Deer Repellent - Unfenced Stamp Orchard

General Fruit Growing
#41

It must be spring for you to have missed that (or must have been spring when you read the study). It was the first thing that jumped out at me and I was about to compose a remark like Scott’s. Years ago, studies showed Deer Away to be the most effective product on the market, but there are more products now.

A complete test might also include rotating certain effective products- or even combining them.

It is easy to use in a sprayer if you use a large jug like the 2.5 gallon summer oil jug that I use. As long as the top is water tight and you can shake it up, you can mix it well enough to spray without any great effort- just don’t add it all in at once. I get through gallons of it without any clogs, but I sure have to clean out the filter when I’m done. One year I failed to do so and a mouse ate through the plastic to get to the blood.

#42

My neighbors would likely be upset if I used an alarm like yours…and my wife may just murder me. I grew up around farmers that used a cannon on a timer to keep deer out of their field. It was like being in a punctual war.

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#43

It doesn’t make a noise out side or my neighbor would have given me a word or two but It does make a noise in side the house from the in side unit (not to loud), when it goes off I just wake up a tap the window and the deer runs off. It’s nice for a security alarm as well (that’s why I ended up with this unit), anyone in my back yard and I’ll know it.

#44

Reviving an old topic since i am new here. I live in WV and deer are very thick on my farm. I have been devastated twice. I have tried everything (well almost)… instead of what doesnt work i will tell you what works.

Eggs. I save all of my eggshells for compost anyways… but i put the eggshells in an old coffee can or bucket outside and then soak in water once they are good and rancid. I then strain off the juice thru a strainer and spray… this lasts for a good while.

Next year- I met an old man and his orchard is pristine… he doesnt even spray any chemicals at all. He uses no fences. He sprays chewing tobacco tea. He soaks a whole pouch in a 5 gallon bucket and strains it off. He said nothing at all bothers anything of his.

He also said earlier in his life he sprayed cigarette butt tea around the perimeter of his orchard and no deer wanted near. He put his wifes cigarette butts and ashes in a bucket and strained it off and sprayed.

I have never heard or read anything about the tobacco related deterrents but in his case they work 100 percent.

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#45

I could see the tobacco products working. Neonicotinoids in insecticides are very similar to what is produced by the tobacco plant. Cant say that I have ever considered using it. I love the smell of pipe tobacco but with my luck I’ll recreate the tomacco episode of the Simpsons.
Eggs I have though. I crack any that have spoiled around the parameter of my orchard in hopes of dissuading the deer.

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#46

Irish Spring soap bars and fishing lines have worked here.

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#47

@krismoriah Interesting. Do you know if he sprays trees or just a perimeter on the ground?

#48

So far i have busted the Irish Spring and Marigold deterrants. They browsed heavily on both of these.

Milorganite works on small short plants for sure. Rancid Egg scent works on all foliar until the first rain then you will have to respray shortly after.

As for the Chewing Tobacco… he sprays everything. He also has blackberries, peaches, apples etc. He sprays trunks and everything that is browsing level. His plants and trees are immaculate and healthy.

I am at the thinking that if i would spray rotten eggs, or liquid fence or other chemicals such as Sevin that chewing tobacco could be the lesser of most evils.

I am going to start in the spring, and go from there.

#49

I’ll give the tobacco a shot.
I currently use “Deer Out” (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DQQ346/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) which works well enough. Its based off of the egg putrescence. It will last through a few rains depending on how heavy they are and how well you soak the underside of the leaves. The cost is a factor and of course i can go to a local store to pick up tobacco vs having to order this stuff.

#50

On the egg spray- I experimented a little and for sure it works. It all boils down to ease for me. I eat eggs anyways so the remnants that are left over in the eggshells when soaked and then strained seemed to be enough to work. I did however buy a container of liquid eggs and that lasted a long time. From my reading the recipe varies from time to time… Dawn is usually used, some people add garlic powder, and some people cayenne. To me the cayenne and garlic would be better suited to non-edibles… i dont really want spicy garlic blackberries lol.

On a sidenote the spray of rotten eggs did seem to work against jap beetles this past summer. The parts that i didnt spray seemed to be hit harder.

Also of note after about 3 weeks of the egg spray i did get some sample munching from deer but not a full browse…

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#51

Just getting this straight… he used cigarette butts and ashes from cigarettes that his wife had smoked, right? Not her cigarette butts and her own cremains… asking for a friend…

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#52

Ha ha… ashes and butts soaked in a 5 gallon bucket then strained off to make a tea… then sprayed around perimeter as if it were a fence.

Chewing tobacco tea sprayed on trunks and leaves and canes of his berries and orchard trees.

#53

A tobacco based spray is extremely toxic to almost everything, including humans. Just because it is organic doesn’t mean it is safe or environmentally desirable. At least if you use a registered neonic you get the dosage right, and you are also obeying the law. Black leaf is the name my memory suggests for a tobacco based pesticide that used to be widely available- probably taken off the market because it was considered too dangerous in terms of accidental poisonings.

As far as deer repellents, I use a mixture of eggs and plantskydd to protect my unfenced nursery. I mix up large batches and let it putrefy to the point that my wife complains after spraying my trees. By the 2nd day the smell diminishes enough not to be disgusting to most humans.

plantskydd is expensive so I use a lot less than instructions call for and depend on the rotten eggs to do the rest. It works as well as any repellent I know of but rapidly growing trees quickly become attractive to deer again- they eat the fresh growth. Have to spray every couple of weeks during the growing season if I want complete protection.

