XP3 Hornet deer whistle review
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 4,168
Likes: 4,242
From: U.S.A. Upstate N. Y.
Hornet
Hahahah. I've got a bridge in NYC that I would like to sell you. I have it listed at listed at a reasonable price too!
You can keep the bridge.. The deer alerts are worth the extra dollars IMO.. Anything that may help you survive when something bad happens is worth it..
You can keep the bridge.. The deer alerts are worth the extra dollars IMO.. Anything that may help you survive when something bad happens is worth it..
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,971
Likes: 840
From: In front of the computer for now.
Looking at their website and by your statement in the original post, it seems as if the direction of the Hornet is critical. I'm not convinced that, at a 45* angle to the road, the sound waves it produces will always be pointed in the direction of the potentially offending deer. If it works for you that's fine.
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 309
Likes: 186
a. I think that's the best product review I've ever read. It was like reading Flaubert, every sentence must be savored.
b. OP didn't say it worked on *crazy* deer. Just reasonable, prudent deer.
I like the "check six" deer. The one who hangs back in the bushes after the herd jumps across the road. Until you're like "whew glad I got my head on the swivel time to git on down tha GYAAAAAH"
At any rate, OP elegantly proved it's a novel stimulus. They react to it. Good job. Rest is up to the deer, and us.
Personally I'm amazed at the amount of wishful thinking that goes into motorcycling in general. "I have the right of way, nothing can possibly go wrong now!" I don't have the deer experience OP has but my feeling so far is, deer are like people. Can reliably depend on them to do the stupidest possible thing.* Can't hurt to get their little tiny brains turning over as soon as possible, not that it makes em any less stupid. Same goes for deer I imagine.
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*"Priming" in general means, if you imagine something, you can do it more quickly. Kinda saves you from going into.... well, deer-in-the-headlights mode. At least one organism in the mix needs to not be in that mode; and the fewer the better. I like to play a game where I assume there's some deer planning to ambush me out there, and I try to guess which bush he's hiding in.
b. OP didn't say it worked on *crazy* deer. Just reasonable, prudent deer.
I like the "check six" deer. The one who hangs back in the bushes after the herd jumps across the road. Until you're like "whew glad I got my head on the swivel time to git on down tha GYAAAAAH"
At any rate, OP elegantly proved it's a novel stimulus. They react to it. Good job. Rest is up to the deer, and us.
Personally I'm amazed at the amount of wishful thinking that goes into motorcycling in general. "I have the right of way, nothing can possibly go wrong now!" I don't have the deer experience OP has but my feeling so far is, deer are like people. Can reliably depend on them to do the stupidest possible thing.* Can't hurt to get their little tiny brains turning over as soon as possible, not that it makes em any less stupid. Same goes for deer I imagine.
-----
*"Priming" in general means, if you imagine something, you can do it more quickly. Kinda saves you from going into.... well, deer-in-the-headlights mode. At least one organism in the mix needs to not be in that mode; and the fewer the better. I like to play a game where I assume there's some deer planning to ambush me out there, and I try to guess which bush he's hiding in.
Last edited by AbqDave; Jun 4, 2020 at 07:07 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 9,238
Likes: 5,784
From: On the Big Blue marble
Around here there are a lot of vehicles with deer whistles that have deer damage. Claims statistics (im in the biz) show the same amount of vehicles with whistles get deer hits as those that dont. They are not recognized.
4 Million deer in Texas.
https://www.deerbusters.com/white-ta...tion-estimate/
I live in the Hill Country near Kerrville. Just down the road from the highest concentration of deer in Texas.
https://tylerpaper.com/texas_all_out...aada0f965.html
Nothing will keep them off the road in front of you. Least of all loud pipes. Perhaps a M-60 on rock and roll with 4-1 ball ammo might, might but during the rut probably not.
Bring that deer whistle down here and test it on our deer.
https://www.deerbusters.com/white-ta...tion-estimate/
I live in the Hill Country near Kerrville. Just down the road from the highest concentration of deer in Texas.
https://tylerpaper.com/texas_all_out...aada0f965.html
Nothing will keep them off the road in front of you. Least of all loud pipes. Perhaps a M-60 on rock and roll with 4-1 ball ammo might, might but during the rut probably not.
Bring that deer whistle down here and test it on our deer.
i've hit one deer in my life, been driving since 86. i put deer whistles on a pickup truck, i swear that deer ran towards the whistle, i would never put them on a bike. i agree that loud pipes do more to keep them out of the road than plastic whistle.
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Grand HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 4,168
Likes: 4,242
From: U.S.A. Upstate N. Y.
Hornet
A rider a year or so ago was killed less than a mile from our home when he collided with a deer. You can debate if deer alerts work or not. But for the cost of the unit IMO they can't hurt...People debate if full face helmets work, riding gear, full finger gloves, riding boots, the list goes on and on.. If, you have ever seen the results of a motorcycle accident, the cost of good gear, a deer alert unit and if it works or not is irrelevant.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 505
Likes: 194
I have lived in deer country for 40+ years. I see 8-10 deer a day just by looking out the windows of my house. I have used deer whistles and have gone without. I have hit deer both with and without deer whistles. Every deer I have ever hit, every close call, the deer was running because it was startled. I have yet to hit a deer that was standing beside the road looking at me. Deer whistles startle deer,so they run. Deer whistles don't increase the brain power of deer and they don't tell deer which way to run. They just tell the deer...RUN!!!