One of my orchards has pretty high deer pressure. I was able to mitigate the deer with electric fence while establishing the first couple block of trees but eventually the pressure got to high and I gave up. I had planned to bring in a Great Pyrenees to guard the trees but looking around today the deer are actually pretty useful. They keep the establishment trees pretty neat. I don’t have time to do much pruning out there. The younger trees are another matter. They remind me of the way Thoreau described wild apples struggling to survive. The ones that live grow into a thorny bush eventually raising a central leader above the browse line.
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I’ve often wondered if letting suckers go would help provide protection from deer. I’m trying that this year with some pears grafted to wild callery. Don’t know how it would do with rubs though. Considering putting a deer stand up on the edge of my property and letting anyone use it so long as they kill deer.
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I’d talk to your insurance agent first
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I’ve done a similar thing in my orchard, at one time I had a bunch of low trees for easy picking but now I have a bunch of high trees for deer avoidance. I put fencing around the young trees, the cheap plastic deer fencing does the job nicely if it is staked well. I don’t think suckers would be any help, also rubs are a big issue. I had my first apple fully girdled over last winter, usually they only girdle a part of it but they got the whole tree on this one. I didn’t have the fencing attached well on that tree.
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I’m in a rural Kansas. Deer hunting is more normal than orcharding. It would need to be bow only.
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My in-laws just lost 3 trees to rubs, one was a maple with a 6” caliper. I can’t express enough my disdain for deer. We’ve also considered a livestock guardian dog as my wife’s a dog trainer, but I believe that’s a greater liability than any bow hunter. Granted, the dog would be at work in the spring when the deer browse all my branch tips.
We’re in an unusual position of our property straddling city limits. I have the best of both worlds in some regards but the worst of both worlds in others. If I were in the country I’d just shoot the buggers year round from my bedroom window.
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I’m in rural MN, deer hunting with bow and firearm is more " normal" than not. I’ve been deer hunting with bow and gun for 45+ years. I still wouldn’t let just anybody climb into a tree stand on my property. I even tell my stepkids that they wear a body harness at all times or they don’t hunt.
Some states protect landowners who allow hunters. Some states allow trespassers who deer hunt on your property without permission and get injured to sue you.
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Great point! Kansas has pretty robust liability protection for landowners who allow hunting without charging a fee.
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I used individual fence cages around them when they are small. Then shrink the cage to one foot after they size up to prevent rubs.
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Yea, that’s the plan for new trees out there and a few interesting things I want to protect. Mostly wholesaling apples out of that orchard to the winery so I can’t make a big investment in fencing.
This is on my In-laws property so, I can’t make decisions about who hunts there. if I lived onsite things would be different. I would have a suppressed big cal PCP air Rifle with night vision.
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The deer keep the suckers cleaned up but the browsing leaves a bunch of sharp small branches until they can’t get to the center of the tree. I don’t recommend a strategy of no protection but they often time can grow into a misshapen large tree. It’s became a numbers game out there. Fortunately, I have lost interest in many of the younger tree varieties planted out there.
One of my friends has fenced off his garden area with an apple espalier fence to exclude deer. I’m curious to see how that will work out. I’ll try to get out there and get some pictures once the trees are established
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@39thparallel your deer left you with pretty trees. The deer in my area are more into maiming than a polite trim. I assume its due to limited wild forage in the area. So prior to the financial fortune that allowed me to fence the area i relied on the spray on deterrent and lack of low limbs. I loose out on production but my layout is hobby and social over production so I’m content.
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I let my trees start sending out and up scaffold branches at 4.5 to 5.5 ft and higher.
I have a couple mulberries that have lower branches and my deer take every leaf below about 4.5 ft.
They look just like yours.
TNHunter
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