Homemade Deer Repellent

[Boyk7808]

Haven't tried it, but a local nursery here in Texas is passing these out.

4 tablespoons ground cayene pepper 1 cup white vinegar 1/2 cup peeled garlic 1 cup clear ammonia 1 cup Murphy's oil soap 1 bar Ivory hand soap (optional)

Boil cayenne pepper in vinegar for a minute or two, then strain through a coffee filter. In a blender, puree the garlic in 2 cups water, then strain the mixture through another filter.

Combine the two filtered liquids with the ammonia and oil soap in a 3 gallon garden sprayer. Fill the sprayer to the maximum level with water, and spray mixture around all areas you want to protect. For extra stickiness, float the bar of Ivory soap in the sprayer.

For maximum effectiveness, reapply weekly as well as after rains. If deer browsing is intense, spray more frequently.

From Fine Gardening, August 2001, Tips Department

Dave

[Bob S.]

Double ought buck in a twelve gauge works pretty well also, and you don't have to worry about reapplying after a rain.

Bob S.

[zxcvbob]

I wonder if a high-powered .177 pellet gun would keep them away without really doing any damage.

Bob

[Ray Drouillard]

without

The pellet will go into the animal's flesh and stay there for life. 'tis kinder to just kill it and be done with it.

Of course, if you live in an area that frowns upon firearms, you can always use a bow.

I use an electric fence. :-)

Ray

[Katra]

I had a friend that tried a hotwire...

The stupid deer touched the wire, panicked, got all tangled up in it and tore out nearly 50' of wire and posts. :-(

[Ray Drouillard]

Hmmm... Thanks for the warning!

I guess the thing to do is to replace the #17 aluminum wire with #14 galvanized steel wire, and install some sturdy pressure-treated posts.

On the other hand, I'll bet the deer never came back to his garden. Now, if one became entangled and was still there when I got up in the morning, he just might provide some meat for the family.

Ray

[Katra]

I'll keep that in mind if and when I ever need to install one... ;-) Hotwires are fantastic for animal control. I adopted a border collie and ended up installing a low hotwire around the perimeter of the front yard to prevent her accidently jumping the 5' fence. She was leaping straight up the sides, (pogo dog!!!) and I was afraid that she might accidently go over even tho' she was not trying to. She was clearing it with no problem! Very athletic dog. And I live on a very busy street! Hated to do it, but it worked...

Right now I don't have a deer problem as I have a 6ft. fence in the back, but a deer could clear that with no problem. The dogs loose in the yard discourage them.

Heh heh heh! Indeed!!! :-) Mercy killing, and why waste it?

Al ended up putting up regular farm fencing like I did. It's not really that expensive. I fenced 1/4 acre for $600.00 with 5' and 6', and T-posts don't rot like wood does. I planted it with wild grapes so I now have a green privacy fence.

K.

[Bob S.]

A pellet gun is normally as powerful as a .22 within 50 ft. range. I once killed a fair size buck at the edge of my garden with a .22 with a shot to the forehead. Dropped in his tracks stone dead! On a tragic note, I know of a case where a young boy accidently killed his mother when a .177 pellet hit her in the back of the head. Pellet guns need to be handled with care.

Bob S.

[Bob S.]

Not normally a big deal to have a piece of lead remain in flesh. A large number of birds, animals, and even humans carry them for a lifetime with no apparent effects (unless it is next to a sensitive nerve).

I do also-five strands. I know some people who condition a deer to an electric fence by cutting strips of tin foil, coating them with peanut butter, and attaching them to the electric fence. When the deer goes to lick them, it gets a nasty shock on the tongue that the deer never forgets. Very effective lesson for them to avoid the garden. As you can tell, I have little sympathy for deer. They are cute, but also a great nuisance, destroy property, extensively damage cars and people in collisions, attract hunters who have little regard for property, etc.

Bob S.

[zxcvbob]

They do need to be handled with care and respect, but your analogy is way off. A standard velocity .22 LR (fired from 20 to 24" barrel) has

100 foot-pounds if energy at the muzzle, and about 80fp at 50 yards. A .22 short HP has 62 fp at 50 yards, and a "target" .22 short has about 36 fp at 50 yards. It's been a while since I figured the muzzle energy of my RWS pellet gun, but I think it was about 10 or 12 foot-pounds. A .177 pellet goes supersonic at less than 20 foot-pounds, and there are very few pellet guns capable of supersonic velocities (not that you want a pellet to go supersonic)

So even a wimpy .22 Short target cartridge (does anybody use those?) has over twice the energy at 50 yards than a pellet gun does at the muzzle.

I really don't think a wadcutter ("match") or hollow-point pellet (beeman "crow magnum") would penetrate the hide of a deer, but it oughtta sting like hell. A pointed- or rounded-nosed pellet might penetrate, I dunno.

Best regards, Bob

[Allan Matthews]

I live in Tioga county , NY one of the most densly whitetail deer populated areas in US. They walk across my front porch at nite. They are hated by every neighbor. I have tried many repllents and nothing worked to save my garden or shrubs. I put up an electric fence, bent strips of thin aluminum over the wire and smeared peanut butter on the strips. End of problem. The deer did get tangled in the fence one nite and really knocked it down.

[Bob S.]

You are right. I was comparing velocity(fps) rather than energy. Velocity can be higher in a pellet gun than a .22lr (1250fps vs

1000fps). Here we can get into the old argument of speed vs weight, but I won't. I can get a pointed pellet to pass through 1/4" plywood at 15 yds, and I think that would relate to hide penetration.

Bob S.