I used to protect trees by hanging dried blood mixed with water in rain resistant containers with holes on the side to let the smell of the putrid blood circulate. I assume that if the dear browse on trees the hanging containers would spill some of the horrible stuff on them. I stopped using this method because of risk of spilling it on me.

#54

I grew up eating vegetables and fruits etc that my mom and dad dusted with SEVIN and DDT… I loved dusting everything as a child… that contraption had the powder all over me and im sure we ate plenty of the dust.

I also remember my dad using Tordon on everything that was undesirable…

We farmed 30 acres of tobacco… as kids we ate it, smoked it, chewed it, and that was after dad sprayed whatever was in his backpack sprayer…

Personally i am going to give tobacco juice tea a try… the old man that i got the advice from is in his 80s… his orchard is immaculate and him and his wife are in fairly good health. They do not eat McDonalds or any fast food that i know of. So maybe that part of their toxic to humans life has kept them around this long.

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#55

I’m not trying to stop you, I just want to make sure that anyone reading this stuff is attuned to the potential dangers.

As far as farmers living healthier and longer lives than other people, I’m sure diet is part of it, but I expect the exercise, and being outdoors is the major contributor. That and maybe the kind of stress involved is less toxic than being a cog in a corporate wheel.

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#56

I havent even used it myself yet (tobacco juice tea)… so for all i know he was pulling my leg.

I think that every store bought fruit that i eat has potential dangers… a recent video that i just watched suggested that the chemicals used are inside the fruit (cant be washed off)…

As far as i can tell in my world…every creature that exists wants my fruits, trees and canes… i have no problem giving them a share… but i also dont want to build a prison around my orchards. Its a tough call to have fruit on my land…

#57

Some chemicals used are locally systemic and can’t be washed off, but on the other hand, after about 10 days they can no longer kill an insect whose diet is 100% the poisoned fruit. Most ag chems cannot be sprayed shortly before harvest. Most foods contain toxins, whether contrived by plant evolution (to kill pests) or human genius (to kill pests). Presumably, the humans care more about the results on humans than mother nature, but I suppose that is a matter of individual belief.

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#58

Do the deer prefer Red Man or Beech-Nut? :wink:

On a more serious note, I’ve not found eggs a very acceptable means of control. They work OK but the repeated applications required are a downer.

I’ve had good luck with Bobbex. It’s expensive, but doesn’t wash off. It only needs to be reapplied when new (unsprayed) growth appears.

#59

Have you tried a sticker with those eggs- I always use some Tactic? The addition of some Plantskydd and letting it ferment seems to be the kicker. My problem isn’t washing off at all, it is that hungry deer go after new growth no matter what is sprayed.

Deer are in my orchard every night all year long. Rain is just about a weekly occurrence all growing season. The sticker is a precaution- have you ever tried removing dried egg from a plate by rinsing?
I’m guessing if egg is losing effectiveness it is from sun degradation.

#60

Im not sure on the brand… probably Mail Pouch would be my choice…

As for Eggs, i have experimented with shells and liquid eggs mostly. The trick i found is letting them get past the stage that you feel comfortable with…so i leave mine outside until they are rancid. I ended up with a combo mix of liquid eggs and eggshell and i added dawn in some applications. I have a dedicated cheapo sprayer from Rural King for my concoction.

I found that yes its a pain to spray so often…but the real pain was missing a spray after a rain. They browsed heavily.

I found that zero browsing occured after a fresh spray and no browsing until it rained.

Milorganite also worked. I never did a test of spraying with it… i need to try it at least. But when used as a nitrogen fertilizer for early plants i found that no browsing occured on my tests. I didnt feel comfortable applying it often…but the plants did grow fast.

I am in the market for pups right now… I think two dedicated dogs will help more than any spray or fence. My blue heeler would be perfect for the job… but she is too spoiled to me. She runs everything off while she is on duty…but she is so attached to me that she wont work at night very much in fear that i may be doing something too interesting in the house.

My mode of attack is as follows.

Cigarette butt and ash tea around perimeter. Possibly a shot of spray every 10 ft.

Chewing Tobacco tea- especially young plants.

Dogs- hopefully full pressure on every deer or rabbit or squirrel that is within smelling or seeing distance of these dogs.

Fence- Electric Fence is so ugly, barbed wire can be made to look appealing but my feeling is that i dont want to build a prison… 8 foot tall fence would surely work… but the cost, and aesthetics and possibly only an obstacle instead of a barrier… just sound like a bad choice. Yes i know about 3D fencing and i have read ad nauseam with everything from fishing line to high tech electrics. Part of me wants to build a federal prison fence with razor wire for some of the damage that the deer have done to me… but in the end i planted a garden of eden for them… if i was starving would i venture into a neighbors garden? Yes. If they had a fence would i jump it? Yes. IF they had dogs that yelled and came at me… i would probably run. So in all fairness… i gotta think like them at some point.

In summary i can spray, shoot, deter, come up with gadgets, and use every trick in the book… but i am not on duty 24/7… and every deterrant is only valid for X amount of time. Dogs however are on duty 24/7… Yes they are upkeep. But so are prison guards. I like dogs… so as of right now thats my plan.

Why dogs?

What if i sat on my porch one evening and just really went basic with my thought process? What if when i had a snake problem i figured that if i controlled the mice…i wouldnt have a snake problem. What if when i had tick problems it was because my dog killed a family of possums? What if deer main predators are coyotes?

( i have a huge pack of coyotes deep in my hollow) they sound like werewolves some nights…lol.

What if those coyotes drive the deer to my area where they are safer?

What if my dogs act like coyotes?

I have to test this theory.

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