Yeah, that’s been an issue with the agency I work for, for some time now. I have about a dozen deer that hang out at my house all the time. The bastids eat everything! I live in the country however. I can’t wait until the Cougars show up for meal time. One of our wildlife biologists lives in the city limits and reseeded his lawn. The feral turkeys that live in town ate it all.
8
Good thing it wasn’t Kiwanis.
16
If they were getting out of Escalades, Navigators or other SUV’s and such I would have mistook it for the free backpack/school supplies giveaway event our town does every year.
5
I used to invite local bow hunters in for silent kills during hunting season just to keep the deer population under control. Some of my Liberal neighbors resented it but they also complained about the deer. Idiots. “Oh, they’re so cute!” (But they ate up your yard didn’t they?!)
Now, the other varmints – deal with them anyway you can whether it’s legal or not since the State won’t do jack about them. Raccoons are the worst.
9
Haha! I saw something like that in the Grand Canyon. Cool.
Sarthurk and Jimmy, I had the same problem with deer eating all my hostas and any vegetables I planted. Same with the bunnies. I would have gladly eliminated them, but lived in the city limits, so can’t discharge firearms. Was going to have my friend come over and harvest them.
Would have done the bunnies myself with a small air rifle (or something that wouldn’t make too much noise) but I lived in a duplex and my neighbor would have heard it. I never thought about using a bow.
I even watched some YouTube videos on how to prepare bunnies for eating. I don’t think I would have any trouble doing it after they ate all my hostas down to the ground! Grrrrr
11
One dark and snowy night in Colorado I was driving down a deserted highway when I saw some elk coming down off the bank. There was no time to hit the brakes or slow down and a big bull jumped clear over my car. They may look like fancy cows but they are very fast and agile.
11
Claudia, those damn bunnies will eat all your vegetables faster than Michael Moore can wolf down a smorgasbord! And the raccoons will destroy your cherries and strawberries (and any red fruit) faster than Roseanne Barr can gorge herself on fried chicken and chocolate cake at a county fair! Bloody varmints. They’re the bane of rural – and urban – gardeners. Don’t get me started.
10
Jimmy, my two sisters and I are going to buy a house together next year in the country. We want to have a nice-sized vegetable garden. My plan is to fence it in, digging a trench about two feet down to start the fence. Then make it 12 feet tall. That probably won’t keep out the raccoons and deer, so we will also fence it on top like a roof.
Don’t know if that will be possible, but I have a few nephews who are handy (two are engineers) and if it can be done, they can do it!
8
I got my first eight-point Buck last October . . . other than the fact it totaled the front end of my Ranger, it was a great Kill!
15
@ Claudia JULY 31, 2019 AT 12:35 PM
~8 feet should suffice for deer, go 10 feet if it makes you feel better, but 12 feet is way overkill.
9
Elk infested neighborhoods are white people problems.
6
JDHasty, 8 feet it is! Thanks!
4
In WI, deer are referred to as ‘Hooved Rodents’.
3
Elk in the suburbs, rats in the inner city. I guess even the wildlife are racist.
5
Dr Jay – but it was tasty cuz it was “pre-grilled”, amirite?
8
@Jimmy
Our local wildlife biologist’s opinion of raccoons, “vermin, kill’em all!”.
And, that’s what I do!
6
My Belgian Malinois has to be the laziest dawg I ever owned. I open up the back door to our capacious yard in the mornign and there’s a huge fat rabbit gnawing on my citrus trees! “cmon, girl, go git ’em!” But all I get is crickets….
I live in the country and I’m outside any city limits so I reckon I’ll start keeping a .22 handgun handy….
7
Getting the rabbits with a bow means no buckshot. Good deal.
4
Raccoons ate most of everything DH planted this year. Fenced in too.
I want outdoor night cameras set on our gardens. Maybe it’s Demorats and not racoons.
5
JDHasty- She’s trying to keep out illegals, too. 😀
2
I know they can be destructive and all, but that’s pretty frickin’ cool!
3
Claudia, steel fence posts come in 5′, 7′ and 9′ lengths. Years ago, I used 7 footers since I had no way to bang in the too-high 9’s. (You’ll need a steel post banger if you go this route. Should cost about $40 at a good hardware store.) Most deer won’t jump 8′ wire but some bucks might try in the fall (since it happened once), so I added cedar post extensions wired to the steel and yellow streamers on the top wire all around the 300′ perimeter. That spooks even the smartest daredevil (deardevil?). To bang-in the 9’s, your guys will need a ladder or better, pickup truck tailgate to stand on. 5′ hog fence words well on the bottom, but you’re right, the animals will tunnel under it if they can. Raccoons will climb over, but they prefer going under since they’re lazy and their paws are tender and have taste buds on them (literally). Corner posts should use the classical braced, wooden design.
And good luck with a new house and garden!
5
@Jimmy, Finished my deer fence this spring, garden was late.
48″ hog wire, then deer fence, up 9 feet.
600 feet, fuck you Bambi.
