"limey" wrote in message
...
Well, I think I've lost heart for gardening, after trying at this house.

Squirrels and birds stripped the peach and apple trees. Squirrels also
attacked the tomatoes.

The deer this year are really bad. First, in the spring they ate my
lilies. Then, during the season they stripped the tomato vines and/or ate
the tomatoes. They then went to work on the cucumbers. After that, they
ate the rhubarb leaves (I hope they got belly aches), but left the
decimated stalks.

At lunchtime today, I watched a doe and her fawn eat the hydrangea
vegetation, then the peony leaves, then they started on the azaleas in the
back yard. I tried to shoo them off but they must have moved at least 12
inches then stared at me. Next, I suppose, they will be destroying the
foundation plants. Give me a break.

Dora

Since you've nixed the bow hunting idea, try something that worked for me,
for almost 3 months: Irish Spring bar soap. Get some knee-hi hosiery and
empty 1 quart yogurt or cottage cheese containers. Punch hole in bottom of
container big enough for a wire to pass through. Put soap in knee-hi, tie
shut with wire. Pass wire through hole and pull the soap assembly up into
the container, so you have something like a bell with the soap in place of
the knocker. This protects the soap from rain. Hang a few of these around
the most vulnerable or valuable plants. If you get a LOT of rain, you might
want to seal the wire holes with a little silicone caulk.

This has stopped working for me after 3 months. Not sure if the soap has
lost most of its pungent scent, or the deer just don't care any more. But,
the nibbling they're doing now doesn't seem to be hurting anything, and it's
the end of the season anyway. I'll try it again in the spring.

I suspect he is not much of a hunter. When you practice, it is under
ideal conditions and out in the woods, hanging out of a tree at a bad
angle can mess up your form and aim. All bow hunters I know, aim for
the heart/lung area where you can be off by several inches and still
have a clean kill. Vast majority of gun hunters would also not shoot
at head.

That said, only sure way I've found to protect plants from deer is with
netting but I've given up on the tree rats.

Frank

Actually, he's quite a remarkable hunter. I'm amused by your logic, though.
He's been bow & shotgun hunting for almost 40 years, taught by his father
and grandfather. His way of choosing which deer to take are so closely
focused on what's correct, in terms of conservation, you'd think he was one
of those mythically perfect native Americans we see in movies. Spends two
weeks with just binoculars, observing the group on his dad's 400 acre farm,
choosing which deer to take. Gets the limit, and if there's another worth
taking, gets a special bag limit extension from the NY DEC. Sometimes, not.
I've watched him practice with the bow, using a bottle cap stuck into
styrofoam that's glued to a 4x8 plywood sheet. He'll hit it repeatedly from
75-100 feet. Interesting to watch.

There are air marshalls who are trained (successfully) to make their first
shot the head shot from a fairly challenging distance, using a sem-auto
handgun with 5" barrel. You and I would be hard pressed to pull that off. Do
you assume they are not so good at their skills because they can do
something most shooters can't?

"Frank" wrote in message
oups.com...
I suspect he is not much of a hunter. When you practice, it is under
ideal conditions and out in the woods, hanging out of a tree at a bad
angle can mess up your form and aim. All bow hunters I know, aim for
the heart/lung area where you can be off by several inches and still
have a clean kill. Vast majority of gun hunters would also not shoot
at head.

That said, only sure way I've found to protect plants from deer is with
netting but I've given up on the tree rats.

Frank

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"limey" wrote in message
news:aUhVe.3114$HP6.2289@trnddc06...

"Doug Kanter" wrote

Do you know anyone who hunts deer with a bow and arrow? Seriously.
No, but even if I did the wildlife restrictions wouldn't allow it so
close to houses.

Dora


Deer? What deer? I haven't seen a deer.

Hint: Don't they forage in your area when the sun's barely up?

