How to keep deer away from food plots?

[MILLER TIME]

I planted a 2.5 acre corn food plot last year and am planning to plant it again this spring but last year the deer just demolished the plot before the corn could really amount to anything. Is there anything that i could use to prevent the deer from eating the corn so that it can grow up. Any home remedies?

[Mark Christianson]

Get a depredation permit from the DNR and take em out.

Sorry, honestly, I dont have a clue. I have not had a problem with deer cleaning out my plots. I surely have plenty of foraging going on in the plots year round, but thats a part of the reason to have them, is to give them(and other wildlife) year round nutrition. Not just food for the hunting season. Maybe plant some alternative crops adjacent to the corn as well. Basically split up the plot and try combinations of things. Maybe a half acre of clover and 2 acres of corn. Its possible you could attract them to eat other stuff while the corn matures a little more.

There is a few products on the market that I have heard about for repelling deer, but it escapes me as to what they are called. Although, keeping deer out of 2.5 acres could be a very large/expensive task. I could be wrong on that.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Farm dog. Problem solved.

[BLACKJACK]

I like your postscript about beer, I may have to steal that one and use it!!!!

Make sure you fertilize your corn well so it grows faster than the deer can eat it. They will only eat the green foliage at certain stages, like when they can eat the tender top when its about 2 foot tall. In my experience they won't eat the the green stalks once they hit 4 foot plus. If it was getting eaten later on it, especially when it was forming cobs, it may have been coons. You can handle them with traps, either live or leghold. Look for tracks. If you have a depredation problem, don't cheat and put in a couple of rows of sweet corn, that will draw all kinds of critters!!!

You could also consider an electic fence with a solar fencer but it would probably take two strands to keep deer out.

Good luck.

[roosterslayer]

I have heard that plot saver works well, and i think you can get it at cabelas.

[MILLER TIME]

They are eating it when its only about 2-6 inches tall. really damages any hope for corn!! Has anyone tried a ribbon like plot saver but put there own remedies on it?

[huntmup]

Was it deer or raccoon?

[MILLER TIME]

DEER.

[tunrevir]

Here is a trick I learned from a little old lady gardener. Put up fence posts(wood lathe works well) and string mono fishline between the stakes at 2' and 3-4' and surround your food plot. The deer can't see the mono and when they bump into it it will spook them when it presses on their fur. I used it on my apple trees and it worked well and my neighbor used this to keep deer out of her garden and it worked well for her too. You may have to replace the line on occassion if they break through but usually the deer become conditioned after a couple weeks and they just avoid the area. This brings me to my next point, if you try to keep them out with repellants ect you make spook off the animals you want to be hunting at a later date. It is cheap and easy and I had good results with it. Hope this helps! Don't know if it would keep a bear out though.

Tunrevir~