Deer eating my young trees

Urine where I'm at attacts deer. For a homemade concoction that works, save the oil from from cooking meat, dissolve in a solution of water and soap, add a shot or three of Malathion. The best homemade stuff I've found. Plantskyd is still the best, lasts longer and lasts through a few rains.

__________________
So in the morning, please don't say ya love me.
Cause you know I'll only kick you out the door.

Some have had success with eggs and cooking oil. The eggs get rotten and smelly while the oil holds it on the tree. Reapply after every rain.

We started an orchard last year. 19 fruit trees so far planted fairly close to the house. No deer damage for 2 months and then suddenly 5 trees damaged. Called the conservation guy and got some advice that we implemented with good results. Thumbs up on the soap idea. Ivory is said to work best. What we did that made the biggest difference was that we set parameter metal posts and strung a fence of monofilament fishing line around it with the strands 8 inches apart. Tensioned them and tied them off.

The deer cannot see the line and will walk into it, spook and cross your orchard off their brunch list.

I can attest that it works. Dogs , small animals and humans can squeeze through the lines but twice I have found broken lines where deer have walked into it and paniced.

Of course you have to check the lines regularly for damage and do repairs but to date we have had no further damage.

We also wrapped our trees with bird netting as a further deterrent and wrapped the trunks with trunk wraps that we bought from Starks nursery in Mexico, MO.

I also gather up dog droppings and shovel them around the trees as a scent deterrent.

This is a budding business for us so we take protecting it seriously.

Good luck

__________________
I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here!

You can buy wolf or cougar urine. Expensive, but does the job.

What we did on our farm was put hot pepper juice (texas pete and the like) in a pump sprayer, then spray all over our corn and other plants. Deer hated it, so did other critters.

You can use all you homemade devices, but fencing is the only sure way.
If you spend money on fencing you will have trees that survive. Don't waste your money on more trees, buy fencing and you'll not need to replace the ones you have.

I use 4ft fence that starts with 1x2 squares on bottom ( for rabbits ) and then goes up to 2x4 on top. Cut in 6 ft lengths, this makes about 23 in diameter, and put around tree. I then use one piece of rebar about 4 ft long pounded into ground about a foot and attach to wire fence with a piece of looped wire so I can pick up the fence and weed eat under it. The deer still nip some of the branches but they can't rub them, which is what kills the tree. After the tree gets big enough, I only use the wire during the rut, which is when they like to rub.
I've also seen people use 6 inch black flexible pipe split down the center and placed around the trunk. This would be cheaper and it keeps both rabbits and deer from destroying them.

I use tree-guards on the trunks of young trees that I get at a local garden shop. They are basically the same thing as the black flexible pipe split down the center only these are white. If you have the black flexible pipe that works just fine. I usually only need one or two at a time so I've just picked up what I need at the garden center. They are pretty cheap - just a couple bucks.

Liquid Fence works but you have to reapply often. It won't work in temps that cause it to freeze because it changes the nature of the stuff. Ask me how I know.

Fencing is about the only thing I have found that works. If you don't want to spend the money on the heavier duty wire fencing then the plastic deer fencing will work fine. You just need enough posts to go around the tree.

My neighborhood has so many deer it drives me crazy. Rats on stilts. Utterly destructive. They are so used to people they won't even move. You would think they came from a deer feeding petting zoo park. They literally saunter down the middle of the road and might - just might - move off to the side if you get real close.

I have never found any soap that worked and I've tried them all. Ivory. Zest. Irish Spring. Fells.

I did once buy a bottle of cougar pee. Or so the label said. I don't want to know how they collected that. It did work - but it reeked. The second time I tried to use it the sprayer got clogged. I was fiddling with it and giving it a good squeeze when the entire top came off and I was doused with cougar pee. One of those life experiences I don't ever want to repeat.

They do have a miraculous new spray on stuff called Buck Shot. It is lead based and can be applied from a distance. It does require you to buy the dispenser but it is VERY effective. It is so effective that the game wardens don't want you applying the spray during the off season but it does work.

WARNING: This product may cause your freezer to fill up with venison.

__________________
U.S. Constitution -10th Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Liquid Fence works great for us, we only have to apply it about 3 times during the garden season here.

Individual cages have always worked best at my parents. I don't have anything young enough to fence except the garden at my current house. Unfortunately this house has a heard of elk that occasionally plows through my garden fence.

Here its black bear that can do a number on fence.

__________________
So in the morning, please don't say ya love me.
Cause you know I'll only kick you out the door.

Apply for a nuisance animal license and go get yourself some venison legally.

