I’ve never seen or heard of deer eating Crapes. I’m not saying it would never, ever happen, but it’d be rare and most likely not severe enough to harm the CM.

Signed, Someone who has grown CMs over 30 yrs, lives in an area full of both Crapes and deer, and has never seen one damaged by them.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/deer-eat-crepe-myrtles-85331.html

From the article at the link - Crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica) come in a variety of different hybrids with bright, lacy flower clusters in the summer. They are winter hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 to 9. Though the hungriest deer will eat plants not characteristic of its regular diet, deer will seldom eat any variety of crape myrtle.

It has been my experience that they will eat some young plants.

^^^ Are you making that up, Dad? That sounds made up.

(I’m just teasing.) 😁

Unfortunately, I’ve discovered a deer has eaten from my young Crape Myrtle. I’m devastated, and now I’ll try enclosing it.

They may not chew and swallow but they will definitely sample anything new planted in their path. And if the plant is small the sampling involves pulling the entire plant out of the ground- some days you can find them quickly enough to save them and other times I just find the empty hole.

I'd plant it, cage it with some wire border something as a deterrent, and spray it down with Liquid Fence so that first taste is terrible. Once the roots get established and it is stronger it can fend for itself but the first couple of weeks are when you need to watch out.