Is a Deer Guard worth it?

Because there's not too many deer between the cookie factories and the Walmart DC's. As in, not many moose on the freeways.

We hit three deer in four months a couple of years ago. New fender, new headlight twice, new half bumper. We run about 500 miles of two lane roads a month, mostly after dark. Deer are going to happen.

So we put a Bambi basher on. So far it has worked: it has scared all the deer away from the truck, and saved the hood from a backing accident during a Jam-up due to a closed Interstate in Ontario, OR.

 

Well, I live in Pennsyltucky, which in itself puts me in a probable setting to hit one. I think we rank first in # of deer killed.

I spend probably half my night on two lane roads in hillbilly hell.

Yes, I'm a local nightshift driver.

So, odds are I encounter more deer in one night than most drivers see in a week. So I have ample opportunities each week to add to my resume.

 

I have hit three deer. Minimal damage each time because of pure dumb luck. Each one hit the passenger side, one starting at the door, one off the front drive, and one off the rear drive and landing gear. I would like to have a deer guard but it's not my truck so not my decision. I don't drive the back roads of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana as much these days so it has been a while since I've had a close call. When I was doing that a lot, I saw a lot of deer, elk, antelope, and an occasional big horn sheep. The elk were the scariest. They're all stupid beasts that like to graze on the shoulder and chase each other across the highway, but deer seem dumber than the others. That might just be because I've hit them though.

 

If a fleet has 1,000 trucks and puts a $5,000 bumper on each thats $5,000,000. If 10% of their drivers smoke a dear in the life of the truck and do $25,000 in damage that's $2,500,000 in repair work. A company with that many trucks is probably replacing them every 3-4 years. So every 4 years they can spend $5,000,000 on fancy bumpers or they can spend $2,500,000 on repairs and just pocket the other $2,500,000.

Chances are a company that size has at least a few extra trucks sitting around so downtime on a single truck doesn't cost much since they can just put the driver in a backup unit while getting repairs. So no lost income for the company or driver.

Now for an O/O with 1 truck and 1 driver. He spends $5,000 every 5-10 years to buy a bumper for his truck. If he hits a dear it might damage the bumper and probably do at least something to a headlight or grille. His truck is still operational and he can keep earning income while waiting for some parts. Zip tie on a headlight for a few weeks if he needs to.

If that O/O hits a deer without the big bumper and does that same $25,000 damage he's in a rough spot. Sure he can just make an insurance claim. Which will take at least a few weeks to get settled out. Then there's downtime for the repair/body shop. That could be at least a month. So while he's down for that month he's still got truck/trailer payments. Still got Insurance payments. Not a drop ofnincome though unless he spends even more money to rent a truck. Renting might not be an option if it's a specialized truck though like a heavy hauler.

His $25,000 deer hit now ends up costing him $50,000+ with lost work and equipment downtime even with the insurance payout.

Suddenly that $5,000 bumper sounds like a good investment to save the O/O money. Especially if being the lightest possible empty weight isn't an important part of their business model.

 

For those that run the upper peninsula across MI to WI often…. You can hit 2 or more a year.

 

yes they are very much so, id'e rather cry a little over getting a moose guard vs having the whole front end destroyed wich will cost a hell of alot more. than a moose guard

 

Not a class 8 rig, but they're definitely worth it. My wife center punched a deer at 70mph and it deployed air bags. Instead of going back with a factory bumper I installed a full replacement for her.


About a year later I hit a deer at around 65mph while towing our pontoon boat and it did nothing except for a little bit of hair that was left on the skid plate.

The next day I ordered a full replacement for my old Dodge, and I've since hit a deer with it as well. Absolutely no damage.

 

Sounds like a lot of people drive faster than they can see, or are busy looking at other stuff besides the road in front of them. If you're one of those people, then I guess a bumper guard can be worth it. Many people might not place much value on the lives of animals, but what if it were something like a laid over motorcycle? Being able to hammer down and not care because you have a shield in front of you is not much different than the inattentive people who rely on automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane departure.

I can somewhat agree with getting it to help with getting hit while parked. But it can also make it harder to get into some tighter parking areas, especially with the amount of people whose front ends stick out of their spots because they also have a guard.

 

While I have been extremely lucky I have only had one deer strike in the last 36 years and it caused no damage. I have narrowly avoided one large elk and multiple deer. I don’t like the look of the Moose Bumper as well as some bumpers, but I do like how reinforced they are. I put it on due to the many hazards on the road and to protect myself.