Protection from or Deterrants for Deer?

[WVH1977]

Yep.
Step 1: Plant corn
Step 2: Crows, turkeys, chipmunks dig up corn
Step 3: Go to step 1

I asked a old farmer friend of mine one time how to get rid of the crows. He said plant enough for you and the crows.

 

[Raul-02]

asked a old farmer friend of mine one time how to get rid of the crows.

I used to have lots of crows. I'd see them raiding the songbird nests of chicks, mobbing owls and hawks, and a slew of other vexing habits that species manifests.
So I took to using my pellet gun on them. I think in more than two decades I have sent maybe 3 or 4 to fly in that great Murder of Crows in the Sky.
They took very close notice each time and now they literally fly around my property.
Sometimes early in the morning, I'll find one or two on the lawn showing off for their buddies.
All I gotta do is cause my shadow to cast across a window and they are off.

I am told they can recognize faces. Ravens can. Crows are chickens. Ravens I am told, will get revenge.

 

[California]

what are you going to do about the coons that will climb the fence. And the moles, voles, pocket gophers and chipmunks. And the entire "crew" that will dig under the fence.

We kept a garden for four years. We learned - the "wild creatures" have no desire to share. We got tired of keeping a garden for the "wild creatures".

We did keep six apple trees. We were usually able to get all the apples we needed. It was simply because neither the deer nor the baby coons could get at all the apples. It certainly wasn't for their lack of trying.

And the birds! Most years they get ALL the cherries from our two family trees.

An inlaw works for a packing house that ships boxcar-quantities of cherries. He's the rep who goes out to talk to the growers. I asked him what do professional growers do about the birds. "All you can do is plant lots of trees".

Our 8 acre apple orchard wasn't fenced until recently. But city folks have been buying up the adjacent orchards and planting vineyards, I think mostly for 'ambiance'. Fully fenced of course. We became the neighborhood zoo, the last refuge for all the critters large and small. So we fenced too, driving the deer etc over to the front yards up and down the road.

3 years later a few deer have figured out they can jump the 6 ft fence. At least we are down to 2~3 deer at any one time, not the 17 I counted once.

 

[Raul-02]

Most years they get ALL the cherries from our two family trees.

you can get real cheap poly netting for that

 

[California]

Most years they get ALL the cherries from our two family trees.

you can get real cheap poly netting for that

We did that for 4~5 years. The netting is impossible to harvest through, impossible to remove completely, makes pruning frustrating. The netting got badly snarled up from deer pawing it and raccoons climbing around in it. I found a couple of dead birds entangled in it.

The netting was a failed experiment. It's simpler to just buy cherries.

We are thinking about removing the two cherry trees to plant another family-use Fuyu Persimmon plus an orange or lemon tree. Or just replace the cherries with two more apple trees, in this commercial apple orchard.

 

[Raul-02]

We did that for 4~5 years. The netting is impossible to harvest through, impossible to remove completely, makes pruning frustrating. The netting got badly snarled up from deer pawing it and raccoons climbing around in it. I found a couple of dead birds entangled in it.

Hmmmm sounds like a painful lesson. Makes me think there ought to be a way to tent the tree and keep it cut back. Then surround it with electric fencing. I know, one thing leads to another and that leads to five more and before ya know it ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
But I gotta ask, What'd they do before they had electric fences and poly mesh and hot and cold running water? I guess cherries and grapes were for the wealthy.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

If you look up "black thumb" in the dictionary, there will be a picture of me... But at a time I have tried to garden and grow berry bushes and fruit trees.. My best deer defense was to plant a number of large patches of Hosta plants around the edges of the yard.. The deer would eat and fill up on that and do less damage to the things inside that food circle that I wanted to grow..

People were always giving away Hosta plants it seemed.. I would take them, plant them and never seemed to be able to kill them..

 

[thepumpguysc]

I got tired of “trying” everything under the sun.. & I settled on “netting”.. & it works GREAT.!! It doesn’t interfere with the growth of anything..
I cover everything.. squash, zucchini, green beans, cauliflower, onions, brussel sprouts, and yes, even the corn..
I haven’t tried covering the watermelons yet but only cuz the garden is full this year..
We live at the edge of the woods so all the deer use my lawn as a landing strip..
I could actually hunt off my back porch..
I guess the deer teach their young what’s good to eat and what’s not..IN MY GARDEN.!! There usta be chunks taken out of darn near everything and spit out.. I learned they hate cabbage but love watermelons, cucumbers..and squash plants when they’re young..
Anyway.. the netting is magic to us..
The way we use it is.. we bought the plastic tomato cages with the 4 long poles and the cross pieces..
We drive 2 on each end of the row and 2 in the middle..
6 total.. then put a couple of cross pieces on the 2 poles to hold up the netting..
Once the netting is draped over the poles, we use garden staples to tie down the bottom.. it works great for us..

 

[hunt4570]

I got tired of “trying” everything under the sun.. & I settled on “netting”.. & it works GREAT.!! It doesn’t interfere with the growth of anything..
I cover everything.. squash, zucchini, green beans, cauliflower, onions, brussel sprouts, and yes, even the corn..
I haven’t tried covering the watermelons yet but only cuz the garden is full this year..
We live at the edge of the woods so all the deer use my lawn as a landing strip..
I could actually hunt off my back porch..
I guess the deer teach their young what’s good to eat and what’s not..IN MY GARDEN.!! There usta be chunks taken out of darn near everything and spit out.. I learned they hate cabbage but love watermelons, cucumbers..and squash plants when they’re young..
Anyway.. the netting is magic to us..
The way we use it is.. we bought the plastic tomato cages with the 4 long poles and the cross pieces..
We drive 2 on each end of the row and 2 in the middle..
6 total.. then put a couple of cross pieces on the 2 poles to hold up the netting..
Once the netting is draped over the poles, we use garden staples to tie down the bottom.. it works great for us..

How do you pick your tomatoes then?

 

[thepumpguysc]

We can’t grow tomatoes in the ground here, soil is to sandy.. we grow ours in containers on the porch..
& the dogs keep them away from the house..