Deer protection

I just let go of my gen 1 and purchased a 2008 access cab with TRD. I work and live in areas where deer impacts happen daily and I have had so many close calls so, I figured I should protect myself and my investment. I have looked all over the site about bumpers/grill guard for dealing with potential deer collisions. It sounds like grill guards are not the answer and I need a bumper replacement grill guard hybrid. ARB and Allpro seem to be suggested a lot. I was wondering if there are any less expensive options, lighter options and if I do end up buying an ARB weighing in at 200+ lbs do I have to get a lift? I spend the majority of my work and free time (hunting/fishing/backpacking) on logging roads however I'm not taking my rig off-roading. Also, how much does a heavy bumper affect MPG? I looked around for all of this information and found conflicting answers so I figured I would come to the experts. Thanks for your help.

 

I have an APEX bumper which is All-Pro and am running that with factory suspension for the most part on 33's and still get 18.5MPG on my daily commute. I get probably 16-17 in town unless I really step on it. with bigger tires it isn't a direct comparison but it didn't hurt my gas mileage very much

 

What about your windshield? So the bumper stops and the deer flies into your windshield. Slow down and keep looking. You need a tractor trailer.

 

I have a friend who's smoked a few hogs driving into work in the morning. He has the ARB. Hasn't dented or anything. It's sturdy as hell.

 

.357 would be my bare minimum recommendation

 

my boy had a small buck nearly slam through his passenger window.

 

If you're in deer area especially at night the best bet is keep one thumb on the horn button, reduce your speed, and be prepared to shut your headlights off with the other hand. I've missed a couple deer at night in the middle of the road by shutting the headlights off and honking the horn. By the time you get the headlights back on the deer is gone.

Deer whistles for $5. There's little proof they actually work, but on the other hand I haven't hit a deer since I've been using them. For $5 I slap them on every vehicle.

 

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I know how to drive in deer country. I am always scanning for deer especially at dusk or at night. However, I have had close calls in the middle of the afternoon and a beefed up bumped will help me if a deer comes out of no where. And with the height at which a Tacoma would impact a deer it is less likely that it will hit my windshield unless it jumps. I am hoping to buy something that might help my truck withstand a deer collision so I can make it back for the remote areas I work and recreate in and perhaps result in less damage than my stock bumper.

 

the best thing in a highly populated deer area is to slow down. There are way too many deer now. They are a nuisance.

 

Being in a heavy deer area....most times they come out so fast from side of road you have virtually no time to honk, brake or definitely not dim lights.

A real steel bumper is best chance for minimizing damage assuming a front end hit. Brush guards, bull bars etc made of cheap tube steel mounted flimsily do little but help damage your truck (huge waste of money...purely decorative....no function) save your $$$

Now if it's a moose or cow it's going to be a mess regardless... Moose tend to get legs clipped and body goes thru windshield

I for one am getting and ARB and driving carefully

Cheers

 

i know its not a bumper replacement but i have a ranch hand brush guard it has extra support bars for stability and 4 mounting points weighs about 75 lbs cost about $600 and sturdy as a rock if i try to wiggle it the whole truck will move before it will highly recommend it and it looks great
im not sure how to upload pictures on here but when i figure it out i will post a pic of it

 

I live in deer area and a lot of axis that run sycho nothing like a whitetail. I have a steel bruteforce bumper front and rear. I also put a pelfreybilt front skid in case a deer wound up under and fkn up my oil pan. I've already tagged a big axis doe and I believe its paid for itself right there. Ive also changed out struts with 5100 and changed coils. It does ride higher. But nice ride and I dont care what I hit now.
Good luck in your decisions.

 

You need our wildlife biologists, they have managed the deer population here pretty much into the ground. On the plus side (if your a hunter), moose population is on the rebound.

 

I have shot 100's of them. I have seen them go through windshields of full size trucks. You know deer do jump off of banks, but maybe in Texas you don't have banks or hills.

 

I'm not going to post a bunch of gross videos here but if you actually believe this stupid statement you made , just go to Youtube and search " deer through windshield "

 

Yeah, ok!

 

This^

My westin bull bar wouldn't stand a chance against a deer, it came with a skid on it too but I managed to barely tap I think a rock and it bent it like nothing, buy a higher grade plate bumper and save your $ cause that'll help you in the long run



And deer have a probability to fly through windshields

 

Who said have you ever seen a deer. https://www.google.com/search?q=dee...IHYqMyASJp4DYAw&ved=0CBwQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=575

 

To answer your questions:

ARB and All Pro both are high quality products. You won't really find any better.

Unfortunately, they are very expensive BUT with out going to a full plate armor style bumper like these, you will not gain any real amount of protection.

They are heavy, pretty sure the ARB by itself is about 170lb and the AP weights in any where from 120lb to 150lb. Obviously this will cause your front suspension to sag. You can correct this many different ways, it can be done fairly cheap if you are just wanting to keep the truck level. There is a ton of info on here about how to go about it.

It may harm your mileage a bit but the advantages of the bumper will far out way the minor decrease. It's not gonna hurt you any more than driving with 200lbs in the bed. My guess is the last time you did that you didn't pay any attention to a loss in mileage.

 

Thank you all very much for your input. Sorry I didn't respond earlier but I have been out of service due to work and local forest fires knocking out power. I think I am going to order an ARB today.