Henry Rifle Forums

There were two fairly large Does under the apple trees in the front yard this morning at just before 7am. I snapped this pic with my phone. I find deer droppings each time I walk there, but rarely get to see them. The trees are loaded this year (Macs and Golden Delicious). I'll start picking them soon.

in our part of the country, clearing of land for housing developments has resulted in more and more deer being seen in yards an on the roads .... as a result, flowers and decorative bushes often become food for them

Last year we were working in a new neighborhood.
Looked up one afternoon and in the yard next to us there 5 or 6 just easing through.

RP

If you dont pick those apples CT the deer will

We had 3 does and a bunch of babies all laying in the front yard yesterday. Little ones losing spots now.

We planted four pairs of fruit trees six or eight years ago. The deer have assured they have never produced mature fruit.
They have also pruned the rose bushes and other flowering plants lately. Funny, didn't have that problem when we had the boxer.

My Parents used to have a home in the woods up in Oregon. 40 Acres with some apple trees about a hundred yards from the house.
Any night of the year you could spot light 20-30 deer feeding off of the trees. If you took a chair and sat out there for a while at night
you would be surrounded by them in no time.

The deer do get the low hanging peaches and apples and, of course, they get everything that falls to the ground. Still, there's much more than I can use. I've recruited friends to take what they want. Bushels of this year's peaches are gone now, some to the deer, but mostly to friends and neighbors. Same with the blackberries; even with a half dozen catbirds stealing them all day, there are still way too many.

My wife and I used to freeze, dehydrate, or can the fruit and veggies from our garden, but now that I'm alone, I've lost interest. I've been in (what I refer to as) a deep funk since she's been gone.

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 28, 2019 8:59 am

If you dont pick those apples CT the deer will

Here in VA, "REAL" farmers" can apply for a season waiver for nuisance deer and get a permit to shoot the deer to protect their crops after a Conservation Police Officer (Warden) comes out and verifies that a large number of deer are doing significant damage to an honest money crop. Hobby Farmers need not apply. The cool thing is that the Farmers who have apply for and received these permits can use night vision, thermal, and suppressors, and most will donate the meat to butchers/processors on a provided list and it doesn't go to waste. (The farmers can also claim the Guns and Equipment on their taxes....)

There are always those folks that apply that in NO way qualify... case in point, the little old lady with a couple short rows of corn, some beets, a few rows of potatoes and beans, carrots. Her "crops" are being devastated by deer and other wildlife and she needs that special permit so she can hire someone to "take care" of the problem. (Her grandson is a hunter and he told her about the waiver.) Naturally....

Sorry ma'am, you don't qualify, but you can put up a fence around your "valuable crops" and protect them from the deer.

The CPO gets a call to return and speak to the citizen about the continuing problem with nuisance deer.

"I put up the fence," she points, "but the deer are still ravaging my garden."

The warden looks, no fence in sight.
"What fence?"

"Well," she sighs... "All those fences that young man at Sears showed me were so unattractive I was nearly in tears.... ... Then I saw the signs claiming they had an invisibile fence."

Oh no, thinks the CPO...

"It keeps my dogs from digging in the garden fine, but the deer keep wandering right in, as do the bunnies."

"Well Ma'am, if you can get all the deer and bunnies to wear those $100 collars your dogs are wearing... it'll work for them too."

No, seriously, really happened.

Everyone in our area fences off any garden or newly planted tree with deer-proof fencing. Sprays and deer-resistant plants and shrubs are a waste of money. We learned that one, quick. Our local neighborhood forest is so over-browsed as to be unhealthy. Can't remember a day when we haven't seen deer. Love having wildlife around, including deer, but a novelty they are definitely not for us.

Nevertheless, I have a friend who refuses to put up fencing, because the garden is "hers" and not the deer's. She's learned to hate her neighborhood deer for daring to intrude on "her" garden and would rather shoot at them with a BB gun when she can, instead of putting up a fence. She thinks she can somehow magically reprogram those deer to think like a human and respect her private property. She's basically a city gal, of course. She loves the natural world, but has no grasp of how wildlife thinks and interacts. Have seen this over and over in so many people in my lifetime.

Ct if we lived by you, you wouldn't have that issue. The manly man is an apple head!

I understand the lost interest and the deep funk. Maybe the neighbors will come and get some this year.