Keeping deer away.. By feeding them.. Anyone do this?

[BotanicalBill]

Hey there, I'm wondering if anyone keeps deer away from their plants by feeding them whatever it is they love the most in some other area away from their garden? I've been curious about this for a while but I was thinking one possible downside would be that you'd attract even more deer if you kept their favorite food available at all times.. I have no idea how much a deer eats.

Anyway, does anyone know what their favorite food is? I'm curious about that and if there is a way to put this food in some kind of container/device, etc that will give only the deer access and not every damn animal out there (squirrels, raccoons, possums, etc).. Any other animal in my area would be a low-height animal so I imagine rigging something to a tree or pole would be the answer..


Thanks much

BB

 

[AcroPhobic]

Hey there, I'm wondering if anyone keeps deer away from their plants by feeding them whatever it is they love the most in some other area away from their garden? I've been curious about this for a while but I was thinking one possible downside would be that you'd attract even more deer if you kept their favorite food available at all times.. I have no idea how much a deer eats.

Anyway, does anyone know what their favorite food is? I'm curious about that and if there is a way to put this food in some kind of container/device, etc that will give only the deer access and not every damn animal out there (squirrels, raccoons, possums, etc).. Any other animal in my area would be a low-height animal so I imagine rigging something to a tree or pole would be the answer..


Thanks much

BB

Nah .. do the easy thing, get some good strength fishing line, I prefer the see through green line as its invisible and make a circle or square around your grow on the trees or brush near by. Three separate lines spaced 12 inches apart keeps deer AWAY. They walk into it and DO NOT LIKE THE FEELING of being tangled in it and WILL never go back to that spot as long as you fix any brakes which takes 1 minute of your time. Been doing this for YEARS and deer dont go NEAR any of my outdoor spots. Groundhogs are worse than deer and are a pain in the ass. I had a groundhog mound right next to a spot last year and those fuckers tore shit up until i got even and dumped used cat litter in the holes everyday until they got enough of the amonia smell which they HATE and sure enough those fuckers packed up and moved out for good.

 

[BotanicalBill]

..

 

[hubcap]

got dogs?

*edit*
possible to keep em on site?

 

[amrad]

ya BBill as Acraphobic said try the fishing line. I plant in a densely populated deer habitat also, but lucky for me a family of cougars have moved in and I spread the bones of their kills around the grow area.
So far so good, but I also make cages of stucco wire as an insurance for the first few months, after that the plants should be safer, then I plan on leaving smell deterrents like my pee and strong smelling soap. Just checked today and all twenty are doing fine.
If visibility is not a problem try the stucco wire cages,its fool proof, and fast. It comes in four feet wide or fifty two inches wide and a roll will last you forever just use the same ones year after year. Its the only totally safe way to go. Good luck in what ever method you chose.

 

[drelow31@yahoo.]

ya i feed them corn shelled or cob .....climb a tree thenwait ... wait...wait. POW!!!!!!! shot dead with the 7mm.... now the freezers full too......or ya can get sum dogs i use pit bulls !!!! drelow51\50



















!!!

 

[KGB47]

This stuff works pretty well... Good luck.

http://www.deerscram.com/

 

[johnny butt]

People around me like to put out salt licks for the deer. I'm not sure I'd put that around my plot but they last for what seems like forever.

I think you would be more than secure with some fencing. The main deer worries occur early in the season where there is little green vegetation around, and all our plants look so tasty.

JB

 

[Ganja D]

got dogs?

*edit*
possible to keep em on site?

If you don't have a dog ask a friend with a dog if you can brush their dog. Spread dog hair around you plants or garden, the smell will keep deer and other animal away if they sense a large predator.
A little dog hair will work well, just add more after a few big rains.

I used to rent a place with 46 acres and a few neighbors on the road. All the neighbors said having my dog in the area kept deer out of their veggie garden for the first time ever and my outdoor was left alone as well. He barks a lot.

^^^
Don't mess with this guy

 

[Tom Hill]

Use a 6ft fence minimum. If you live in the west where things dry out then forget about any rotten egg panther-piss repellents - western deer laugh out loud at those things when grass dries out. Once you are fenced, stay fenced, do not allow deer into your garden through an open gate during the winter, if you do, they will hop right over even 8ft fencing later as you trained them to do so. You can weave old scraps of polypipe into deer fencing to cast shadows, this scares the hell out of them (they see snakes in the shadows) like throwing a rock at a dog (the apposable thumb trick, or chewing bagels with an open mouth while being pulled-over or going through security) - be superior, fuck with their minds and be passed over. I do know a guy that set-up salt-licks and threw bails of hay down, kept the deer happy, but the fencing is what keeps the deer out. -T

 

[BotanicalBill]

Thanks so much for all the tips. I will have a cage around the individual plants as well for the first month or so on top of the fencing.. I do know there are also some salt licks on other parts of the property already.. well away from the girls.. This area is already full of lush greenery and will pretty much stay that way all season barring a major drought. As for dogs I have 2 big dogs, one is the hairiest thing on earth that I have to vacuum after literally every day, no matter how much I brush. There are also a couple dogs on the land but they don't run wild. I'll start collecting the vacuum cleaner container into bags.

