I HATE DEER!!!

Not John Deere,the 4 legged rats with antlers. the sacred animal of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. I try to grow a little produce to sell. Lettuce is a good crop to retail market. I can get $2 a head. We plant about 500 plants every 2 to 3 weeks. The *@!!#$%! deer think it's a salad bar. Last night they finished off all the green romaine that was about a week from harvest. I sat in the field until midnight, my wife walked around it between 1 and 2 AM and I got up at 4 AM and sat there until sunup and I could see the damage done. I'm tired of this. Time to get some cougars and wolves! and a 223 w/ night vision scope and silencer.

I feel your pain. Only solution I know of that works for me is electric fence. One strand chest high usually works. You will have to rebuild a section or two until they get the message. As has been recommended on here, put some peanut butter on a strip of aluminum foil and wrap the end around the wire so the deer start to lick it and get the full jolt. If the field is remote from power, they make battery powered fence chargers. Not as powerful as 110 volt, but has been adequate for me. 2 additional strands close to the ground keep raccoons out.

KEH

Here too. They drove a local farmer to put out propane cannons which are driving people nuts. He said he had DEC guy come out and showed him deer tracks in the field where he had planted soybeans. DEC guy says "Oh yeah you've got a lot of deer alright but the beans aren't up yet so there is no damage. I can't issue a nuisance pemit until I can document damage." Well DUUH! at that point he's been hurt. Good luck. The DNR/DEC makes their money from deer.

Shootem' and leave them lay around the edges of your crop. They wil stink up the area for a while but, around here, it keeps other deer away.

I hate the deer also!

Coons and Groundhogs..."The OTHER white Meat"..!!

A word to help .17 HMR hunters....
-------------------------------------
Flatten the Point of the tip..

I rub the tip on some 320 sandpaper squaring off the tip.. About 3/64" flat seems to be enough..
With that, I am now getting Instant kills on Groundhogs that used to just run back to their holes..
Seems to be just as accurate..getting "One-Shot Kills" (at 100+ yds) since I started doing this..NO other changes..
Ron..

Coons and Groundhogs..."The OTHER white Meat"..!!

A word to help .17 HMR hunters....
-------------------------------------
Flatten the Point of the Plastic tip..

I rub the tip on some 320 sandpaper squaring off the tip.. About 3/64" flat seems to be enough..
With that, I am now getting Instant kills on Groundhogs that used to just run back to their holes..
Seems to be just as accurate..getting "One-Shot Kills" (at 100+ yds) since I started doing this..NO other changes..
Ron..

Know what you mean and to think, there are people that actually spend good money to plant food plots for the darned things. All they really have to do is plant a garden or crop in a field & the deer will come running. I had 3 does run across a hay field yesterday that I was mowing, sure would have been an easy shot if I'd have had a gun with me. I feel your pain, Keith

Here in New York the Conservation Department hands out "nuisance" permits when deer do crop damage. I can pretty much shoot deer whenever I want as long as hunting season isn't open.

That being said - I like seeing the deer and their young alive. I tend to plant twice what I think I need and let them take what they want. At least the deer eat what they pick - unlike the raccoons that take a bite here and there and tear up the rest.

If deer are "four legged rats" for wanting to eat, I wonder what that makes us two-legged animals? Seems we have more of an impact on the land then anything else alive.

In the state of Indiana if they are doing a lot of damage to your crop you can get a permit from DNR to take them ( shoot).

If you hate deer just wait til the hogs show up. You'll forget about the deer real quick.

I agree! I last LOTS of $$ to those darn things on my Truck farm.
Heard mixed reviews on fence. Darn things can jump 5' pretty easy. Gets spendy to build a 6' fence around 5 acres.
Thought about going to one of those dog rescue places and "adopting" some nice Pit Bulls to keep around the place.
Thought about paintball gun, Maybe they'd "learn" that it wasn't a nice place to hang out.
Buddy gave me a nice wrist rocket, maybe some 00 buckshot...
Had fantacies of a sawed off with the plug pulled and just shooting from the hip...
Easiest seems to be to just grow enough to "sacrifice to the deer gods"(devils) and still have enough to sell.

Good luck.

Ben

I learned to use barb wire for the electric fence - deer just tear up 17 and 14 gauge wire.

I don't mind feeding them a little, but when they get greedy I get upset.
I wonder how a leg hold trap would work? That way I won't have to sit up all nite.