Up to now, they've come through here at night or, presumably, very early in
the morning. After a snowstorm we can see tracks crisscrossing the entire
yard. That's why I was amazed that they were munching away on my bushes
when we were eating lunch. Times must be tough. There's plenty of
greenstuff around to eat but it hasn't rained in weeks, so I imagine thirst
is a big factor.

Dora

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message

Since you've nixed the bow hunting idea, try something that worked for me,
for almost 3 months: Irish Spring bar soap. Get some knee-hi hosiery and
empty 1 quart yogurt or cottage cheese containers. Punch hole in bottom of
container big enough for a wire to pass through. Put soap in knee-hi, tie
shut with wire. Pass wire through hole and pull the soap assembly up into
the container, so you have something like a bell with the soap in place of
the knocker. This protects the soap from rain. Hang a few of these around
the most vulnerable or valuable plants. If you get a LOT of rain, you
might want to seal the wire holes with a little silicone caulk.

This has stopped working for me after 3 months. Not sure if the soap has
lost most of its pungent scent, or the deer just don't care any more. But,
the nibbling they're doing now doesn't seem to be hurting anything, and
it's the end of the season anyway. I'll try it again in the spring.
What an intriguing idea and one certainly worth a try. Like you, I would
guess that the scent has dissipated after three months so it would pay to
change the bars. I wish these deer weren't hurting anything here; I have
been nursing a young bush for three years and the deer keep nipping off all
the shoots.

Dora

"limey" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message

Since you've nixed the bow hunting idea, try something that worked for
me, for almost 3 months: Irish Spring bar soap. Get some knee-hi hosiery
and empty 1 quart yogurt or cottage cheese containers. Punch hole in
bottom of container big enough for a wire to pass through. Put soap in
knee-hi, tie shut with wire. Pass wire through hole and pull the soap
assembly up into the container, so you have something like a bell with
the soap in place of the knocker. This protects the soap from rain. Hang
a few of these around the most vulnerable or valuable plants. If you get
a LOT of rain, you might want to seal the wire holes with a little
silicone caulk.

This has stopped working for me after 3 months. Not sure if the soap has
lost most of its pungent scent, or the deer just don't care any more.
But, the nibbling they're doing now doesn't seem to be hurting anything,
and it's the end of the season anyway. I'll try it again in the spring.
What an intriguing idea and one certainly worth a try. Like you, I would
guess that the scent has dissipated after three months so it would pay to
change the bars. I wish these deer weren't hurting anything here; I have
been nursing a young bush for three years and the deer keep nipping off
all the shoots.

Dora


Of course, there's always a maze of fence material to deter monsters. I've
got tunnel shaped fence wire annoyances over beds of greens, or spots where
new seed has been sown. They're held down with tent stakes. They dissuaded
every mammal here, except the occasional squirrel that burrows under for no
particular reason.

Suggets you clip thread and post in rec.hunting and see what kind of
discussion you get.
Frank

Not worth the time. This is already a ****ing contest.

"Frank" wrote in message
oups.com...
Suggets you clip thread and post in rec.hunting and see what kind of
discussion you get.
Frank

"limey" wrote in message
...
Well, I think I've lost heart for gardening, after trying at this house.

Squirrels and birds stripped the peach and apple trees. Squirrels also
attacked the tomatoes.

The deer this year are really bad. First, in the spring they ate my
lilies. Then, during the season they stripped the tomato vines and/or ate
the tomatoes. They then went to work on the cucumbers. After that, they
ate the rhubarb leaves (I hope they got belly aches), but left the
decimated stalks.

At lunchtime today, I watched a doe and her fawn eat the hydrangea
vegetation, then the peony leaves, then they started on the azaleas in the
back yard. I tried to shoo them off but they must have moved at least 12
inches then stared at me. Next, I suppose, they will be destroying the
foundation plants. Give me a break.

Dora


I think it would be wonderful to have all these animals in your yard. But I
understand your disappointment. Maybe you should have a wildlife park
instead of a garden. "IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM"

Jen