Interesting Tom, I didn't know deer eat hay but there are 50 head of cattle on this land already and bales of hay are usually laying around somewhere.. In fact the cattle are going to be right up against the girls (which is why there is already electric fencing there) so I was wondering if deer avoid cattle or not since cattle aren't exactly the most aggressive animals on earth.

So from what I can see here is it sounds like I shouldn't be as nervous as I am. I also plan on using some of that cement wire that Butte is using once they get big enough to train into. I think I was looking at some 6' tall welded rolls if I'm not mistaken, that I plan on using.

Thanks again for everyone's input I'll try and add the dog hair and I think everything else is already covered and I didn't realize it.

BB

 

[Ganja D]

Use a 6ft fence minimum. If you live in the west where things dry out then forget about any rotten egg panther-piss repellents - western deer laugh out loud at those things when grass dries out. Once you are fenced, stay fenced, do not allow deer into your garden through an open gate during the winter, if you do, they will hop right over even 8ft fencing later as you trained them to do so. You can weave old scraps of polypipe into deer fencing to cast shadows, this scares the hell out of them (they see snakes in the shadows) like throwing a rock at a dog (the apposable thumb trick, or chewing bagels with an open mouth while being pulled-over or going through security) - be superior, fuck with their minds and be passed over. I do know a guy that set-up salt-licks and threw bails of hay down, kept the deer happy, but the fencing is what keeps the deer out. -T

Good point Tomhill, west coast dear are fearless and desperate for food when it dries up. Guess they've never seen Bambi.

 

[SagePreSkool]

Thanks so much for all the tips. I will have a cage around the individual plants as well for the first month or so on top of the fencing.. I do know there are also some salt licks on other parts of the property already.. well away from the girls.. This area is already full of lush greenery and will pretty much stay that way all season barring a major drought. As for dogs I have 2 big dogs, one is the hairiest thing on earth that I have to vacuum after literally every day, no matter how much I brush. There are also a couple dogs on the land but they don't run wild. I'll start collecting the vacuum cleaner container into bags.

Interesting Tom, I didn't know deer eat hay but there are 50 head of cattle on this land already and bales of hay are usually laying around somewhere.. In fact the cattle are going to be right up against the girls (which is why there is already electric fencing there) so I was wondering if deer avoid cattle or not since cattle aren't exactly the most aggressive animals on earth.

So from what I can see here is it sounds like I shouldn't be as nervous as I am. I also plan on using some of that cement wire that Butte is using once they get big enough to train into. I think I was looking at some 6' tall welded rolls if I'm not mistaken, that I plan on using.

Thanks again for everyone's input I'll try and add the dog hair and I think everything else is already covered and I didn't realize it.

BB

Deer usually keep their distance from cattle

 

[tokinafaty420]

You could use plants that will deter deer. Rosemary can act as a fence to most deer. They hate the stuff. Theres a few other types that can be easily found through google.

 

[ghostly]

its called a deer stand, feed apples, then shot and eat deer.

 

[fishheadbob]

Anyway, does anyone know what their favorite food is?
Thanks much
BB

Their favorite food is marijuana.
There are a lot of good suggestions here for keeping deer out, all of them work most of the time, and all of them fail some of the time.
Nobody has mentioned deer repellant stuff like deeraway or plantskyd, mothballs(poor moths), nicotine, Irish Spring, dried blood etc. There's a long thread somewhere around here about keeping deer away-miss you Silverback- but the real gist of it is plant more than you expect to harvest. Some critter or another will have some of your babies for lunch one night.
The best deer control method is lead applied at the rate of one ounce per deer.

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

Please don't use monofilament fishing line out in nature. It ALWAYS, gets tangeled up around animals limbs and cuts off circulation. I fish a lot and ive seen so many birds, deer, cattle and other animals dragging a blackened rotting leg or tangeld up in it in brush to starve to death. Sometimes another animal will eat an animal thats caught in it and cant escape and with the prey, they swallow the line as well. Ive seen them with several feet of line hanging out their ass and the scream when it catches because its wrapped around their intestines on the inside.

The only thing that will keep deer off of your plant is a cage or a fence. None of the repellants, hair, piss nor anything else will deter a hungry deer.

 

[Puddin'tane]

None of the repellants, hair, piss nor anything else will deter a hungry deer.

One of the worlds sad truths.