That was exactly my thought when I saw the opening above the gate. My deer would take full advantage of that space.

There is actually another piece of mesh type fence that get stretched across the opening. Deer weren't as big an issue as the woodchucks.

Wow! Love it, I have woodchucks, deer, voles and moles! Looks like this would be the perfect design. Has the board and mesh kept the critters out?

Yes, this has kept all the critters out. We put some gravelly material under the wood edge and wrapped the mesh underground as well.