Thread: Attracting deer onto your property / farm

Hey guys,

The farm I live on shares a boundary with Pirongia forest, there are not a lot of deer in there but there are some. There haven't been any seen on the farm in years, however the farm over the road had a handful visiting last year.

There is a walking track in the bush line above the farm that might hamper deer coming through...

It would be great if you could lure some deer through to the farm - any suggestions on "bait / lures" to build up some visitors? would the scent carry far or would they sort of need to be coming through already to really work out?

cheers

Salt block?

Originally Posted by muzza

plant a brassica crop on the boundary

Yip feed crop, sorts the farm livestock and the deer.

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.

We have deer around here and only this year did one or 2 come in to the brassica crop. Clover, lots and lots of clover, spread it everywhere that is a bit of "unused" ground. Will stay for years, will feed your own stock, and you dont have to do anything with it. The deer around here travel about 2km to feed, and its always the clover they head to.

They love my hay crop. But as @Marty Henry says the best way to attract them appears to be by doing something intended for a different purpose, which attracts them out of spite. Planting trees always brings them here. Young poplar poles of cv. 'crowsnest' are particularly sought after right now, I've just been looking at a heap of them that have been ringbarked by deer since I last saw them on Saturday.

Actually my experience suggests the best way to attract them is to go actively looking for them, rifle at the ready. I can almost guarantee that this will bring them in in droves... about an hour after the rifle goes back into the gunsafe.

Don't let me visit , as where ever I am there never seems to be any bloody deer

Make sure there are no sheep. Lotsa sweet grass.

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

Actually my experience suggests the best way to attract them is to go actively looking for them, rifle at the ready. I can almost guarantee that this will bring them in in droves... about an hour after the rifle goes back into the gunsafe.

Either that or go out without the rifle that works too.😂

be careful what you wish for is all i can say. they are fine in small numbers but when they eat yah grass and get's shot by elmer fudd on doc land it probably won't feel very nice or charitable. They will be difficult to get rid of once they know you have good food.

probably better off convincing a farmer mate to plant the sugar beets and then help him out once they're there.

Some cover to go with the food.

Plant out some gullys and or let some unproductive land regenerate.
If they have food and shelter you will get a resident population rather than just transients

maize from a feeder, until they get used to what time it goes off.

before you invest in the feeder just hand distribute the maize and put up a trailcam to see if it brings any in

How much land do you have? Can you afford to turn some of it into a deer sanctuary

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!!

Originally Posted by TeRei

Make sure there are no sheep. Lotsa sweet grass.

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?