Fencing for deer and white pine

[kwendt]

kwendt,
Its not the height of the fence that deters the deer.  A 4' high fence, even though they can easily jump it, will deter them if the fenced area is small enough that they would feel uncomfortable being inside the fenced area.  Apparently that size is is something on the order of 20'X 20' or less.

Yeah, well... the small orchard is 4 acres.... sigh. Blueberries are a acre... lol. I read somewhere (I forget now) that they don't like two fences... cause they don't think they can jump a double. but I'm not sure if the two fences (fence line within a fence line) need to be set up 4' apart from each other or with 5' spacing or 6' spacing...
Kinda like this:
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[SwampDonkey]

The deer here have been chewing everything in site. Blueberries, mulberries, honeysuckle, birch, cedar.

And I think butternut canker has hit a small butternut I transplanted a few years ago from the farm. There is a molasses like ooze in the bark.  : Hurricane brought it I suspect.

Can't have anything around here.

[ellmoe]

   A large property I used to manage had 8' fences surrounding 100's of acres of citrus. Poorly maintained, and with hogs in the area, the deer would normally find a hole and slip under the fence. However, I have seen the deer jump the fence. At the top of the fence a strand of barbed wire was run. We had a castrated buck killed next to such an area. My thinking is that he just barely jumped 8' and became a soprano on the way down. :'(
Mark

[ckjohnson99]

I've been experimenting with hybrid poplar plots and the first ones did great until the first winter and a foot of snow arrived then the deer had a feast. Next plot I put up an 8 foot woven wire fence around 12 acres for the first three growing seasons. The only time any deer got into the plot was when there were long-legged coyote tracks running with it. In that instance, the deer tracks showed the deer clearing the 8 foot fence and landing almost 20 feet beyond, didn't miss a step right across the plot and over the other side. The long-legged coyote had to go around.

After three growing seasons, the poplar were above the browse line so I moved the fence to another equal size plot and started over. Now the deer browse the low branches in the winter but the terminal buds are too high. I was thinking of doing the same thing with white pine but figure it would take probably 5+ years to get above the browse line.

I've seen pick-your-own strawberry patches fenced with two 6 foot fences about 8 feet apart. Apparently, the deer are scared to jump both and don't want to be trapped in the middle. Maybe give that a shot?

BTW, my fences must be good because none of my hybrid poplar have escaped.  :D

[SwampDonkey]

I saw some planted hybrids that the moose snapped right off like a piece of celery.   A moose doesn't know what a fence is, straight ahead. ;D :D

Should see what moose do to a thicket of wild aspen, mow them down. I have thinned around some of those places and the aspen are trashed. The main thing is we are thinning softwoods, but aspen grows in the dead zone along the roads.