Has anyone had any success with ANYTHING to keep deer out of food plots besides an electric fence? Preferably something cheap
Outside of building a high fence nothing is 100% going to keep deer off/out of. Pastorandrew has had great success with weekly spraying of a tabasco sauce dilluted in I believe water but not sure...only way he's kept beans from being able to mature.
We were pouring concrete for some guys this year that also plant food plots and most are kinda smaller. But anyway they swore that if you build a two strand wire fence around it top wire being chest high or little lower and then ran another one strand of wire two or three foot behind it it keeps the deer out. The theory was if you make the front where they won't want to try and climb through it the second single strand behind it will keep them from jumping it because they can't judge the distance needed to clear the fence. Believe they were using barb wire. To be honest idk I guess it sounds good. There's a lot of fence built where I hunt because the farm also has about 110 head of cows and I've seen deer jump the fence plenty of times. Probably 90% of the time they just kinda of hop over and land withing that two or so feet on the other side. Rarely its a running start. Like said don't know if it works first hand that's just what somebody told me.
Weve done the tabasco on one of our little plots and it works great....allows the plot to fully mature without the lawn mowing deer coming through it Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Yeah, I know, I was just wishing I had that problem. I have heard deer don't like the smell of eggs. I think timber companies use an egg based spray of 20 percent whole eggs and 80 percent water as an effective repellent on saplings.
You can buy repellents for horticulture companies, I don't know the cost you will have to look that up. Might be cheaper than fencing. Q
The repellents are cheaper than fencing and work better and the one I've used is indeed egg based also with blood in it. There are a lot of home recipes on the net also and most have eggs in them. Ready to use stuff is convenient but also costs around $100 per acre.
You said you didn't want to put up an electric fence. . I've tried all sorts of things and I had to end up putting an electric fence up to keep the deer out when I plant a new food-plot, because they eat it down before it can grow! Here's something I tried that worked for a while! Take an old VCR tape apart. . Make sure all the tape is on one spool and take it out. If you have trees around your food-plot, stretch the VCR tape around them (tight). . If you don't, set some T-posts. When the wind blows, the tape will make a whistling noise while moving and it looks wild! . . Also if the sun is out the tape will reflect while making the whistling noise, and the wind can just be blowing lightly! I bought a solar electric fence box at Tractor Supply and put electric fence around my food-plots. . I leave it up until the plots are grown up, and then I take it down. . They will know when the electric fence wire is down and start eating it, believe me! :D
Cheapest alternative that i've came across...one of the first posters near about hit it on the head... Buy string/small rope (something they can see) from any hardware store or wally world then use sticks or trees as anchor points...have 2 or 3 different heights...first being at thigh level (so they want crawl under) then a middle (or stomach height) then one that is chest height. Here is the MOST important part. Deer will not jump in the food plot so put the "fence/rope" close enough to where they have no choice but to jump in it (no further than a foot away). It'll keep them out until your plot can mature, once it does, take it down. DONE. CHEAP. EASY. Additions that will help the deer to see the rope/string...tie little bows of fabric or anything that flaps in the wind on all 3 strings about 8-10' apart down the fence row. Good luck!
I have heard of people using Milorganite. Milorganite . I know I tried a bag back in the day but forgot what happened. Will have to try some again. from wikipedia "However, the manufacturer cannot market Milorganite as a deer repellent because it is not registered as a "pesticide." Therefore, repelling hungry deer from Hostas remains an "off-label" use." it is a fertilizer too. more info- Milorganite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
here is a better link for more info : Can Milorganite Repel Deer From Food Plots? | Quality Deer Management Association
Electric fence with 4 lines ground to 6ft another about 3 or so foot away with 3 lines from ground to 4ft then another about same spacing and height..works wonders Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk HD