8
600′, OTD! Did you build your own hog fence puller frame with bridle and then pull the run tight with a pickup? Fun times.
5
A few years ago in January coming up Hwy 95 near Tensed, Id. I had to stop and wait for a very large herd of elk cross the hwy. It was an amazing sight seeing all those elk heading across the wheat fields up into the mountains to the East. And one of the larger elk stood behind all the others to make sure that all the elk got across the hwy. safely and was the last one to cross the road.
5
@Jimmy, Nope, I got a Kubota.
Tractor dead man and a couple of come-a-longs, stapled in the top and bottom wire, then pulled them all tight as a banjo string, been through that “crawl under” before.
7 foot steel posts 2 feet down, then 1 1/2 PVC over them, on up to 9 feet with deer fence, topped with a 3/32dia SS aircraft cable. The nice thing, 50 yards away you don’t even see the deer fence, just the white PVC.
They would sail over 7 feet.
If they can jump this, I’m gonna take up skeet.
6
They moose be migrating.
7
They are headed to Santa’s to talk about discriminatory hiring practices. Expect the “reindeer” to look a little bigger this year.
5
There is seriously something wrong with ME.
Every time I see something like this I start to salivate and think about Elk Steaks, dear backstraps, roasted wild turkey, etc.
This wouldn’t be a problem If it wasn’t for tree huggers and burrocrats and government. And yes I mean Burro as in donkey.
4
PJ JULY 31, 2019 AT 1:19 PM
Raccoons ate most of everything DH planted this year. Fenced in too.
I want outdoor night cameras set on our gardens. Maybe it’s Demorats and not racoons.
Look for a sale on trail cameras at a sporting store. Bass Pro Shop, Cabela’s, Academy Outlet, maybe even Walmart?
Usually, you can find one for well under $100
I have many of them that I use for exactly your need. I trap and I want to see what is going on by whom and how many. What time and habits matter, too!
You’ll be happy having one. (A second one, watching over the first one, with a larger field of view, and having a longer record time, can be interesting.)
4
Claudia JULY 31, 2019 AT 12:15 PM
I even watched some YouTube videos on how to prepare bunnies for eating. I don’t think I would have any trouble doing it after they ate all my hostas down to the ground! Grrrrr
Officially awesome problem response, in my book. 👍🏻
I am impressed you wish to protect downward two feet on the fence. Many never consider this weak spot. What ever method and material you choose below ground, consider placing 18″ patio stones lining the outside of the fence.
I have found it deters digging efforts a lot longer than when not doing it.
Of course, two feet of concrete wall underground beats that.. 😀
4
Dadof4, what a brilliant idea! I’ll put that on my list. Would help when mowing, too, to not have to weed whack there (I hate weed wacking!).
Of course, that all depends on if this house buying thing works out. We have met with several bumps in the process. Might just be a dream, but if it’s meant to be it will happen.
Yeah, that’s been an issue with the agency I work for, for some time now. I have about a dozen deer that hang out at my house all the time. The bastids eat everything! I live in the country however. I can’t wait until the Cougars show up for meal time. One of our wildlife biologists lives in the city limits and reseeded his lawn. The feral turkeys that live in town ate it all.
Good thing it wasn’t Kiwanis.
If they were getting out of Escalades, Navigators or other SUV’s and such I would have mistook it for the free backpack/school supplies giveaway event our town does every year.
I used to invite local bow hunters in for silent kills during hunting season just to keep the deer population under control. Some of my Liberal neighbors resented it but they also complained about the deer. Idiots. “Oh, they’re so cute!” (But they ate up your yard didn’t they?!)
Now, the other varmints – deal with them anyway you can whether it’s legal or not since the State won’t do jack about them. Raccoons are the worst.
Haha! I saw something like that in the Grand Canyon. Cool.
Sarthurk and Jimmy, I had the same problem with deer eating all my hostas and any vegetables I planted. Same with the bunnies. I would have gladly eliminated them, but lived in the city limits, so can’t discharge firearms. Was going to have my friend come over and harvest them.
Would have done the bunnies myself with a small air rifle (or something that wouldn’t make too much noise) but I lived in a duplex and my neighbor would have heard it. I never thought about using a bow.
I even watched some YouTube videos on how to prepare bunnies for eating. I don’t think I would have any trouble doing it after they ate all my hostas down to the ground! Grrrrr
One dark and snowy night in Colorado I was driving down a deserted highway when I saw some elk coming down off the bank. There was no time to hit the brakes or slow down and a big bull jumped clear over my car. They may look like fancy cows but they are very fast and agile.
Claudia, those damn bunnies will eat all your vegetables faster than Michael Moore can wolf down a smorgasbord! And the raccoons will destroy your cherries and strawberries (and any red fruit) faster than Roseanne Barr can gorge herself on fried chicken and chocolate cake at a county fair! Bloody varmints. They’re the bane of rural – and urban – gardeners. Don’t get me started.
Jimmy, my two sisters and I are going to buy a house together next year in the country. We want to have a nice-sized vegetable garden. My plan is to fence it in, digging a trench about two feet down to start the fence. Then make it 12 feet tall. That probably won’t keep out the raccoons and deer, so we will also fence it on top like a roof.
