Most everything I have read about using eggs as a deer repellant is that they need to be rotten, smell really bad, and the mixture needs to be reapplied after every rain.

if you want other ideas ... using the GW search engine up under the banner on the right...

you might find a couple hundred.. or thousand deer posts ...

ken

Perhaps this PBS video might be of some help.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Private Life of Deer

Urine from predators does not keep deer away from the garden, if urine did what the sellers tell you it would limit their range of travel severely. Suggesting using a rifle is disingenuous since many people cannot due to laws restricting discharging firearms in populated areas.
Deer are seen in the video linked above easily scaling a 9 foot high fence. Doing as Ken suggests will lead you to mostly myth and not real solutions to the problem.

the best defense is a good fence.
Spraying eggs around is a good way to attract Raccoons, Opossums, Skunks and Rats.

This post was edited by geosankie on Fri, Apr 4, 14 at 12:41

> "Suggesting using a rifle is disingenuous"

Dude, the whole post is disingenuous. Lighten up.

The video linked above shows deer easily scaling a 9 foot high fence.
I would not classify the whole post as disingenuous, just a couple of comments.

One of the best commercial deer repellents that I've ever used has rotten eggs as well as other smelly stuff in the recipe. Its formulation allows it to remain effective after rains. It's called Bobbex.

I used it to protect an historical garden of vegetables, herbs, indigo, and cotton. The deer pressure in the area was pretty intense and we were not allowed to use anything but a very rustic four foot fence.

We noticed that the rabbits stayed away, too. The very strong odor went away (mostly) after a few hours, so we didn't chase the tourists away, too, lol.

A few years ago someone wrote an article that appeared in Fine Gardening magazine about these various deer "repellents" and their analysis of them is they are not very effective although they would work if switched around regularly.

Sometimes, it is wise to heed the advice of those with years of personal experience. I used Bobbex for many years all over the southeast, on the many properties for which I was responsible as a consultant.

IPM guidelines always suggest that control of pests and diseases requires a multifaceted approach. In some cases, there are few options.

In my case, which is similar to many responsible for commercial sites or homeowners who simply don't want to build a stockade around their property, a successful repellent (without the denigrating quotation marks) was a gratifying discovery.

Deer feeding is another instance where home remedies often fail. Or, they work for a very short time. It is often, not always, wise to use a commercially formulated product rather than try a battery of pantry remedies.

"Suggesting using a rifle is disingenuous since many people cannot due to laws restricting discharging firearms in populated areas. "

DMForcier, admit it. He is right.

What the man needs is a crossbow.

I'm another satisfied long time Bobbex user, my new property has deer almost daily, often for hours at a time - they bed down on the lawn and make themselves quite at home.

My issue with the Bobbex product is that it requires spraying so infrequently, often a new growth spurt will take place and I'll have new foliage I haven't noticed that is not protected and that will be munched back. It seems to be most true of roses though, and I've given up on those, I'm not going to grow them this location.

My goal with this house and acre was open, welcoming, friendly to neighbors and 2-footed guests, I do not want a stockade type fence and given the steepness of the lot in back, fencing would limit my own access for maintenance from the street below. Anything over 4' across the front doesn't meet city code either, making a three sided deer fence mostly useless. I'm learning to work around them - it's been a process ;)

> "What the man needs is a crossbow."

Yeah - what I said. A .30-06 crossbow load - with a power head!

;D