If there is a way deer will go over, under, around, or through an electric fence so they must be very tall and low to the ground also.
This is a lot better than a plain electric fence because the deer will touch the baited wire with its nose rather than jumping over. See Baited Electric Fence
The ultimate defense is tall, sturdy, wire deer fencing. If built properly a traditional deer fence is 100% effective for preventing deer damage. An impenetrable deer fence must be sturdy and at least 7 feet tall and staked down at the bottom. Deer fencing of any kind is prohibited in many areas. Conventional deer fencing will make your house look like a stockade. See Deer Fence
Deer netting such as that sold by Benner’s Gardens has many problems associated with its use: Deer can become entangled in netting. Benner’ Gardens deer netting requires support, either posts like a conventional deer fence, or it has to be supported by your plants. If Benner’ Gardens deer netting is laid on your plants it will push them down and destroy much of their natural beauty. When your plants grow up through Benner’s Gardens deer netting it cannot be removed without destroying your plants. Rolls of Benner’s Gardens deer netting are heavy. Benner’s Gardens deer netting is not made in the US. https://wirelessdeerfence.com/benners.html
Deer deterrent spray-on products taste bad and smell bad to deer (and humans). Some of these deer deterrents are toxic and carry manufacturers warnings that the product is hazardous for humans, pets and waterways (e.g., Havahart Deer Away). If you make your own spray deterrents it can be less expensive: there are many recipes on the Internet. Common ingredients for spray-on deer repellents are rotten eggs, garlic oil, hot pepper oil, soap, and fish oil. Some of the commercial deer repellents also contain glue to make them stick better to the plants. Continuous reapplication is required. Other stinky things used to prevent deer incursions into your yard are blood meal, predator urine, predator feces, milorganite (sewage sludge), rotten eggs, and other foul stuff. These products are really nasty; I would rather have the deer. Predator urine is collected under the most inhumane of conditions, it is ineffective and should never be used. A more esthetic spray-on deer deterrent can be made from liquid Irish Spring, 5 Tablespoons/Quart of water.
Deer are smart, adaptable creatures. They soon realize noises won’t hurt them. After all, deer will commonly graze along a busy highway. Propane exploders, which go off at random intervals may be effective but often for just a short time.
Motion activated mechanisms and lights will certainly startle the deer. They will also startle the forgetful gardener and the neighbors. Deer are used to living around humans and they become accustomed to these mechanisms when they realize there is nothing noxious about them except the sudden motion, sound, or light.
Because of the considerable expense of commercial deer repellents and deer fencing and since any type of deer fencing is prohibited in many areas, many gardeners have turned to homemade, sometimes unorthodox, methods for keeping deer out.
If a deer can’t see through a fence and cannot see its landing area it will not want to jump the fence and it can be a little shorter. However, deer can stand on their rear legs to see over so the fence still has to be 5-6 feet tall. A sturdy bamboo fence or a stake fence can be used to provide an aesthetic and effective ‘blind fence’ deer barrier. https://www.wirelessdeerfence.com/lp/garden-deer-control/
Deer have poor binocular vision and poor depth perception. A fence with an irregular top is hard for deer to focus on and they are reluctant to jump over this type of fencing. Many scrap materials can be used to make a stake fence or other configuration that has an irregular top (and blocks their vision) for effectively keeping deer out. Deer don’t like to jump even a 5-foot picket fence, but a hungry deer may try, so a little taller fence is probably better.
Slanted or double fencing can be an effective deer barrier because the barrier is wide. However, these configurations of deer fencing take a lot of space and can require more materials to build so they can be more expensive. Also, it is difficult to control weeds under these types of fencing. Depending on the configuration of fencing used, the area underneath can be used to grow.
Deer don’t like to walk on wire fencing lying on the ground. This is similar to deer being reluctant to cross a cattle guard. However, fencing on the ground can be hazardous to the deer, humans, and other animals. Also, fencing lying on the ground will be quickly grown over and impossible to maintain except on a small scale.
It is against the law to accost deer in any way since they have protected status.
Even if it were practical, no place wants more deer. It would be similar to relocating rats or skunks. Deer can only be relocated with the greatest care and expertise because they will very often die during the transfer or shortly thereafter.
Effective deer population control cannot happen with the present laws protecting deer. When there were not laws protecting deer, the population dwindled and deer were gone from large areas of the U.S. by the early 1900s. Of course such extirpation is extreme and not desirable. During the last century deer were reintroduced as a protected species and they have thrived to the point of overpopulation. In addition to humans creating huge amounts of perfect deer habitat, one of the main reasons for the deer overpopulation is that humans have been eliminated as an effective doe predator because of laws that protect does from hunters. The current game laws regarding deer are based on a flawed study on the Kaibab plateau in Arizona. This study disregarded the effect of Native American predation of deer and the present laws protecting deer are based on this scientific fraud and an overpopulation of deer is the result. See Kaibab Deer Incident Myths Lies and Scientific Fraud
Where deer fences are not allowed or not preferred, the Wireless Deer Fence® works well to train the deer to keep away. This baited, electric, wireless, deer repellent is a unique deer training system that is unconditionally guaranteed to be effective for preventing deer damage against all kinds of deer.
Last summer I bought a large number of your devices. I have found that the promises you made and the warnings you issued all proved quite accurate. The deer dislike the shock; they learn to avoid the plants near the device; each deer needs its own lesson.
