Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cattle guards

Son and DIL have Ranchhand's[?] on all 3 of their trucks.
He rolls out at 4AM to work and has a 25 mile stretch of Nat. Forest to cruise on his way.
He averages about 1 deer month.

Those guards only protect the front.I have had three deer run into my vehicles in my life of driving.First one jumped off a bank and landed on the hood of my 56 Chevy.Next one came from the side and buried it's head in the front wheel my 98 Dodge.Last one came from the side and hit the front of the fender on my horse trailer ( missed the truck) .

The ones in front,I drive carefully enough I can usually avoid them.Around here,those guards are called brush guards.If you were to hit a beef or an elk with one,they are not going to help much.

I'm going to put one on my Bronco (when it arrives)

BTW, Happy birthday to you Mark! I hope its a great one.

I did $4,500 damage to a 2016 F150 after a doe his my right front corner. I'll take a side impact if I can protect the front, which I think is much more expensive to repair and can render the pickup undriveable.

Donkey Knocker

Just last October..wife smacked a mature doe @ 65 mph + broadside

Lexus GX 460 with Iron Man front steel bumper as shown---Deer DRT

Truck had no fluid leaks...after SO/Insurance report....she finished her 12 mile commute

Bumper was not damaged...sheared off 5 mounting bolts on left side

Costly items were the left headlamp....($1200)...hood...LF fender....and of course labor/refinish etc

Firm believer in 'real steel' bumpers...in our case the truck would have to been towed away instead of driven

Too bad you can't get a roo guard from Australia. They are massive, often made of 4" diameter steel pipe and extend well out beyond the sides of the vehicle. Never seen anything as big nor as strong (or as ugly) in the US.

Ranch Hand, as others have said, makes a great product.

My Son in Law put a locally built clone on a brand new Ram 350 4x4. Just a few weeks later, coming home from a charter steelhead fishing trip on the Salmon River near Whitebird Id, a whitetail doe and two fawns leaped out of the weeds alongside the road and committed suicide on the bumper.

They left a bit of blood to hose off of the rig. Otherwise the truck was undamaged. The bumper paid for itself that night. Not to mention that they make a hell of a winch mount.

Bolted? or welded to the frame?

Bolts will sheer off. Welds will not. An impact severe enough to sheer the mounting bolts would likely bend the frame and total the vehicle if the bumper were welded solid to the frame.

We run ARB winch bumpers on our Toyotas. They're very well built. Here's my old hunting truck with one.

Iron Man builds a similar bumper..in Australia as well

Seems better availabilty & pricing although

Without a doubt, the strongest one's I've seen are Del Rio Bumpers.

They are made by real welders in a real welding shop in Del Rio, TX. They used to give you a new one if you hit a deer, and it bent the guard. (Because usually, deer won't phase it, even at highway speeds. ) Not sure if they still do that, but they used to. Never seen one replaced.



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I have a Ranch Hand on my diesel Ram to keep deer from getting into the radiator.
I pull trailers a lot and your ability to steer or stop your way out of an animal collision is severely diminished..
If anything compromises your coolant system you are immediately a camper.

Ranchhand.

Never...ever ....try to maneuver away from a deer.


Scrub off some speed if you can....but stay centered in your lane.

good advise to any motorist......

Curious about air-bag deployment and how they affect it. Also gas mileage. We tapped a young buck two weeks ago in the pre-dawn darkness on the way to goose hunt. Left some hair on the front bumper and ran off. +1 on what Jim said.

A skilled driver can maneuver away from many accidents. I have avoided several via a lane change, or taking the shoulder. Once, a head on at 65 mph with a car in my lane which would have likely killed me, my wife, and our three little kids in the back seat of the 77 Volare.

Though your advice is the same as I would give my daughters. My son or wife? No, they can drive.

Trucks and deer are one thing. But deer will come right through the windshield of many compact cars. A horse or elk will come through the windshield of many trucks.

I would much prefer to avoid the deer than have it in the car with me, and possibly take my head off.

I draw the line at cats and dogs. I will not swerve to miss them.

I hit a doe going 65 mph with an old Toyota (1990). Hit her square and barely felt a bump inside the truck. She slid down the road about 100 yards after hitting her. The truck is designed to collapse and absorb the impact. It folded like an accordion and protected the occupants as designed. The body shop just put a new front end on the truck by drilling out the spotwelds and removing the old one, slid a new one on, weld in place. Simplified overview.

A bumper that doesn't give may bend the frame instead if impact is great enough.

Yep. Plus if you hit a deer it’s handled under comprehensive, if you swerve and miss the deer and hit something else it’s handled under collision.