Last year I set out a big sweet corn patch that was kind of late due to wet spring. I don't mind share'n a little with any critter but the dang things ate EVERY EAR off 6 rows about 500 foot long over a weekend. Didn't have any corn for the freezer so we had to buy some off a neighbor to put up. The wife has got'n pretty good at cook'n back strap now,,,,,

Dave

And everybody wonders why I've told the boys to stop trying to shoot coyotes!

By the way,did the ones with fewer than 8 points eat less? The QDM nuts want us to let them go so they get bigger.

They got into my sweetcorn already, and DIL just got her car back with $3000 worth of new metal, plastic and paint. Last year I lost a substantial amount of my oat crop due to deer and turkeys. Think I agree with you.

I was thinking about getting one of these and having it activated by motion sensors, or 1 minute every 15 minutes on a timer.
Click here

We built an 8' high fence around our garden a few years ago and it has kept them out so far. Garden is about 50x200+ so it was not too expensive.
Zach

One fella told me that they put bars of bath soap hanging from cords around the garden areas. Apparently the smell gets to strong for them. I might try that this year. Sweet corn and other garden goodies not big enough for the deer yet.

I have several garden areas. 1/2 acre to 2 acres spread all around the farm. I'm going to try the electric fence but it may be too late. Once they learn where the treats are they can jump an electric fence prety easy. Other years I've had sweet corn damage, tomato damage, cole crops, I've even seen onions topped this year but they don't seem to like those much. They don't like garlic much. We've put up scare crows, rags with perfume, soap.... everything seems to work for a while then they ignore it. I've even bought the Hinder spray and used it in the past. The best solution seems to be hot lead.
The Game commission here also requires at least 4 points on one side to hunt a buck in this game management area. Anytime I've tried to get permission to shoot them I've been told that since I don't get 1/2 my income from farming I can't get permission. Why own your land and spend on inputs, pay taxes, and work hard if you can't protect your crops?

We've been trying to start some pine trees in our "west forty" for several years, but the darn deer eat them as fast as we can plant them.

Last fall I took some old snow fence and made loops about 3' across, set them over the trees, and drove a steel fence post to hold them. It stopped the deer last winter, so I guess I'll do the same this fall.

Try setting out meat & bone meal, bone meal or blood meal (ring dried) the odor tells them "this ain't right" so they go back to their 2nd favorite hobby-jumping out in front of cars.

The problem with deer population, is that hunters reserve ground to hunt for the big buck, and do nothing about does. Want to thin the deer population, need to shoot the ones that pop out the little does that produce the young. fewer does, the bucks will move elswhere. Cann't even get permission to shoot does around here, yet the farmers complain about the deer. If someone wants to hunt my little patches, rule one is a does first then the buck.

I hate them too!!!

They eat almost anything I try to plant unless it is protected by high, tight fencing. Gardening is hopeless without a real good fence; the deer will take everything that is green in August.

Some years ago my wife decided we needed some decoration in our front yard, so she bought 4 whiskey barrels cut in half and planted them with various pretty flowers that she bought. The first year it didn"t go too bad. The deer were very selective about what they ate, and we didn"t plant that anymore. The second year the deer became much less selective, and they ate almost everything besides Marigolds. Now we only plant Marigolds in the barrels, and the deer only nibble on them. Your post amused me, because I have always referred to the whiskey barrels as our "deer salad bar" and thought that was an original idea of mine. Guess not.

My area was rural 40 years ago, and we never had any trouble with deer in our yards or gardens. But since that time, much of the area has been subdivided into parcels from 5 to about 40 acres, and every one of them has a house and family on it. It used to be practical and OK to have a free, loose dog, but now that is illegal, and even worse, a "neighbor", and I use that term loosely, traps loose dogs and calls the animal control. It costs big money to get them back...so most people have their dogs either inside or in fenced yards. So the deer are no longer discouraged from coming around by dogs defending their turf.

Also, with the number of people around, it seems unsafe to most people to shoot high-powered rifles or allow hunters on their property to harvest the deer. I only allow bow hunters, who have had pretty good success. The other problem is that almost all the deer around are does or very young antlerless males, and for most of the hunting seasons, only antlered males are legal to take.

