I hate deer

[Marshall]

Countymouse, you might be surpised. Last year I had a couple dozen deer in the field every day. I got five permits and only used three. After that there was hardly a deer to be seen. The DNR guy said the herd would disperse and it did.

[Carl Russell]

Matthew;18884 wrote:

….You dont need posts that close together but you do need some hight so they cant jump the fence. Orchards by me use electric fence on a inward slant so they can’t jump over….

I built a few of these when I was a work-study student in college, for genetic study plantations of tree species. Those were actually with outward slant so that the deer found themselves under the fence before they were close enough to jump. They are wicked expensive, but if the markets are strong for the produce, then maybe it makes sense.

I personally know a lot of people who like to eat venison, and I know the pop is high in PA, so I still think popping them off would be most cost effective.

Carl

[Andy Carson]

I checked into the laws about this and they seem to be much more lax than I thought they would be. It seems that I can shoot them if they are causing damage or are about to cause damage. I think thier presence in a field of crops adequately demonstrates that they are about to cause damage. I am supposed to leave the carcass though… Seems like a waste, but whatever… I might even bait them into a “kill zone” with some corn so I can set up a blind and don’t have to worry about stray bullets. Even if I don’t kill them all, I would image the corn will keep them out of the crops, let me know when they come back, and also where to find them… Sporting, huh?

[Tim Harrigan]

I think if you shoot at them a couple of times and then set out a few scare crows around the edge you could keep them under control. If you use scare crows you will want to move them every couple of days. If they are always in the same place they catch on after a while. If they start losing their fear, shoot at them a couple more times.

[mitchmaine]

everyone around here raves about this one strand fence, nose high, and electric. it seems that you drape tin foil over the wire and coat it with peanut butter every 20′ or so. seems to get great results, but can’t swear to it, cause i’m a hunter. marshal’s right. one or two victims and they disappear pretty fast.

[KGerstner89]

While deer are a problem on farms, wild boar are an even bigger problem if they come out on your property, as they will tear up the ground in a matter of hrs.

[Theloggerswife]

We have used a propane “cannon” effectively. It also deters other animals with the BOOMING sound. This isn’t a very conventional method, but it works. Pretty boring compared to walking backwards and peeing.:p

[LaNette]

Mule deer were rarely seen on my place in the late 1990s. I don’t know if it was a combination of successive droughts and record number hot summers or a change in the natural vegetation on the surrounding BLM land. After the explosion in housing development to the east of me began, the number of deer increased as well (it would seem counter-intuitive but that’s what happened). To wake up in the morning and see the amount of damage to both crop and ornamental plants by hungry deer was shocking as it was disheartening. Here in New Mexico, we can go through a process and get “permits” for shooting crop destroying deer. Locally, our game warden is somewhat lenient on the conditions set forth on what qualifies as shootable deer. I understand in the Northern part of the state the wardens are far more particular in their interpretation of the requirements. Last I heard this law was going to be taken from the books and substituted with a damage payment fund (excepting ornamental plants).

My hay farmer friends are adamant about being able to shoot their problem deer. For me I never saw how that was going to work since the deer only came onto my property at night. The wind always blows here so you can’t hear them either.

A few things I’ve experimented with are the various smell deterents people suggested (carcass excepted). But those didn’t work for me. The motion detector squirt gun devices do okay but have to be checked every day in case of water leak (water is too valuable here in the arid southwest to waste) and isn’t too practical outside of a small plot area (at one point it was just easier to fence off the garden than use the squirt gun).

To date, my most successfull deer deterent (other than deer fencing) is Charlie the Jack Russell. It took some doing but I got him to chase the deer off my property (while getting him to come back when he reached the end of the property line). Putting a bell on his harness really cranked up the scare factor too. So now he night patrols for deer. Its not fool proof and I hope he doesn’t get killed by coyotes but for now I’ve had good success.

[dominiquer60]

We are in the process of installing an 8′ high plastic net fence around our main field. After using every stinky repellent on the market and some homemade, applying for a nuisance permit (a few times), and shooting over a dozen deer in one year the situation has not improved. They pull onions out of the ground paw through straw and row cover because they know we have something tasty hiding under it. In the middle of the summer they would hop a two strand 6′ electric fence out of an alfalfa field into my summer crisp lettuce and scallions. They destroyed 2 planting of sweet corn, we couldn’t find enough puny ears to feed the 6 of us out of one field. We are able to shoot deer until 11pm with our permits, they will stay put while we drive up to them on the tractor with the shot gun so they are easy to hunt, but it is only a temporary fix. We are having success with our new fence so far and we will be trying a 6′ electric 3D fence out side of our main field.
Good Luck with keeping them out and hopefully you will have a better time of it than we have had.
Erika

[reb]

Seems that all I have to do is walk out doors with my rifle and they just disappear, at least during hunting season. :confused: Richard

[LStone]

I’m a big fan of lead poisoning too. Noticed in my hunting experiences that deer eventually get familiar and comfortable with dog scent and they know where humans and all threats are under normal circumstances. As a dog owner / hunter / small time garden grower I have spent a lot of time informally studying their (deer) behaviours as most hunters have. Deer are capable of working within the limitations posed by those threats the vast majority of the time. They will tend to not tempt fate but in a given section of woods the deer generally know what’s in their kitchen and bedroom. The same as you would.

LStone

[Scott G]

Venison good, trampled/eaten peas & beans bad.

Venison for dinner with peas & beans so much better…

[Andre]

moth balls

[dlskidmore]

If hunting them yourself is impractical, set up a few stands and lease them to city folks with their own hunting permits. Fewer deer and pocket money. Win-Win.

[Big Horses]

It could be worse….. we’ve got elk and moose too…..they eat alot more than the deer! They’re also lots harder on the fences! A neighbor went to the Fish & Game for some “cracker” shells (blanks to scare off the elk) and went out to his hay shed that night…sure enough, there was about 60 head of elk in the hay, so he popped a couple crackcers off at them. He said he fixed fence for 3 weeks because of that, so he took the shells back.:eek: Winter before last, I had a cow moose run the horses off their haybale (teeth bared, and mad all over!). She was old and getting pretty grumpy, but it didn’t make the horses or me too happy!
John

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