# Deer deterrent from young fruit trees



## VictorMatos3 (Oct 19, 2021)

Anyone have any good ideas on how to keep the deer away from my young fruit trees? Ive tried big box store repellents and have had mixed results. Was thinking about a fishing line fence. It was never an issue when my dog was still alive. Hopefully soon we will have another dog. But today i was walking in the yard and noticed my honeycrisp was laying on the ground several feet from where it was supposed to be standing in the ground. A buck had rubbed one side raw and eventually broke it off near the base of the trunk.

I hunt but cant harvest the deer within the village. I am out of ideas.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

The only sure way to protect trees from deer is with a barrier of some kind. Deer repellents may work until the next rain when you need to re-apply them, but if deer are hungry enough, they won't care.

The other thing you need to be vigilant about on young fruit trees is bark chewing by mice and rabbits. These work for me:

https://www.orchardinnovations.com/product/tree-shield-closed-cell/


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## dicko1 (Oct 25, 2019)

I usually go to home depot and buy a section of corrugated 4" flexible plastic pipe like this
https://www.homedepot.com/p/4-in-x-10-ft-Corex-Leach-Bed-Drain-Pipe-4020010/100183471

Perforated to allow some air circulation.

Then I slit it down the side with a knife and push it onto the tree trunk.

It will stop a deer from rubbing the bark off because it rotates around the tree as the deer rubs, discouraging the deer, but It wont keep the deer from pushing the tree over.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

****o1 said:


> I usually go to home depot and buy a section of corrugated 4" flexible plastic pipe like this
> https://www.homedepot.com/p/4-in-x-10-ft-Corex-Leach-Bed-Drain-Pipe-4020010/100183471
> 
> Perforated to allow some air circulation.
> ...


It also won't prevent the deer from browsing the young twigs.


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## VictorMatos3 (Oct 19, 2021)

Yeah I will have to do that to protect the trunks. The fishing line fence is my next best option. That will keep them from browsing on the branches.

Thanks for the replys.


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## storyadahayden (Oct 17, 2021)

We did a repellant, but it wears off.
Set 4 steel T posts, and put a welded wire barrier, working so far.

Deer live to eat ALL the leaves off.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

storyadahayden said:


> We did a repellant, but it wears off.
> Set 4 steel T posts, and put a welded wire barrier, working so far.
> 
> Deer live to eat ALL the leaves off.


Yep, deer repellent can be washed off by rain. Not to mention it stinks when it's there - smells like a corpse!


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## thebmrust (Jun 29, 2020)

Big tall fence.
or
We hung bars of Irish Spring in/around our garden and the deer stayed away.

YMMV


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

thebmrust said:


> Big tall fence.
> or
> We hung bars of Irish Spring in/around our garden and the deer stayed away.
> 
> YMMV


I've heard about the Irish Spring soap thing. The smell of that stuff sure keeps me away!!!


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

Something like this from predator pee has worked for me. You can hang it from a branch our use the provided stake and put it near the base of the tree.

https://www.predatorpeestore.com/coyote-urine-16-oz-33-day-dispenser-combo_moreinfo.html


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