How to Keep Deer Out of the Garden
It’s been an epic battle this year trying to keep the deer out of our pumpkin patch. It seemed like every time we went out there, another couple pumpkins had been demolished. But enough was enough and we were forced to take action, so today we’re going to show you how to keep deer out of the garden…or pumpkin patch!
Check Out Our Deer Alarm System on YouTube!
Check Out Our Deer Alarm System on YouTube!
The Problem With Store-Bought Deer Repellent
We tried both the store bought spray deer repellent as well as the granules, but these had little to no effect in deterring the deer. Besides the fact that they’re expensive, every time it rains it just gets washed away. It literally didn’t even slow the deer down in the slightest. We needed a better solution.
So my dad came up with a mechanical DIY deer repellent system, or “Deer-glar Alarm System” as he likes to call it, which has been highly effective in keeping the deer away.
The Principles of Deterring Deer
This method of repelling deer relies on an understanding of what deer hate. There are three classic scenarios which deer are spooked by, so this system is a synergism of all three.
The three things deer are most commonly spooked by are:
1. The smell of humans
2. Metallic sounds (the clanging of metal objects)
3. The element of surprise
He took these three principles and developed his own Thistle Downs style deer deterrent system. Let’s take a look at how it works.
Our Homemade Deer Repellent System
The Smell Factor
To capitalize on the fact that deer hate the smell of humans, he spaced a dozen fence posts all around the pumpkin patch and tied rags to each one of them. Dad then found the stinkiest, most repulsive thing he could think of to soak the rags in so he doused each one with Calvin Klein Obsession cologne…
As funny as this sounds, it plays on one of the most basic hunting principles. Never wear cologne when hunting because deer can smell it from a mile away. In fact, you aren’t even supposed to use scented soap!
He also put a couple scarecrows in the pumpkin patch, which he douses with the cologne as well. Because scarecrows want to feel pretty too…
The Metallic Sound/Surprise Factor
The other part of the system is also rather ingenious. He ran a piece of fishing line between each of the fence posts and on each end, it’s tied to a stack of tin cans with holes punched in them.
The fishing line runs about thigh high, which is about chest high to the deer. So when a deer tries to enter the pumpkin patch, it’ll trip the line (the surprise factor), and send the cans crashing and clanging around (the metallic sound factor). As soon as the deer hear and feel this, they’re gone!
Pro Tip:
One note about this trip wire. Each fishing line running between two posts should be totally independent from the rest, because you don’t want one tripped line to take down the entire setup. If you keep them all separate, you’ll only need to reset one small portion of the line.
Maintaining the Deer Repellent System
It’s been about a month since dad built this system and so far, it’s worked like a charm! Since it’s inception, there’s been virtually no more pumpkin damage.
Each night, he just takes a walk around the perimeter of the pumpkin patch and resets any lines that have been tripped. He also re-douses the rags and scarecrows with cologne every few days to keep them nice and stinky.
Conclusion
In many ways, learning how to keep deer out of the garden, or any animal for that matter, is very similar to developing a hunting plan. It’s imperative to understand the behaviors of the target animal and exploit their weaknesses. This is exactly what dad did with his “Deer-glar Alarm System” and so far it’s doing it’s job to perfection! He took the basic taboos of hunting and used them to his advantage to keep the deer away.
If you have any questions or comments about how to keep deer out of the garden or about the specifics of our DIY setup, don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments or via email.
Good Luck!
Cody
Thistle Downs Farm
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