Deer guard question

There's no defense against the golden BB. I'd stay with the replacement of the original bumper, hood, deer guard. As they say in aviation, you can make the airplanes crash-proof but you can't be sure they will be able to fly if you do so.

 

I know that in my area the moose guards reduce the damage by 75% or more
The bigger guard you suggesting only has to hit one deer to pay for itself
Deer have never done a thing more than bend my bumper. Moose tend to take chunks out of the hood and if you take one in the grill your rad meets fan and you’re getting towed

 

It's not the cost of the repair, it's the down time. We run the bigger guard after a few hits, and so far it's done it's job and scared off all the deer. Dang near clipped an elk in WY on Saturday night, fortunately the truck ahead of me sacrificed itself for us......

Stories aside, more bars is better, but sometimes they will still hit just right to slip through and take out a headlight. They aren't a guarantee. but I'm running one anyway.

 

Depends on the style of bumper, speed and where you hit. Imo though i had the big heavy steel herd guard on my old peice of shi....err on my pete. Took a deer at 73 and said deer just vaporized and very slightly bent the guard. The herd guards are just that much sturdier.

Those tube guards like you have are alright but cant really stand up to a hit like a proper bumper and guard integrated set. They will prevent a lot of damage to stuff like radators and such usually....but as you found out, not much more.

 

Fair, i dont know how much a volvo bumper is. I know on my pete it was almost $1800 and its nearly 3k on my lonestar so cost wise they are a wash when you add on the $1200 odd dollars for a larger tube guard. But they both have the factory steel bumper. So im unsure how that compares to a volvo.

That said they arent as heavy as you think. The one on my pete was 500ish pounds and it was the heavy duty one. I think the standard aero is 350ish? And its almost as robust. Plus dont forget you can take the weight of the OEM bumper off that. I know on my lonestar the plastic one is 120 pounds with the clips mounts and such and the steel one is 280. Figure if your plastic one with clips is around 100. And the tube guard is around 100 as well. Its not a huge jump weight wise.

They also have a lighter duty one that is aluminum and is technically more robust and cheaper, but cant be fixed easily if its cracked or bent and tends to oxidize pretty quick if you dont keep it clean and waxed.

 

Never say that you hit a deer.
Only say that the deer hit you.