__________________
Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

Get a dashchund. Seriously, ours is nine pounds of fury. In the spring when deer are slowed down by fawns, she will go after the does and bites their ankles. I'm always worries ehs is going to get killed, but after the fact it's hilarious. -Side note: this is why she has to go out on a leash during prime deer hours-

We also got some cheap plastic snow fence. You know, the kind that gets put up on the side of the fields to keep snow from blowing/drifting onto the road? We put that around our apple trees last spring. We had to use zip ties to make them tall enough to protect them to the top, but it works. Except for the one tree that lost its fencing in a storm. We thought that the weather was so bad we could wait until morning to fix the fance. By morning the tree had been chewed to nubs. So now the boys pee on the fencing of the two remaining trees and I let the dogs go over and poop by them also. The remaining trees are doing excellent.

Dogs. I taught our dogs to keep the deer out of our orchards and fields. I don't have the time to deal with the deer, pests and predators but the dogs love to. That's their job, how they earn their living.

__________________
SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

The thing about putting up fencing is that you have to get it tall enough to be sure that the deer are not going to climb or jump it.

I remember our conservation officer telling us when we asked him about fence height that he had an orchard owner who was battling deer and put up a 6 foot fence around it. The deer still managed to get over it. He said that he had seen pictures of the deer standing on their hind legs to get to trees.

The trick he said with regular fencing is to put up a double fence, each at least 6 feet in height with 4 foot of space between the fences. You can use barbed wire on the inner fence but he recommended something like chain link or chicken netting on the exterior parameter fence. The deer will not attempt to jump a double fence as they do not want to be caught between the rows of fencing

Dogs are worth their weight in kibble when it comes to keeping the deer where they belong.

You might also try things like wind chimes, hanging computer discs from strings in the trees and whirly gigs. Move their location around once a week, add or take away an item.

I would like to tell you that this problem will go away but frankly, you will be matching wits with these antlered timber rats as long as you have fruit trees or anything that tastes good to them.

We were also told that the does teach the fawns feeding areas to visit. Once you spook off a doe with a fawn, the doe and fawn will more than likely not return to the area.

__________________
I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here!

Those plastic guards, tucked below ground if possible, and a ring of mothballs against rodents and rabbits. Or those tall tree guards the Co-op sells, though they mean them for pines, I think. Tall collars of hardware cloth out about 6-8" from the trunks. At first I used rabbit-cage clips to make those, but they were hard to remove if needed, so now I wire in 3 places. Soap hung in the branches. Then 3-strand electric fence around the whole plot. Bird-netting to keep deer from nibbling what they can reah would be useful, but it holds too much ice & snow here, and will break the tips & branches.

I take it your kibble costs as much as gold.

__________________
SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Ya, we did manage to get one little fence up. grounds frozen and too darn cold again.

My dog will go out there if the deer is right there. She is a little afraid of them tho. She will bark from behind me...lol Huh, cattle dog my behind, I want my money back...lol She's softy.

I spoke with a neighbor who has lots of tree's, he said the deer netting doesnt last long around here, doesnt hold up to the wet, freeze/thaw we get. Also the snow settles on it in spots. We used some left over chicken fence. It isnt tall enough. They can reach the top of those trees without standing on their hind legs. and some of the trees are quite tall.

I have mature apple trees in my horses pasture. Its electric fence, they jump right over it...lol

Hate to post this on a public forum, but I did take an idea from that video. I been picking up my dogs pooh and put it in a bucket and set the bucket by the tree farthest from the house. Thats the one thats all eaten down, almost gone. If they want to eat near a bucket of nasty pooh, then they are crazy deer...lol

There is a spray made from eggs and garlic. Stinks bad but works. I believe it is called "Go Away" and made by Bonide Products. See http://www.bonide.com/products/categ...?category_id=7 Worked for me, but also kept deer out of the area for my hunting!

Also, try searching for "home made deer repellent" and you will find all kinds of recipes.

__________________

How to Patch Large & Small Holes, Build & Finish Drywall Arches, Tape & Finish Corners and Joints, How to Texture and Repair Texture
Drywallinfo.com

In difficult environments a multi-strategic approach is best to keep deer away from your trees. A combination of barriers, deterrents and repellents will produce the best results.

The single best strategy is a good quality fence. Eight feet high is a minimum when fencing off a group of trees. Individual wrapped trees will need to be completely wrapped up to that height.

Adding another type of deterrent to the mix like a Scarecrow Sprinkler or as others have mentioned a random noise make will improve results.

Lastly a repellent will greatly enhance your chances to keep them at bay. Repellents use either taste and/or odor to dissuade them from feasting on your trees.

We have used Deer Repellent Packs with great success. They use odor as their defense, but do so with Natural Coyote Urine in granular form housed inside a weather resistant pouch.

The advantage is that these pouches only have to be hung every 90 days and work in all types of weather conditions.
The packs work great as an easy to use stand alone in environments where deer are not under pressure to find food. You can see this unique deer repellent by clicking here.