I did a dumb thing

[Mike in Virginia]

I have a small orchard of fruit trees (pear, apple, peach) on my  lower lot, about 45 yards from my driveway.  The deer have decimated the trees for the last several years by nibbling the leaves one by one.  A buck killed one of the pear trees cleaning the velvet from his antlers.  Lots of money down the drain, and very little fruit to show for my efforts.
 
Last evening, I spotted a large doe headed for the fruit trees.  In a state of mind I could not control, I went to the garage and loaded my crossbow with a bolt that was tipped with a 125 grain rubber blunt.  I shot it at the doe, and missed.
 
Looking back, I'm grateful that I missed. Even at that distance, the rubber blunt could have done irreparable damage.  I'll never again take out my frustration on the deer.  I'd rather they completely destroy the orchard rather than one of them suffer what I sought to inflict. 
 
I feel better having confessed my stupidity publicly.

[Ranger99]

they'll climb the trunk with
their forelegs, much like goats.
they do that to my pear trees,
and have ruined a couple of young peach trees.
you may have to build cage enclosures
with some wire fencing, or run some
electric wires or tape.


slingshot and marbles next time

[geezerbiker]

I've been having the same problem with my garden.  I've been spaying the hottest hot sauce I can find on my plants.  I cut it 50/50 with water and then strained though a tea strainer then a paint strainer before putting it in the sprayer. 

It has to be resprayed after a rain.  I forget to do that and it seems they've figured out to eat my plants after a rain...

Tony

[Bugflipper]

 I went through that as well. One was eating the bark off my fruit trees 20 yards from the house. I started with going out the door and yelling, then airsoft, then a bb gun pumped up twice. Then a bludgeon. Then finally said piss on it and killed him. True they shouldn't be forced to suffer, but they aren't a mystical creature to be placed above what they truly are. A wild animal that has grown too accustomed of people and have lost some of their natural fear.

Here's my way of thinking. If one of my roosters decides he wants to flog me he'll be in the stew pot shortly. No trying to reason with him, he's a bird and only understands that he thinks he's the toughest thing in the chicken yard. The only way he learns is to be in a stew pot.
If my neighbor's dog tears something of mine up or kills one of my animals I will have the decency to let them know. If they don't care and continue to let him run wild then he gets hit by a bludgeon. The dog may or may not have the ability to rationalize the danger he faces but the owner should. I'll tell the neighbor what I did so they can look him over and see if he needs to go to the vet. The third talk is do they want to bury their dog or do they want me to?
 I put the deer between the two. If it receives a warning and doesn't adhere to it then it's not going to have to worry about whatever deer worry about. I'm sure a bludgeon hurts like hell, but wont give any lasting damage unless you knock his eye out or try to shoot him in a rib. They pack a wallop but wont even knock skin off of a squirrel. No doubt his butt will be bruised and would be sore for a while but I would imagine even in a deers mind a bruising and a sore butt is better than a festering wound that hurts for weeks or being dead.

I plant a whole lot more in the garden then I need and don't run them off. They can eat all the fruit they want. They can have the leaves they can reach. I don't even care if they eat on the sheeps feed blocks. They can't mess with my income by killing the trees though. If they can't reason that a smack from a bludgeon means don't eat the tree then they don't need to be hanging around anymore.

[keith44]

since the topic seems to have veered slightly into keeping deer out of orchards and gardens, here's my familys trick.


We put up two strands of electric fence around the garden and the few fruit trees we have, top strand is about 3 to 3 1/2 off the ground, the lower strand is 3 to 4 inches off the ground (round up keeps the weeds and grass from shorting out the fence).  Connect this to a 10 mile solar fence charger (upper and lower strand in parallel).  Before turning the fence on for the first time, wipe the top strand with peanut butter no more deer problems, and no permanent damage to the deer.


Costs about 200 bucks to do this, but it works really well, the lower strand deters the rabbits.

[cabledad]

Wonder if that would work around our US border. Great idea

[Bugflipper]

May be just the trick for peanut farmers too. Peanuts equals fire in the mouth would be pretty easy for a deer to comprehend.
 I got tazed under the jaw once and a spark shot from a filling in a bottom tooth to the roof of my mouth. That smarted a bit but probably would be  nothing compared to licking an electric fence. 

[BBF]

The only error I see is the use of a rubber tip instead of a broadhead....................and a better aim.

[geezerbiker]

I had to cut down 2 trees on my place last year because the deer rubbed all the bark off of them.  Fortunately for me, I didn't care about either of them.  I suppose the pear tree was worth saving but the deer made that decision for me...

My problem is if I shoot one, it would have to drop on my 1/3 acre and not on a neighbors' property.  So if if I see them, they get the wrath my pellet gun in the hindquarters.

Tony

[clum sum]

Two ways #1 gut shot with 22  or the electric fence. Most large animals will not be killed by an electric fence but they will respect it. My electric fence has killed coons ,possums, squirrrels, armadillos, birds and snakes of all manner.