my cousin has 90 acres in central MO. they have the same problem. everyone hunts there but there is still too many deer. you walk their property and the deer let you get up to 50ft. from you. they don’t hunt them so they have no fear. their new orchard of persimmons, peaches and pears has suffered even with cages and their big elk hound roaming the property.
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Moose, do you know our newest thread? Feral hogs. We now have an invasion of them. 3weeks ago I had to stop in the middle of the road to let about 30 of them cross, ya 30. Small ones, big ones, black and white ones. I will shoot them and let the buzzards take care of them. They reproduce worth than deer. On our next potluck we,ll have a speaker talking about them. You think we,ll have a problem now, just wait.
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I’ve heard that s. MO has them also. they are showing up all over the country. even canada has them. destructive buggers! id love to come down and take care of them for you. 
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My pleasure, bring a truck ! A fence doesn’t mean anything to them
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yep. have one and a chest freezer to transport/ put the meat in!
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It might not be “pretty” but if you get some posts and something like clothesline or caution tape, and then put one going across about chest height, another about knee height, and another in between the deer will move on.
Also, you might be able to bow hunt in your yard.
How do you find out the deer population density in your area?
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I think what he means is the season is too restrictive. They aren’t poachers if the rules are more lax. As long as it’s safe, I don’t see a problem with open season on deer. We have too many and with the insufficient numbers we currently have in CT, we’d benefit from loosening things up a bit. No more bow hunting only on Sundays. No more banning of night hunting or baiting.
These deer are not just a nuisance in the yard, they are a road hazard.
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I am sure the laws vary from state to state, but in the past in Virginia you can get damage control permits to shoot unlimited number of deer, w/spotlights. I was told that even smaller residential plots could get them but I have not found detailed info. Maybe the state you live in has similar programs?
https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/permits/kill-permits/
The only way to control deer is to fence or kill them.
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We get whitetail and muleys both in town, bedding down in the yard and walking into traffic. About the only thing we can do to get rid of them is chase them out of the yard- no guns, bows, and so on. I suppose you could use pepper spray but they’d be a real hazard if they bolted off just anywhere.
Not to mention chronic wasting is getting much more widespread. Given that the latency period is some years I would guess it’s everywhere now. I know that there have been no cases documented of transmission to humans, but I will no longer eat meat from any of that family.
In Helena they have professional teams that cull the herds, but no such luck here.
We don’t have much in the way of damage control hunts either, although in some areas they issue unlimited doe tags. I’m afraid that pretty soon our vaunted deer and elk herds will be decimated by disease, and Fish and Game will be forced to start trying to eliminate the remaining animals. Not good.
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Poaching is poaching. There is no sugar coating it. You are either a law abiding hunter or a POS poacher. Follow the game laws or don’t. There is no gray area there.
Drive drunk or don’t.
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I have posted about my battles with deer in other posts, but over the last couple years they haven’t been that bad. Two years ago we had an outbreak of insect borne hemorrhagic disease in this part of Kentucky and it hit the population hard. KY has not seen CWD yet, but has been reported in every state around us, so it’s probably just a matter of time.
I hunt every year and didn’t even see a deer last season, even tho I wasn’t out that much. Just driving around in this area for the last couple of years, you just don’t see that many of them.
Because of this, I don’t consider them the threat they used to be, but I still have just about all my fruit trees behind cages. Just don’t trust them just yet. I haven’t been protecting my gardens like I used to, and have had some browsing but not as bad as years past. My biggest pest now is rabbits.
Here in KY you can take out deer that are damaging your crops any time of the year, but still have to call them in. A ranger has to come out to get it, whether you get to keep it, I guess that’s up to the ranger. But, you kill a deer this time of the year, by the time the ranger gets here, that meat’s probably gonna be a bit ripe.
I agree about poaching, it’s not fair to all those who obey the laws. The laws in some places need to be relaxed, that is, extend the season to help get the numbers down. Here we just get two weeks for modern rifle season, one for muzzleloaders. In our part of the state we are alllowed 4 total per person, one buck max. In some other counties, you can take unlimited does, in some others, one doe.
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If the population is high, they should let you take unlimited does. In CT they have damage permits but I believe you have to own a farm to get one and to use it for off-season hunting.
I’ve never hunted, but went for the required hunting safety classes in my 20s. Having to shell out the cash for a 30-06 that I’d barely use was what held me back. I lost the certificate, so I’d have to go again if I want to get into bowhunting in order to control the deer population in my own back yard.
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I used to think here you had to be growing crops for profit to use this exemption. But at a grafting class last year sponsored by UK, a wildlife expert said it applies to all that grow their food. Whether you have a farm or not, I don’t think it matters. We have 50 acres of rural land, which I consider a farm, but technically maybe not.
I shelled out some good cash for a rifle for deer hunting alone, and it’s been the worst investment I ever made. In 4 years of hunting, I haven’t even as much as shot at one. But, honestly, I only hunted in the evenings, and usually from a blind in our pasture. I don’t have any tree stands up, any game cameras set out, and rarely set out bait. So maybe I don’t take it that seriously, like say, my bro in law, who lives a half mile from us, and does all that. Even so, last year, even he didn’t get one, and got just one the year before.
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Considering the amount of deer poop that appeared in my yard this winter, I should be able to get at least one of them with a bow before they learn to be more careful. There’s a 11 acre property, just big enough for rifle hunting, through the woods and around a corner from me. I doubt they’re hunting. My big concern with bowhunting in my neighborhood is the thing running off and dying in some anti-hunter’s yard.
I’m more concerned about the eventual appearance of bears. They’re on the opposite side of the state right now but nothing is being done about them. Almost everyone who comments on the photos and videos local TV stations post online says they’re cute and thinks we should stop building on “their” land. When I was born there were no bears in the state!!! Needless to say, every year a very limited bear hunt is proposed and every year it gets shot down.
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Money spent on firearms isn’t money wasted. Take good care of them and at worst you’ll get your money back out of them.
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Deer eat my pumpkin and squash vines too.
I have a fenced vegetable garden and part of my orchard, with dwarf and columnar trees, is fenced. No other measures have ever worked for me. My neighbor bought one of those massive air powered gumby men like you see at car lots. That seems to work for them. For birds, too.
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Don’t blame you. Given the size of your state they could be showing up in short order.
There have been a few bears sighted in our county over the years, hope they stay away from here. There has been bear hunting seasons here, but don’t know if there is this year.
I think deer have become an issue here for a few reasons: Less people live here than in years past, and those who do, prob not a lot hunt nowadays. And, natural predators aren’t as numerous.
I’m not a native of KY, but folks who’ve lived here for most their lives said they could go years and not see a deer, and that was up to as to only maybe 10 years ago.
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I was just outside checking on things, and noticed the pole light down the hill by the old house is out, ours up here by our house is on.
This worries me as our big tomato, pepper and corn patch is under that light, and I think it’s been helpful in deterring deer. Sure hope that doesn’t pull them in, as our plants are loaded with mostly unripe tomatoes, and the corn is starting to tassel as well. I have no other protection around the patch, for reasons mentioned above.
Gonna have to get the elec co out here to fix that. For only $9 a month, it is worth it in these parts. I know without them here, it gets pitch black, so it’s good to have some light out there.
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So is speeding on roads with posted speed limits, I do it all the time, got one speeding ticket a few years back. I live in a tourist part of the state, I am a fireman, get called all the time for wrecked cars hitting deer. Speed limit 35, go figure.
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