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Saving Tree's from Deer

C

cmruff

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We have been trying for years to plant some of are CRP back into tree's. We have had little success. The deer seem to eat off the tree's as fast as they grow. We've tried scents like soap and dragging brush around them. Nothing seems to really work. Does anyone else have ideas that might work. We may have to put up an eight foot netting fence. That's hard to do though around 20 acres. Any ideas would be great....
 
Have you tried human hair? Get a bunch from a salon and put around them. Just might work. I've used it before to stop deer from frequenting a certain area.
 
you'll probably have to put posts and chicken wire around them. netting may not be strong enough. have seen this done in a number of spots with very good success.
 
The best option the DNR wildlife Depredation Biologist could offer was electric fencing. Look at: http://www.premier1supplies.com/store/fence_design.html?id=5 The trick is to wrap aluminum foil around the electric fence and smear it with peanut butter. When the deer lick it, they get zapped. This trains them to avoid the area. I was told this is key for the fence to work.

Then there are the plastic tubes that break down with UV light over a few years. They force the tree to grow tall quickly to a height where deer browsing is somewhat controlled. This option is expensive, maybe a thousand an acre if memory serves me.

I have heard of offset or slanted fences as discussed in: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/wldlf2/c728.pdf

More info at: http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/shelterbelt/shbpub2.htm

There are some varieties of trees deer don't really care to eat. Red Cedar is one. I would guess you would like to plant mast trees for wildlife food and maybe eventually lumber. Red Cedar really doesn't fit the bill.
 
There is nothing I am aware of that is 100% deer-proof but there is a repellent called Plant Skydd you might want to try. Type it in a search engine and you will find it on the internet. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but it might be worth a try. Good luck!
 
This would not be practical for large areas, but I know a person that sprays a solution of raw eggs and water on the trees and the deer won't touch them. These folks have about 6 trees they keep sprayed. Just a suggestion to the homeowners trying to fight the battle.

The 'Bonker
 
Plant some thorny locust trees with your crop trees. After your crop trees get some height on them, cut your locusts.
 
I've tried the plastic tubes. They work but use re-rod posts not the oak ones they sell because they'll break. Also use wire, not the plastic loops they sell because they break down faster.

I've also fenced whole areas. A 5' fence will usually keep them out even though they could easily jump it. Has even worked on white pine which I call 'deer candy'.

I've also got several hundred in individual cages which work fairly well but are lots of work to put up.

On my place they even eat red cedar which gives you a clue. My serious doe reduction program has helped alot. I have unfenced cedar surviving so far this year. Of course once they get big enough they sure are tempting to the bucks!

Next I'm going to try repellants.

I'm also looking at direct seeding which will supply a lot more seedlings hoping a few get past the deer.

Good luck!
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Oldbuck, my advice came from a 10 acre field that was direct seeded back in 1997. The walnuts that were protected by locusts are anywhere from 6-8 ft. tall and look great. If they were not in the middle of a couple locusts they are 12-18" bushes.
 
deerstuff,

That is really interesting. You could use them for protection. Later drop and treat the stump with Tordon RTU and get more protection until the locust rots away. Do you have any digitals you could post? It would be neat to see the difference.

As a side point I've been saving honey locust on my place if they aren't in too bad of a location. I see lots of deer eating the pods even when corn is a few feet away. If only they were all thornless.
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Old Buck
 
Honey locusts can be a deer magnet at the right time of year. IF I had my own chunk of ground there'd be a special place on it just for honey locusts and multiflower rose section. Deer seem to love these things for food and cover though you do have to be very conscious of keeping the perimeter of them mowed to keep them from spreading like wildfire.

I've heard of people hunting out of the thorny buggers. Use a long 2/4 or something to rub off all the thorns where the person would be sitting, place a ladder stand up there, and hunt.
 
I would second using Tordon on the locust stump. They have a tendancy to send suckers off the root mass if not treated. Instead of one tree you cut down you get many. Locust is also rated fairly highly as firewood (if you can tolerate the thorns). They grow fast and straight, forcing the other trees they are planted with to grow tall quickly (competition for sunlight).

I was told that you can add a couple of strands of baling twine (try the big round bale sissal or plastic) above a normal fence. You can use 2X2's to extend the fence posts up to 7-8 feet. Then run two or three horizontal lines of twine. Let it sag a little so it flutters in the breeze. That way the deer see it. Supposedly they can't judge depth very well (that's way the slanted and offset fences seem to work) and the twine will discourage them from attempting to jump. You might add duct tape stuck on itself here and there to increase visibility. It seemed to help my electric fence when the deer kept running into it.

When I complained about the cost of the plastic tubes, a rep of the company said that you don't need to use it on every tree. I think I was targeting around 800 trees to the acre and he said to do about every third tree. Still, at $1.50-2.00/tube, that's some money. The Army Corp of Engineers uses the tubes with fair success around the Coralville Resevoir. If they work there, they should work anywhere!
 
Interesting that you bring up mfr. I took garlon and killed the mfr off two whole ridges before doing tsi so I wouldn't release it. After a couple years I've decided, for me that was a mistake. Now I leave it. In fact I hinge junk trees like small hickory and elm and drop them over the mfr. When it grows back the dropped tree will help it stand 8-10 foot tall. Talk about security cover! I bow shot a gobbler last spring that ended up under one.
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It took my at least 5 minutes to cut my way into it to retrieve him!

Old Buck
 
Oldbuck:

I'll try and get some pictures during the January antlerless season. It's rather striking.
 
I am meeting with the district Forester in a few weeks to discuss some small projects. I sure hate to put forth the effort and watch the trees get eaten before they even have a chance to mature. I mentioned direct seeding to him on the phone and he made it sound like the benefit was not worth the trouble. I'll be expanding that topic with him when we walk the place.
 
I've noticed some pretty direct conflicts over things I've been told by DNR, Private Lands Biologists, District Forester, or other sources. When I asked about these differences it seems that everyone has a little different experience and home area where one thing or the other works best.
 
Thanks for all the great ideas.

Old Buck, I take a couple of old fence posts and put them on each side of the tree. This way the bucks can't get thier horns in ther to ruin the tree. This has worked well for pine and cedar trees I've planted. When they get big enough that the deer won't hurt them I pull the post and put them by different smaller trees.
 
Yes, I use old steel fence posts and tilt them in like a V shape towards the top of the tree. Bucks seem to leave them alone then.
 
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