Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

I'm in the process of planting a 1/2 acre plot of whitetail imperial clover. The filed I'm planting is hidden from view of any roads or houses and the deer frequent this aera a lot. They bed in the thick creek bottom that is adjacent to the field. I am worried that the deer will destroy the plot before it gets a chance to get established.

What are some products or techniques that i can use to keep the deer out of the plot until it takes hold? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

We use electric fence to keep the deer out of the cantalope fields. Seems to work well. They usually knock it down a few times and then give up.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

Must be a tall electric fence beagle,lol...where im from those fences are only like 2feet tall to keep the cows in.. Well adams i am going to be facing the same problem this summer as well because we just got 120acres in ohio and we are going to be putting in some serious hard work of food plots and deer management. What i am going to try is mesh fencing like a green house, its alot of fencing but it is worth it, you put it up like a green house, but the sunlight still gets it and the deer cant.

"ALWAYS LEAVE THE WOODS WITH SOMETHING"

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

I was thinking about stringing up a bunch of those cheap aluminum pie plates in a criss cross pattern over and along the edges of the plot. I think between the clatter of the banging in the wind and the moon light reflecting off them would spook the deer.

I saw this stuff at home depot last night that wass designed to keep deer away. I bet it would work but I'm not about to cover my plot in powdered coyote urine. I'm sure it would work, but how good? I just want them to leave it alone long enough to get it going.

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RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

Plant more acerage or kill more does and you won't have to worry about it. TGK

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

Yeah that plot saver is cool... does realtree or buckmasters support it... Deer can jump pretty high so a fence won't work...

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

I`ll second that. If you have too many deer for the habitat, you need to improve the habitat or reduce the deer numbers.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

I had posted this last year when I tried it, and it works. It's a simple bag fence, using white plastic bags from the stores. Little electric fence posts will work. just put a stout string around the perimeter about 30-36" from the ground. Tie plastic bags on it every 3-5 feet. (poke holes in bottom so it don't fill with rain.) Colored bags don't work well. I protected a half acre of Austrian winter peas last year this way and normally the deer would pull them out by the roots as soon as they sprout. The bags must give off a glow at night and with the movement, is just enough to keep them at bay. The cost is mighty cheap, just the posts and some stout string, the bags come free with your purchases. Wind will cause them to bunch up, so you need to check them often. Got the idea from an old timer who uses them to keep deer out of his truck patch. He used nothing but white bags, too. Try it, you'll like it.

Russ

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

aversion tactics like the bag fence and pie plates may work well. Couple things to think about: how long do you need it to work?

There is alot of research to suggest that scare tactics only work for a certain amount of time. Typically they figure out pretty soon that the scary noisy things aren't a threat. Also researchers have found that when food supplies are low, just about nothing will stop them from getting into your plot.

But try it and see how it works. Good luck!

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

I'm with the "1/2 acre isn't enough" crowd.

An excellent rule of thumb to consider - is 1 acre of high protein crop (like clover for instance) will support the protien needs of 3 deer for one year.

A 1/2 acre in the middle of a 100 acre woods (for example) is an attraction plot at best, and if that's what your planting it for, wait till Sept, and plant an annual or clover/annual mix.

Don't get fooled into thinking that 1/2 acre of a food source can change/effect the health of your deer herd.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

Your right Farm Hunter, 1/2 acre will probably not be enough to support a deer herd but if 1/2 acre is all you have it's better than nothing. I've got 1/2 acre plots that work well in conjunction with my overall management project. The problem Adams has is, he has planted a product that is very attractive and he could get serious overgrazing. If so, add to the field in the fall and continue to add until the overgrazing is eliminated.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

A couple of years ago I tried pie plates tied with a length of string to electric fence post in a Buck Forage Oats 1 1/4 acre patch and I don't think the deer paid the pie plates any attention. They ate the young oats off and pulled a number of them up, right up to the post. I didn't have but about 15 pie plates in the patch, so maybe I should have put a few more out.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

Some of these comments about 1 acre feeding only 3 deer per year may be the situation where there is little or no other forage. On my land there is a variety of other forage and the deer seem to feed a great deal on various greens, Honeysuckle, Cat Claws, various grasses, etc. My clover don't see much use when these other plants are in their green, tender stage, and when the acorns drop, forget that clover. 25 deer in my hayfield the other day. In My Clover? No. On the other side of the field, eating grasses and other rouffage. I'm not sure, but I think they might have been eating the wild onions. Deer are just like us, they like variety. (Now, if I could only grow a plot of nothing but mushrooms.)

Russ

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

That pie plate Idea will work no more than a week. All I had to do was look at my fatherinlaws swiss chard and brocolli that never made more that 2 inches out of the ground in his garden last year. You can put out all the dirty shirts you want, under the cloke of darkness the deer are ravenous eating machines.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

Thanks for all who replied. It sounds as though I may be fighting a loosing battle though.
I've planted all the avaiable land that will get enough light to grow. I'm also thinking about adding a 30.06 mineral lick to help the deer out some as well. The plot I planted is located just off a major travel route. The town it is in is very quickly becomeing suburbia from the rural town I grew up in. I own about 3.5 acres which is split by a creek botton and the deer are forced through the "bottle neck" due to increased land development on all sides of me.
I like the idea of thinning the does. There is an extended archery season that allows me to take an extra buck and as many doe as I willing to buy tags for. This may be a good option for this fall. Although I had two resident doe in the creek bottom last fall I believe the majority of the deer are just passing through the aera.
Hopefully if nothing more it will keep the deer out of the vegetable garden.
Thanks again for your suggestions,
Chuck

