Rural garden fence advice needed

[Dr_Zinj]

Recommended height for deer fencing here in New England is 12 feet. Our Bambies can clear fencing lower than that. Of course any fencing is going to slow a deer down, so if they clear a 9 footer into a garden, I'd say they just proved to be nuisance animal deserving of culling. Just get a permit from your Fish and Game for out of season taking of a problem animal.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I used two strands of electric fence with baling twin around the top. I then came off the main fence about three foot and put another strand of baling twin about thigh high.

The deer have a hard time judging depth and would not jump the fence. I had 2 acres fenced like this and it worked great for 3 years.

Last year we had some very small baby deer and they went through the fence and of course the mom had to follow. So we lost all our peas and okra.

This year I am fencing in 3-3 1/2 acres with field fence that is 47 inches high. I will add extensions to the standard wood post with lag screws and PVC pipe notched to the 7 foot T-post to get the added height needed to keep them from jumping. I will use the orange baling twin around the top with streamers tied every 5-10 foot. This should work and also keep the deer from going thru the fence.

If I have any jump it I will put a strand of electric out about 3-4 feet to mess up their depth perception.

My electric worked great for several years but once deer find a way in they will not stop.

 

[kubota4me]

I called a rep with a fence manufacturer and he told me as long as I was using big 6" x 6" wooden corner posts I could get by without any other wooden posts as long as the metal T posts were 10 foot apart. I told him I would be using two rolls of field fence overlapped just slightly. Any thoughts on this?

 

[randy41]

i put up a 7 1/2' plastic deer fence a couple of years ago. I saved on the posts by using locust from the woods. I made the posts 10' with 2' in the ground and 15' apart. you don't need much post to hold one of these up. its not something you put a lot of tension on. it works. if you grow sweet potatoes that is the real test. i've heard of deer jumping a 7 1/2' fence but it hasn't happened yet. the other fence I have is one of those 4' cattle fences with posts high enough to put 2 strands of barb wire on. that works too.
i once depended on a 3d electric deer fence promoted by premier fence. it worked for a few years but once they figure it out its useless.

 

[Western]

I called a rep with a fence manufacturer and he told me as long as I was using big 6" x 6" wooden corner posts I could get by without any other wooden posts as long as the metal T posts were 10 foot apart. I told him I would be using two rolls of field fence overlapped just slightly. Any thoughts on this?

We once bought a place where the former owner used telephone poles cut to about 10', 4' in the ground. That fence was as solid as any I have ever seen, so I think you would be fine if you can get them buried deep. He also used field fence and had "T" post every 8' FWIW.

Don't think I would try to pull it tight enough to bounce quarters though.

 

[AMD]

Definitely sounds workable. I built a fence similar to this last year for the exact reason but not quite as big - about 40' x 80'. I just used cedar posts cut 11 - 12 feet long so I'd have at least 7.5 feet above ground. I didn't use any T-posts - just the cedars spaced 10' apart.

I put chicken wire on the bottom 3 feet and then ran 2 stacked runs of page wire - there's room for barb wire at the top but we never had any deer get inside so I never added it. They came and looked daily but never jumped it.

 

[lockhaven]

works and is far cheaper then 9 10 or 12foot fence

 

[corl]

I suggest this periodically and few have taken it up but I live in a dense deer population state. Pa has a million and a half (conservative estimate) deer. They have jumped over my 7 strand 4 foot high electrified high tensile steel beef cattle pasture fence for years. USDA Wildlife Services estimated the deer population at over 300 in the square mile at work(not where I live).

I use 20 lb monofilament fishing line stretched between fiberglass posts. I use two or three strands at about 2.5 feet, 4 feet and 5 feet.

The deer may destroy it a few times until they realize where it is (I doubt that they can see it) but they then leave it alone and don't cross it. It is effective,cheap and easily installed. I have been using it for 3 years now. Hard to believe? Well I'm not really worried if you believe it or not as it has solved my problem in two 1/4 + acre gardens. The fence line is marked by electrified polywire at 5 and 11 inches all around the garden, so the deer can see that and get a shock if they touch it as well. The polywire keeps out all the little critters. Great for anything that the deer eat. I raise up to 70 varieties including corn and english peas, and deer love them. www.nunamakerfarms.com

 

[texasjohn]

Well, it's a challenge to keep out burrowing critters, rodents, coons, foxes, squirrels, deer, birds, etc....Look around at what your neighbors are doing and see how they do it and how it works...conditions are different ...use what is proven close to your place.

 

[EddieWalker]

You never want to use treated 4x4's or 4x6's for fence posts without something to hold them in place. Even then, they tend to warp and turn on you fairly quickly. The 6x6 is fine, but kind of expensive compared to round treated posts. All my wooden fence posts are round treated ones. They hold up well and they stay straight. Just be sure to look through them for the best ones when you buy them. Some are straighter then others.

Eddie