Thread: Attracting deer onto your property / farm

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

That's an interesting comment. Are you suggesting that the sheep just eat the hay too short for deer to enjoy, or are you saying there is something else about sheep that deter sheep?

I'd also be interested in what TeRei says.
Theres something wrong with the deer around here then as there always in with the sheep, once I even got one into the sheepyards with a mob.
I have heard before you won't find deer in with sheep and cattle but experience tells me they arnt the least bit worried and often use the livestock as a early warning that something is happening.

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Originally Posted by Yesmate

Food is the only thing you'll need to do, as another said they go nuts and will travel a long way for brassicas.as also said be careful what you wish for as there will always be more deer turning up than what you are seeing, they seem to tell their mates and its all on.try some radishes then get ready for a deer frenzy!!

A dairy farmer in Taranaki grew several hectares of radishes, but his cows wouldn't eat them.

loads of shepherds will tell tales of loan spiker who has befriended sheep or cattle and come right into yards with them...there is a canada goose just out of geraldine who thinks its a sheep.....
spent weekend watching fallow....close to cows....close to wallabies..... not at all phazed by our presence ,they KNOW they not hunted so happy to graize 3-400 yards away,close to cover.

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

It works better if you really really want the crop to feed your own livestock rather than have it stolen by deer.
Up the road 2 years ago that was happening, in desperation the farmer who lives off the property a got a bird scarer that worked for a while but really pissed off the neighbors going off at random all night. He was eventually forced to turn it off at night by sleep deprived locals but by then the deer had gotton used to it anyhow.
2 of us shot it one evening, we counted 17 on what was left of the crop and shot 5 before they twigged that the noise wasn't the bird scarer. As we were picking them up the others started wandering back out.

I knew a Safari park operator who had bird scarers set up for that reason. The deer got so used to it that if the client missed a shot, the deer often just stood there thinking it was the scarer going off

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come on Phil.......you really want excuse to pinch Sharons green apple shampoo and body wash....be honest its OK......



seriously ,it might if you have been feeding them apples so tuned in to the scent......
know of one farmer who feeds his fenced in deer onions.......one has to wonder if the venison makes you fart more than normal???

Originally Posted by BRADS

I'd also be interested in what TeRei says.
Theres something wrong with the deer around here then as there always in with the sheep, once I even got one into the sheepyards with a mob.
I have heard before you won't find deer in with sheep and cattle but experience tells me they arnt the least bit worried and often use the livestock as a early warning that something is happening.

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3 course meal.......beef steak,mutton chops and venison steak...PERFECT.

Put feed out every day in the winter.

If it gets cold enough they will start wandering and once one finds it, the rest will rock up.

Will get quite costly over time, but it certainly works as they have been doing it for centuries in Scotland and it certainly keeps deer (mostly stags) on some very crap ground which deer would usually leave in the winter.

Assume you actually plan on shooting a few?

If the farm is a commercial operation I wouldn't go out of my way trying to purposely attract deer onto it. They do a huge amount of damage which is disproportionate to the enjoyment (which will wear off very quickly) you will get from shooting a deer here and there in a paddock.
This winter we had this paddock in crop (fodderbeet) and it got mauled by mobs of deer coming out of the bush, amazing how much damage the wee buggers can do and when they have that much feed in front of them they are quite selective on what they will actually eat so they go round pulling entire young plants out of the ground, have a few bites and then onto the next one. It's nice seeing them about but if I had a choice then them not being there to begin with would probably be the more attractive option. We had some lease land up on the tops (blue mountains) which the lease finished on and we haven't renewed and owners had it planted in trees a month or so back.. I swear every single one of those seedlings has had the top eaten out of it, will be a huge loss.

I have done the maize trick, and I got thousands of pictures of the same possum and the same rat over three months !

This thread is bizarre😂

If the native is mineral deficient then putting copper, zinc, cobalt, moly, salt, selenium etc etc in with your fert as well as getting the PH up to 6.5 will make your pasture very attractive

cheers guys - almost the right time to plant a brassica crop by the looks so have passed that on - see how we get on :-)

Summer feed crops: in by Labour weekend. Winter feed crops: in after Labour weekend.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I just bought a 50 acre block that is surrounded by forest and has heavy new growth of pines (xmass tree size) and gorse all over it.
Full of deer, pig and other sign because access for hunting is very restricted. No adjacent farms with stock on them or "doc land" just private pine forest all around.

Plan is to turn it into a private hunting and shooting "refuge". Will set up a really good plinking range as well like Hickock 45 has.

Will have to clear tracks, do some (lots of) thinning and also clear and plant some areas where they can feed.

I thought of salt blocks and planting "crops" that self propagate.

Any and all good ideas would be appreciated.

Originally Posted by muzza

plant a brassica crop on the boundary

nailed it.