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

adams,
you can do everything you want with a periodic round bale of alfalfa hay. More deer and more high protein food for them. Ask around for a farmer to bring it to you for a few bucks more. Unroll a big round bale and deer will devour it. Also you'll see the turkeys come too for the great scratching. This way you'll guarantee the crop to be there whether the deer or drought destroy your plantings.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

Hello everyone, Love this forum. I have been studing it quite sometime. And have gained valuable info. I figured it was about time to jump in with both feet. So here I is!
Im in North Carolina and have a small(45acre) farm in Wilkes County NC. Last year we had a major problem with CROWS! Thats right. We strip plant our fields clover in between the plantings. We plant Corn on the outside edges of the field(gives the deer security). But last year we had to plant corn 3 different times. And still the CROWS mauled it. So this year,actually this weekend I went up to plant. And it rained the whole time so hopefully I will get back this week. For the crows I think I have the problem solved. I have to plant soybeans about 4-5 times a year. The deer kill them when they get about 2" tall. So Im going to sow the beans, Then go back over where I sowed the beans and plant the corn. My thinking is this will keep the corn "kinda" shielded from the crows. Then later on when I cultivate the corn,I will sow soy beans (by hand) all through the corn,culitvate it and wa-la... Thats all we planting this stuff for is the critters. The deer are dogging the Imperial clover we plant. It never gets over 8-10" tall. Hope to have some phots online before long. Take care all,Teddy

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

Who told you this?

In NY it would be illegal and a death sentence to a wintering herd to feed hay - especially an overpopulated herd. Maybe things are different in Oklahoma (not as much browse, etc).

adams - you are NOT fighting a losing battle - whether you know it or not, many of your neighbors maybe asking the same questions, and possibly already planting plots, increasing doe harvests, and thinking more in terms of QDM. You should ask around. Even a "patchwork" of participating properties can hace a serious effect, but all must agree on some fundemental managament goals.

Popgunwill - I understood the question, but i wasn't very clear in my answer. I feel - that a 1/2 acre of even, marginal food source will be overbrowsed, it does little good to restrict the deer from access to it till hunting season - it certaintly doesn't "help" the deer heard by not allowing them to eat it until hunting season?? I could see how it might help a managment program to harvest more deer - but my point is it would be ALOT cheaper and easier to plant a kill plot of Winter wheat, buck forage oats or Rye in Late August - and get the same result.

Again - even with a bumper crop on 1/2 acre - you can not effect the overall health of the herd as whole. Thats not my opinion, its just fact and it would be irresponsible for those of us that know better to say anything less. I'm not saying that there is no sense in planting small plots - I'm saying lets be honest and realistic about our goals and limitations.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

OK farm hunter what's this then?
All farmers know deer take their alfalfa. Why the cheap shot? I even watched a hunting show on the Outdoor Channel where the guy was sitting in a hay bale blind for wind protection during sub zero weather on a late season BP hunt and had does eating his blind away on camera. I see lots of TV shows with shooting blinds ringing an alfalfa field.
In Oklahoma any feeding is legal baiting even to hunt over which I don't. I hunt trails and use feeders to attract deer from neighbors. Also fawns become imprinted to my land easier and better instead of my neighbors. Is it legal in NY so long as you don't hunt right over it? Can you hunt a certain distance away from feeders? Also alfalfa is cultivated and deer eat it all night so there's nothing wrong with it. Cattle are more susceptible to stomach souring sicknesses.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

We have a high fence around all of the large food plots that we plant. These food plots are normally 50+ acres and we have 8 of them through out the ranch. The high fence is 8 ft and surrounds all the bigger plots. We built the high fences in a way that allows them to be "broken" in half. So we take the top 4 feet and fold it down, so the fence is then only 4 feet high which deer can/do easliy jump over. I really like this method, and although the fences and the oilfield pipe cost alittle bit of money, it is well worth the cost to me.

There are also several smaller plots that I plant right before deer season as a means of attracting the deer. These smaller plots are normally 5-25 acres and I dont fence them. We plant these smaller plots down the Senderos and the roads and around certain deer blinds. Are goal with these blinds are to attract the deer within shooting range, we dont use these plots as a form of benefitting the deer, thats what the bigger plots that I listed above are for.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

soonershooter -

No cheap shot intended - A bale of Alfalfa in the middle of the winter is like poison to deer in NY. The deer's bacterial dependant digestive system is fully away from "green legumes" by mid winter - and usually centered on woody browse. The deer eat it (alfalfa), but cannot digest it - and "starve to death " with a full belly. Worse - Once you start feeding it, and some deer do make the bacterial change in their digestive system - you HAVE to be prepared to provide the food all winter - or wean them off the alfalfa food source. Unfortunatley, most good intentioned individuals do not understand deer biology enough or have the resources to continue to feed once started.

Also in NY - it is illegal now to supplementally feed deer - in - or out of season. I realize that other states do allow feeding - it is however not an option in NY at the time being.

RE: Keeping deer out of a newly planted plot?
 

Thanks farm hunter. I didn't know about alfalfa shock during winter absence of green browse. Kansas and Oklahoma deer bed within and eat off our columns of alfalfa rolls during winter. Must be the year round diet.