deer in wheat

[mccannfarms]

OK so here is my problem. My next door neighbor is the Federal National Forest about three thousand acres of it, and in the last 2 weeks the deer have discovered our hay field planted to wheat and clover. There are herds of them in there every evening from about 7pm till daylight and are grazing it off. ( I don't hunt personally, I have no use for the deer as far as I am concerned they are a nuisance animal ) Is there anything that I can do to to get rid of them? I am afraid that they are gonna graze off all of that field and then move to our oat fields when they come up.

 

[peachy]

I would find a propane cannon. It runs on propane and sets a boom off about every half hour. I have no idea where to find one.

 

[MNK Cattle Co]

Go to barbershop and get human hair. Kinda gross but if you spread it along the tree-field line it will cut down on activity. Or find coyote hunter and hang their hides on fence.

 

[KSanburg]

Anything you do is really temporary and I don't have whitetail but I think the principle would be the same. You need them to at least disperse so maybe they are not in one herd or keep them off of your field until the crop gets big enough they aren't eating it completely off. One trick I have seen help is go to Wal Mart and purchase several big cans of Right Guard in aerosol cans go a long you fence line spraying every post or tree on the edge, because they dislike the scent they will move to where they don't smell the odor. The next thing would to be get a hold of your states DNR office and they should be able to supply you with either a propane canon or large firecrackers to try and disperse the deer. Unfortunately there is no permanent solution to your problem, you might possibly lease your property to some hunters in your area and they can develop food plots away from your fields for the deer keeping them off of your fields or maybe to a lesser degree.

 

[Corriedalesrock]

Propane Canons totally work! We had one and the deer and cyotes just went away..... but always have an extra tank of propane to the side!!

 

[mccannfarms]

Hunting pressure isn't really a problem, it sounds like a fort around here during deer season.

The weird thing is the wheat field is the one that they seem to target. It is also the most open with highways on 2 sides of that field. There is rye down on some secluded fields on the middle of the farm and they haven't touched them at all.

 

[obie105]

I dont remember which plant but there is a plant hunters in our area use to keep deer out of food plots til they are well established. You could do the same thing with your field. I will try to call a friend to see if he can tell me.

 

[edmun2010]

Around here we had some real problems a few years ago with deer, it was not uncommon to count 150 to 250 in one 60 - 80 acre field and the same amount in the fields around them. I know alot of croppers were going out and shooting as many as they could every week just to get rid of them. Finally with enough pressure on the government we got allotted up to six extra tags per hunter to help remove nuisance deer, now as a farmer you can get a farmers permit and shoot 3 deer on a permit and I believe once it is filled you can get another and so on... People during that time tired everything from guard dogs, satellite fencing systems ,to cannons with limited success with any of these methods. The only real solution is to remove the problem, I would go to your wildlife department and explain the situation and potential profit loss and see if you can get a nuisance permit and have a hunter remove some of the deer.  Also just so you know there have been studies done around here(Ontario,Canada) that the average whitetail deer eats around 2200 pounds of feed a year, that being said I understand your frustrations.

 

[paj315]

Contact your state DNR office and they should be able to help you with either some way to disperse them or if necessary crop deprivation deer tags which allow your to shoot them outside of the regular deer season. If deprivation tags are issued and you don't hunt they should be able to put you in touch with responsible hunters to help you out.

 

[Doc]

I've got a version of the same problem, except mine is trying to keep the turkeys out of the creep feeder.

 

[knabe]

Chum?

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/news/press/ontape.htm

Also other articles stating deer are often the first visitors to a "placed" carcass and have been observed nibbling on road kill.

Supposedly it's for the salt in the blood and probably some other micro nutrient.

 

[vc]

I bet the people in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho would love to swap you some of their wolves for some of your deer.

 

[knabe]

I bet the people in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho would love to swap you some of their wolves for some of your deer.

If only the deer were a predator on wolves.

 

[tamarack]

I lost a cow one time and put it out in the bush set up trail cam to see what predator came in and got pics of whitetail deer smelling the carcasse didn't seem to bother them at all.They get used to the same noise over again there is a motion activated speaker that plays a number of siren noises and strobe lights I saw it advertised as a electronic gate for cattle in Farm Show magazine I think it would be good for scaring deer you should be able to find it on Farmshow website.Good luck

 

[Davis Shorthorns]

they make a system that is 2 electric fence tapes spaces so far apart that has a scent on it that helps keep them out.  Hunters use it to protect the food plots.  It really works.  Also mothballs and maybe a coyote decoy.  Move it every few days to a different part of the field.  I know that works really well for keeping geese off a wheat field.