Will deer eat tomato or string bean plants before fruiting?

Ludi

My personal expectation is for people to cluster in the cities, not to move out to remote regions because the skillsets for "pioneering" simply don't exist except in the tiny minority of folks and without cheap energy it is extremely difficult to live in remote areas. I expect large areas to revert to "wilderness" eventually as people give up extensive farming and exurban living.
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mommy22 · Heavy Crude Joined: Jul 22, 2005 Posts: 270

I use a combination of my daughter's old (human smelling) tennis shoes placed around the edge of the garden, a really smelly spray that I got at the nursery, and aluminum pie pans hung on the trellises throughout the garden. The deer don't come around very much, and Pops, I had the same sort of experience with my pepper plants last year...they ate a few inches down, then the next month, there were 100s of peppers on really just 9 plants. I fried a bunch up in small containers and froze, and we're still eating them!

patience · Expert Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 1521

Ludi,
Slow answering-busy time. Yes, people eat a lot of deer here. In fact, I think the hunters told me last fall they could get tags for up to 6 or so, mostly does. Farmers here can legally kill deer that are "committing depradations" on their farm, as many as they can shoot. Some 20 years ago one guy got 12 or 13 in one herd of 30 or so, with help doing the shooting. Most of that went into freezers, too. This area has perfect conditions for them. Lots of forested hills beside flat creek bottoms with corn, soybeans, and water in the creek.

All the wannabe hunters come out each fall and spend weeks being uncomfortable in the woods from daylight till noon, and might get one in 2 weeks. The locals know where they are, and when, so it takes about 15 to 30 minutes for the average farmer to get a deer.

The state manages hunting fairly well, but the deer are out of control at the moment. No problem with our garden, but that is probably because we have a big dog who patrols our one acre, and marks the edges. He's serious about that, and the deer know it. That's all it takes for us.
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kpeavey · Expert Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 1244

Seems to me if you have a problem with deer eating your crops repeatedly, you might do better with hunting than with planting.
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