If it were me, I would find some trees in the area to cut down for fire wood. In my experience the more you open up the area the less likely they are to use it because it is not as safe. I would make that area wide open.
I have used Irish spring bar soap. From what I heard the deer cant stand the smell so we picked up a case from sams club for a good price and drilled holes in some to hang from a fence and trees. We also took the bar and rubbed it up and down the bark about 4ft on all the trees in the area. When it rains it runs into the soil but the scent is still there.
We have some expensive areas that we hunt and the rich landowners have cant stand the deer eating thier landscaping.