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Gardening Round2 Deer problem

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Joined
Jun 9, 2023
Messages
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Location
Vaughn WA
OK so the coastal blacktail here think my veg garden is their personal salad bar!, looking for some cheap alternative to assassination, what do you guys use?
 
I’ve posted it a few times before and here it is for what it’s worth. I’ve used it and it has worked for me and I would like to know if it works for others. A raw egg mixed with a quart of warm water strained through a wire sieve. Let it sit ou for a day to "ripen". It has worked on okra, field peas, peppers, various greens and many of the wife's flowers. We use electric fence for one area of the garden but it would be impossible to walk outside if I tried to keep deer out of everything they love to eat on my place.
 
For whitetails, I use an single strand electric fence around my garden about three feet high, then about 3 feet out put another single strand of electric fence. They jump one and get into the other. Usually i have to reconstruct the fence about two-three times until they learn to leave it alone. I just use the cheap push in rods with plastic insulators I get at my farm store.
 
The Pa. whitetails here stay out of a 20 ft. by 30 ft chicken wire fence , that is only 4 ft high. The fence posts are the thin steel ones that hold the wire in place by weaving the posts through the fencing and pounding into the ground. The secret of what deters them from jumping into the garden seems to be the plastic crime scene tape laced around the top of the wire. They come near the garden at night , and if they sense the tape on top of the wire , they go around . Have only had one set of tracks inside the wire. looked like the deer was startled bumping into the unmarked wire back before the tape application , and immediately leaped back out. Another thing , plant corn , tomato's , tall stuff back from the inside of the wire. Deer will reach over the wire far as they can , so be aware it can happen.
 
You can even get solar-powered electric fencing now; very effective!

Back in college, buddy and I went squirrel hunting in a wooded pasture area - with owner's permission.
As we were leaving, he stopped to "water the grass", turned away from me. I noticed he had his "Sweet Sixteen" cradled in his arm diagonally downward. And that he was within a foot or so of the hot wire.

Yelled at him, "Mark! Squirrel!"

And sure enough, he swung just the right amount!

Urine is VERY conductive...
 
For whitetails, I use a single strand electric fence around my garden about three feet high, then about 3 feet out put another single strand of electric fence. They jump one and get into the other. Usually i have to reconstruct the fence about two-three times until they learn to leave it alone. I just use the cheap push in rods with plastic insulators I get at my farm store.
I’ve been ‘working’ at keeping the local deer and other critter populations out of the garden with different iterations of electric fence for a number of years now. Tried the poly rope and tape with little success. Coyotes or dogs would give chase to some deer and they just ran through the stuff, shredding it like it wasn’t there. Went to 1/8” domestically galvanized (with process data) aircraft cable (found the cheap stuff from Amazon and similar places rusted in 18 months or so) starting about 3” off the ground up to 6’ tall, total of eight wires I believe, spaced pretty close near the ground (think woodchucks and rabbits), not so close to each other nearing the top. Stopped everything except the deer that just bounced over it for the salad bar. Then added a second fence 3’ in front of the taller fence about 30” high as @BruceS suggested and that 3D effect seemed to do the trick, something the local farmers also do. Find wrapping a bit of tinfoil with peanut butter on it to the fence wires to be good ‘training’ method. The deer come up to taste the tinfoil/peanut butter treat and just about turn themselves inside out trying to leave the premises as quickly as possible after licking it. Turn the power off the fence, and within a few weeks the deer are walking right through the fence wires for the tasty garden treats.

If you have access to AC, suggest the AC energizer over the solar powered ones. Found the solar powdered units work, but take a while to recover after a discharge, plus will short out when touched by growing vegetation, while the AC version will burn off the new growth vegetation. At least that’s what I found with the ones I played with. I’m on my second energizer, because lightening, as best we can tell, smoked the first one. I’ve added lightening protection, costs less than another energizer.

May appear to be overkill, but after deer (and possibly other critters) wiped out more than a dozen blueberry bushes one winter (they ate every twig and branch back to knot just above the ground) I had enough. Replanted 10 new blueberry bushes this spring.
 
For whitetails, I use a single strand electric fence around my garden about three feet high, then about 3 feet out put another single strand of electric fence. They jump one and get into the other. Usually i have to reconstruct the fence about two-three times until they learn to leave it alone. I just use the cheap push in rods with plastic insulators I get at my farm store.
I found that making little tinfoil cups of peanut butter and hanging them on the electric fence was remarkably effective. They give it a lick and ZAP! Like a mouthful of bees. Second time they fall for it is generally the last time they fall for it.
Jay
 
You can even get solar-powered electric fencing now; very effective!

Back in college, buddy and I went squirrel hunting in a wooded pasture area - with owner's permission.
As we were leaving, he stopped to "water the grass", turned away from me. I noticed he had his "Sweet Sixteen" cradled in his arm diagonally downward. And that he was within a foot or so of the hot wire.

Yelled at him, "Mark! Squirrel!"

And sure enough, he swung just the right amount!

Urine is VERY conductive...
🤣 I almost swallowed my chew on that one!
 
Rural here. Plenty of deer browse and they do not often bother my wife's garden. When they do I wish for Claymores.
Claymores!!!!!!!!!!! now you're speaking my language! I have plenty of powder and a couple thousand 54 ball, time to put my old USMC jungle warfare and booby trap training to good use! this could be FUN!
 
Claymores!!!!!!!!!!! now you're speaking my language! I have plenty of powder and a couple thousand 54 ball, time to put my old USMC jungle warfare and booby trap training to good use! this could be FUN!
Yes, but. Better make it command detonated and hide the whiskey when you are holding the trigger. One wrong move and you will be looking at concrete walls for the rest of your time on earth.
 
OK so the coastal blacktail here think my veg garden is their personal salad bar!, looking for some cheap alternative to assassination, what do you guys use?
I have used Irish Spring soap and had good results. Hanging bars of this type of strong smelling soap close to the plants and around the garden has worked for me. I've drilled holes in the bars then put a string through it and hung servel on the tomatoe basket, high and low. Used mess type bags some grocery stores used for some of their vegetables they sell. It has worked with some results on raccoons ,but bad smelling things don't always work for them. Put soap on posts around the garden. I also strung string around with stripes of aluminum foil so it moves with the wind. That help some with the rabbits. I need help with the mice.
 
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