place.
im serious, watch for those beady little red reflectors, cause if theyre running and its night you will never see them to you go pow!

[TONKA56]

I've lived in Maine for my entire life...a good portion of that has been rural Maine, so I'm used to looking out for deer and moose.  Moose are far more dangerous as they are more massive and harder to spot.   I've also done a lot of traveling up and down the east coast.  My mom and dad lived in Jersey for almost a decade....so I am well aware of how many whitetails abound in the Jersey burbs and in PA.
 
The best advice I can give you is pay attention.  Look ahead, and look at the roadsides ahead.  Avoid driving if you are sleepy.  If you have a passanger, they need to be watching out too!  Don't drive excessively fast and expect the unexpected.  Pay attention to the road, not your conversation or your cell phone. 
 
Fortunatly most of the deer in NJ and PA are smallish. 
 
 

[terrymeisner]

i certainly don't want to jinx you brent, but i saw a couple of deer last night  on county road 9 while i was coming home from your place so keep your head up when coming over for the game tonight.....the best advice you are getting is be aware of what's happening on the side of the road

i've hit one up here and hit it pretty hard, but i got him in the right spot on the haunches and just knocked him into the air and he took off running......we also have lots of them up here in rural ontario....go Giants!!!!!

[weeze]

its important that when you hit them you hit them in the right spot. makes it that much easier when you are cutting them up!

[Frith]

Kinda like a tenderizer weeze?
 
btw dad, I'm comin down 28 tonight... don't like taking 9 cause of how rural it is and the poor vis on the road with all the hills.

[drakew]

"Don't drive around dusk"

[terrymeisner]

btw dad, I'm comin down 28 tonight.
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the deer i hit was on 28 lol....they're everywhere eh....go Giants!!!!!