deer barrier

[bcp]

One of these designs MIGHT keep deer out.





Bruce

 

[goeduck]

One of these designs MIGHT keep deer out.



View attachment 531874

Bruce

Probably not oosik’s deer on steroids.

 

[DieselBound]

A couple of dogs (german shepherds, labs and retrievers and the like) would look after the deer.

I'm a total believer in dogs. I have various fowl and I've never lost one when the dog is outside: ground or aerial predators, none will risk exposure to dogs.

I'd read that nested/double fencing works really well. Eats up real estate, but the idea is that deer are unable to gauge the depth. How far to jump to clear that second (interior) fence? Or, how little to jump to land in between? Doesn't require tall fencing. I suspect, however, that this is mostly cost prohibitive.

I seem to recall seeing deer over in Eastern Washington bound over a 6' or 7' fence like it wasn't even there: I was looking at property; owner had a video of a black bear up in one of the fruit trees, so add that to the list of things to possibly have to deal with! Even though deer can be pests I'm still amazed by their athleticism.

 

[jaxs]

We don't worry with deer and bear eating crops in Texas,,,,,,,,wild hogs always beat them to it. Talk about deer being difficult to fence out,if a hog get's his nose through the fence,he will shortly get his body through it. Deer have one,occasionally two fawns per year,hogs have six twice per year.

 

[DieselBound]

jaxs, yes, wild hogs are the worst! We don't have them here, but I've read stories: and I know what "domesticated" ones can do. I don't think that hogs will run from dogs (whereas deer and bear [black] will).

 

[hecklerjim]

Boatyard has it right. Two shorter fences, ran parralell to each other spaced about 6-8 ft apart. Keeps them out of the blackberries around here.

 

[goeduck]

We don't worry with deer and bear eating crops in Texas,,,,,,,,wild hogs always beat them to it. Talk about deer being difficult to fence out,if a hog get's his nose through the fence,he will shortly get his body through it. Deer have one,occasionally two fawns per year,hogs have six twice per year.

And we up here are depending on you down there to keep them under control so they don’t spread.

 

[jaxs]

And we up here are depending on you down there to keep them under control so they don’t spread.

Well you might start thinking about who's side you are on and coming to help before long. Hogs are about as contentious as barbed wire in the old days of farming and ranching. Landowners growing plants or livestock spend millions on extermination efforts while owners of floodplane or other non-productive land charge hunters for killing hogs. Farmers pay trappers per head to trap them then trappers sell them to hunting resorts so they can be released. Hogs are not going to stay where even nut trees don't produce when they can go up the road to a melon patch, 200 acres of corn or feed bunk. You can see how neighbors might get crosswise when that happens. There's little hope for resolution as things stand now. State legislators passed a few laws but officers spend so much time patrolling the border and chasing drugs,they have little time to inforce the laws. Game wardens start the day responding to trespass or hunting complaints and by day's end they have come across drug violations that take them away from their primary duties. State law forbid's transporting live feral hogs on public property(roads included) but trappers can be seen most any day hauling live hogs down farm to market roads.

 

[oosik]

Naw, goeduck, the deer around here would just walk up to those big things and "mark" them. Dogs WILL keep the raiding animals at bay. There is a basque fellow about thirty miles south that has those LARGE white dogs - Pyrenees - to guard his sheep. I stop and talk to him, couple time a year. Last year he had 3200 sheep. These dogs of his keep just about everything away.

His problem - gophers and their digging. Sheep can step in one of their holes and hurt their leg.

After reading about all the problem you guys have with wild hogs - our deer, coons, skunks and porcupines seem like small peanuts.

 

[goeduck]

. State law forbid's transporting live feral hogs on public property(roads included) but trappers can be seen most any day hauling live hogs down farm to market roads.

Holy carp !!!!! No wonder there is a problem, that can not help assuming some escape.

