Rural garden fence advice needed

[kubota4me]

I am going to construct a fence around my rural garden. Currently, the plans are for an approximate 120-140 feet x 100 feet garden. I believe the height will have to be 8 feet or 9 feet due to a large deer population. So, if it is 9 feet tall the posts will need to be 12 feet with 3 feet being underground.

I will use either 6 inch x 6 inch or 6 inch x 4 inch treated lumber for corner posts. Then alternate 4 inch x 4 inch treated lumber with metal, solid T-posts in between the corner posts. I plan on using two rolls of galvanized field wire or hog fencing wire, slightly overlapping either other. Then I will put a short roll of chicken wire on the bottom to keep out small critters. If I need to, I will put one strand of electric fencing on the very top to keep out raccoons. I will have one large gate big enough for a small tractor on one end.

Does this fence plan sound workable?

 

[paulharvey]

Sounds expensive but it should work just fine.if they jump a 9 ft fence that's one heck of a deer.

 

[kubota4me]

What would work that would hold up over time and be cheaper?

 

[jveretto]

I have a dog in a dog pen about 20 feet from my garden. Barks at deer and they stay away. My fence is a 6' field fence. Some call it net wire. We have a bunch of deer but the don't bother because of the dog! I see deer in the pasture but never close to the garden. Good luck!

 

[8N Ren]

Hey there Kubota4me,
Do yourself a favor and scrap the idea of chicken wire. I used it and it is garbage, unless it's heavy duty don't bother. I used round fence poles and 2X4's with 1"X2"X100ft fence wire (on the roll type) and that worked well. If I were to do it again instead of chicken wire I would just double up the bottom 2 ft with more of the same wire as the rest, or boards.

If I have to repair chicken wire again this coming summer I will take it out completely and use regular fence boards.

 

[kubota4me]

I've got two dogs. The food and vet bills have been far higher over time than the initial costs of a fence

 

[kubota4me]

Hey there Kubota4me,
Do yourself a favor and scrap the idea of chicken wire. I used it and it is garbage, unless it's heavy duty don't bother. I used round fence poles and 2X4's with 1"X2"X100ft fence wire (on the roll type) and that worked well. If I were to do it again instead of chicken wire I would just double up the bottom 2 ft with more of the same wire as the rest, or boards.

If I have to repair chicken wire again this coming summer I will take it out completely and use regular fence boards.

I was thinking about using chicken wire about two feet tall over the field wire than than instead of it.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Your profile does not indicate what part of the country you are in but suggest you contact a local fencing contractor that builds game fence or as we call it in the south " high fence". The good ones know exactly what it takes to keep deer in or out of an area. Some even offer to furnish you with correct materials for DYI fence.

 

[Scooby074]

A normal 3 strand electric fence will work for deer.

Put the first 2 wires close to the ground, say under 12" to stop the rabbits and racoons, then put the last wire about 3-4' for the deer.

Over the last 8 years, we only had one deer in the garden, and that was when the fence was broken. It works!

 

[Western]

Hey K4M, I did almost exactly as you plan, but ran field fence to the ground, then covered the bottom 24" with heavy chicken wire. I didn't use a hot wire for coons, just get some Dukes dog proof traps and take care of them that way, to easy. Squirrels have been a bigger problem for me, so I got one of them pellets guns to use when I don't want to blast with the 12 gauge.

I also only went about 6' with field fence and put a couple barb-less wire on top to 8'. The only time deer get in is when I open the gate so they can.

I bought a 3pack of these traps off of Ebay for $39, got them in 3 days.
HERE:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-New-Duke-...267?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a2ebaacab