Don’t know if that will be possible, but I have a few nephews who are handy (two are engineers) and if it can be done, they can do it!
I got my first eight-point Buck last October . . . other than the fact it totaled the front end of my Ranger, it was a great Kill!
@ Claudia JULY 31, 2019 AT 12:35 PM
~8 feet should suffice for deer, go 10 feet if it makes you feel better, but 12 feet is way overkill.
Elk infested neighborhoods are white people problems.
JDHasty, 8 feet it is! Thanks!
In WI, deer are referred to as ‘Hooved Rodents’.
Elk in the suburbs, rats in the inner city. I guess even the wildlife are racist.
Dr Jay – but it was tasty cuz it was “pre-grilled”, amirite?
@Jimmy
Our local wildlife biologist’s opinion of raccoons, “vermin, kill’em all!”.
And, that’s what I do!
My Belgian Malinois has to be the laziest dawg I ever owned. I open up the back door to our capacious yard in the mornign and there’s a huge fat rabbit gnawing on my citrus trees! “cmon, girl, go git ’em!” But all I get is crickets….
I live in the country and I’m outside any city limits so I reckon I’ll start keeping a .22 handgun handy….
Getting the rabbits with a bow means no buckshot. Good deal.
Raccoons ate most of everything DH planted this year. Fenced in too.
I want outdoor night cameras set on our gardens. Maybe it’s Demorats and not racoons.
JDHasty- She’s trying to keep out illegals, too. 😀
I know they can be destructive and all, but that’s pretty frickin’ cool!
Claudia, steel fence posts come in 5′, 7′ and 9′ lengths. Years ago, I used 7 footers since I had no way to bang in the too-high 9’s. (You’ll need a steel post banger if you go this route. Should cost about $40 at a good hardware store.) Most deer won’t jump 8′ wire but some bucks might try in the fall (since it happened once), so I added cedar post extensions wired to the steel and yellow streamers on the top wire all around the 300′ perimeter. That spooks even the smartest daredevil (deardevil?). To bang-in the 9’s, your guys will need a ladder or better, pickup truck tailgate to stand on. 5′ hog fence words well on the bottom, but you’re right, the animals will tunnel under it if they can. Raccoons will climb over, but they prefer going under since they’re lazy and their paws are tender and have taste buds on them (literally). Corner posts should use the classical braced, wooden design.
And good luck with a new house and garden!
@Jimmy, Finished my deer fence this spring, garden was late.
48″ hog wire, then deer fence, up 9 feet.
600 feet, fuck you Bambi.
600′, OTD! Did you build your own hog fence puller frame with bridle and then pull the run tight with a pickup? Fun times.
A few years ago in January coming up Hwy 95 near Tensed, Id. I had to stop and wait for a very large herd of elk cross the hwy. It was an amazing sight seeing all those elk heading across the wheat fields up into the mountains to the East. And one of the larger elk stood behind all the others to make sure that all the elk got across the hwy. safely and was the last one to cross the road.
@Jimmy, Nope, I got a Kubota.
Tractor dead man and a couple of come-a-longs, stapled in the top and bottom wire, then pulled them all tight as a banjo string, been through that “crawl under” before.
7 foot steel posts 2 feet down, then 1 1/2 PVC over them, on up to 9 feet with deer fence, topped with a 3/32dia SS aircraft cable. The nice thing, 50 yards away you don’t even see the deer fence, just the white PVC.
They would sail over 7 feet.
If they can jump this, I’m gonna take up skeet.
They moose be migrating.
They are headed to Santa’s to talk about discriminatory hiring practices. Expect the “reindeer” to look a little bigger this year.
There is seriously something wrong with ME.
Every time I see something like this I start to salivate and think about Elk Steaks, dear backstraps, roasted wild turkey, etc.
This wouldn’t be a problem If it wasn’t for tree huggers and burrocrats and government. And yes I mean Burro as in donkey.
Look for a sale on trail cameras at a sporting store. Bass Pro Shop, Cabela’s, Academy Outlet, maybe even Walmart?
Usually, you can find one for well under $100
I have many of them that I use for exactly your need. I trap and I want to see what is going on by whom and how many. What time and habits matter, too!
You’ll be happy having one. (A second one, watching over the first one, with a larger field of view, and having a longer record time, can be interesting.)
Officially awesome problem response, in my book. 👍🏻
I am impressed you wish to protect downward two feet on the fence. Many never consider this weak spot. What ever method and material you choose below ground, consider placing 18″ patio stones lining the outside of the fence.
I have found it deters digging efforts a lot longer than when not doing it.
Of course, two feet of concrete wall underground beats that.. 😀
Dadof4, what a brilliant idea! I’ll put that on my list. Would help when mowing, too, to not have to weed whack there (I hate weed wacking!).
Of course, that all depends on if this house buying thing works out. We have met with several bumps in the process. Might just be a dream, but if it’s meant to be it will happen.