 

[Fastball]

Hi all....have taken iver my dad痴 small acreage (10-odd acres) after years of neglect. The deer absolutely ran this place...at any one time there were a half-dozen to 15 wandering around. They chewed our apples trees down to the nubs and pretty much ruined everything else in my wife痴 flower beds. The existing fence posts had rotted out and shrubs had pushed down big chunks of wire.
Tried stuff like Bobbex and puma urine and Irish Spring. It all worked...until the next rainfall. Piled brush and scrap wood through the tromped-down sections of fence to no avail. 6-7 feet is nothing to them.
Finally bit the bulletand bought a couple dozen 10-foot fence posts...droven them 3 feet down, and put a six foot high welded wire fence up. Then two strands of barbed wire on top of that.
No shortcuts worked for me. Good luck tomyou.

 

[Redneck in training]

Instead of two fence install a cantilever on top of the post with charged line at the end of it. We used fiberglass sticks (4 Ft long). One end of the stick was anchored on a t post insulator that was drilled and p[laced abput 1.5 ft beow the top of the T post. The other end of the cantilever was then tied to the top of the T post to keep it at about 30 deg angle.

 

[DJ54]

For a small plot, I've found that making a hedgerow of Sunflowers works very well to keep Deer out of my garden and sweet corn patch. I plant 10-12 rows of Sunflowers within a 36" width, around the perimeter of the garden. I mix the tall striped, and black oilers together, to make a nice tall, thick hedge fence. My garden is about 1/4 acre, and 2, 5 lb. bags of Sunflower seeds was enough to make the fence for 2 years.

The theory is, Deer will not jump over anything, they cannot see the other side of. Granted, until the Sunflowers get tall enough, so they cannot see through/over them, they will walk through them. Once they do get to that height, they will not. They may browse on some of the Sunflowers on the outside rows, but, that's about it.

This past summer was the first time I had a garden without the protective hedge fence. Big mistake. The Deer riddled the garden. Barely got enough tomatoes, to put up. It's the first time I've ever seen a Deer actually eat the tomato. I'm assuming it was a particular doe, got a fancy for the taste of the Mortgage Lifter tomatoes I'd put out. Out of the 2 dozen plants of them I'd set out, I only got 2-3 edible tomatoes, she ate the rest, whenever they were near ripe. And apparently the 6 dozen Celebrity, and the 4 dozen Opalka tomatoes just didn't quite suit her taste. However, she did pull them off the vine, and dropped them on the ground. So, next year, I'll definitely be planting my hedge fence, once again.

Lack of moisture there will probably make this suggestion useless to you. But in a good year, it'd be worth a shot. I'd suggest tilling around the perimeter, then for a large area, you could use a small broadcast spreader to sow the seeds, then lightly disk in. It doesn't take much to get them going. There is also the plus of attracting bee's for pollination.

I make 2-3 entry places, like a small maze type entrance, so they will not come in, but yet, I can cultivate, and harvest. That would be the tough part for you, although you could make a high fence gate to get in an out.

 

[oldballs]

Here's some idea of what works for me.
When we had a Golden Lab that was free (no leash laws then), I had no problems. After the dog died and the Deer population soared I started fencing. ... Had to go higher as I gained more experience and before TBN. The Conservation Dept started to thin the herd from local parks as time went on. Now with suburban expansion there are fewer deer. Coons and Opossums still get in...some are trapped..

The pictures give some idea of my current fencing around a 50 x 100 garden in rural suburbia. ... 2 ft chicken wire at bottom...4 ft of field fence...7 feet of deer netting....PVC pipe....T-posts...6 inch corner posts..zip ties. The "Wedge.Loc" T-post bracing hardware is handy.

In winter freezing rain, the pipes/deer netting bend but don't let the whole thing fall down. Very little maintenance is required as a few zip ties break and it sags...and a couple of the 6" posts have rotted off at the ground.

My orchard and vineyard are gone now, the dog and my family too....so that's of no concern.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[TerryR]

This is what has worked for us for seven years on our garden, after the deer drove us out of our un-fenced garden:


That's a seven-foot plastic deer netting on 4x4 braced posts. I think it's successful because there is nothing visible at the top, so the deer can't see well where the top is. There is only a black plastic-coated wire along the top. The raised beds inside probably help as they don't provide a good landing spot. I suspect they might jump it if it were clear inside.

Since this photo was taken we've added a two-foot chicken wire band around the bottom and sealed the bottom of the gate with wood to keep the rabbits out. They think the plastic deer wire is an appetizer.