So my area is just about paradise for deer: very little hunting pressure, and various things the deer have found they can get away with eating. At least some of the does have lost much of their fear of humans. I have walked to within about 15 or 20 feet of does in my yard, and only then, would they start walking away. With a sudden move, they would run, but just yelling at them does very little. They just stand there and look at you.

I would guess my area has 10 times the number of whitetail does that it did 40 years ago. I see dead ones along the roads almost every day. It has become absolutely necessary to drive very slowly from before sunset to well after daybreak to avoid colliding with deer. Almost every family has hit at least one, and most collisions result in well over $1000 of damage. The last one my wife hit caused almost $7000 damage, and the insurance company considered totaling the 3 year old car.

I wish I had a good solution to the problems, but none really exists. I think a good start would be to allow the taking of does during any of the hunting seasons, and allowing the use of any reasonable weapon to do it. A crossbow would be effective enough at the distances I would use it, quiet enough to avoid disturbing the neighborhood and safe enough to avoid the danger of hurting someone who might be trespassing on my land. But crossbows are considered the same as rifles. If I liked venison, I think I could take a doe a week all Summer and Fall, and never leave my yard. But I don"t care for that meat, and with the laws like they are, I would very quickly be in lots of expensive trouble if I started shooting them. In my opinion, the situation is really DUMB.

YUP, I HATE DEER!!!

Here in Souther Ill there are also getting out of control. One 30 acre corn field had a 33% loss. A few years prior I had a similar loss in a 45 acre bean field. Driving from one farm to another Sat night I saw at least 5 deer in 4 diffent bean fields not including single deer scattered about. Although I have a nuiance permit it seems to be a loosing battle.They really need to be hunted heavier. This is also why I will not shoot coyotes.

[i:654c4848f0]"If deer are "four legged rats" for wanting to eat, I wonder what that makes us two-legged animals? Seems we have more of an impact on the land then anything else alive. "[/i:654c4848f0]

Genesis 1:26

Oh, it's not their fault! They think is was for them! How many guys- alot on these forums- only bother owning a tractor at all, cause they need to grow a 'food plot' just for all the big bucks they are going to put in the freezer- for their family, that doesn't have the money for more grocery budget. Venison. Might as well feed the kids ol billy goats. The food plot is for the deer to eat healthy, but bring the tractor home to grow a veg garden patch for the humans? Not many.
I got back into farming because of the gmo fears, Mexican insecticides, and e-coli laced produce from the bto's. 'Grown local' took off around here. And us truck farms are really good for deer reproductive health too, they can smell us for miles- and if you are organic- there is nothing unappitizing to scare them away.... barking dogs. That's the only thing I've ever seen work for anyone. Deer, bear, birds and varmits.... and two legged tomato theifs....

I know the feeling. Seems like the numbers are growing. I've had real good luck with a product called "Liquid Fence" from TSC. Stinks real bad. Its not cheap for something that smells that bad but it works. You have to apply it after every rain. Probably some of the home made remedies work if they stink bad also.

wasn't there somebody asking about what kind of crops to plant for "food plots"? I wonder if he's reading?

I put electic fence around most of my stuff. Hang some tin foil with some peanut butter on it every so often around the fence line. The deer and the bear learn to respect it real quick.

(quoted from post at 07:54:13 06/04/12)
Coons and Groundhogs..."The OTHER white Meat"..!!

A word to help .17 HMR hunters....
-------------------------------------
Flatten the Point of the tip..

I rub the tip on some 320 sandpaper squaring off the tip.. About 3/64" flat seems to be enough..
With that, I am now getting Instant kills on Groundhogs that used to just run back to their holes..
Seems to be just as accurate..getting "One-Shot Kills" (at 100+ yds) since I started doing this..NO other changes..
Ron..

Click to expand...

Salmon, ....the other pink meat! :lol:

Then you have your friendly neighbors who plant 'FOOD PLOTS". Got one here rite by a busy road many many people drive by from 5 in the morning and all day who thinks its cool to plant a "FOOD PLOT"

My wife and I spent about 2 1/2 hours late yesterday putting a single stand electric fence around the one garden. I had all the supplies including the fencer from when I had cows 20 years ago. Used the peanut butter on foil and at least last night it kept the deer out (or something did). I still hate deer!

I plant food plots every year. Corn, soys, wheat, and alfalfa. I have around 30 deer chewing away, mostly doe. Now if I can get some hunters to put some on their dinner table........