Once upon a time it was mine too. It's built up so much around here in the last 15-20 years what was once farm fields are now housing developments and still growing. I have several farmer friends that begged for guys to come hunt around their bean fields. Still have my .22-250 and .243.
Fishing Line Fence
- Thread starter Barebones
- Start date
Made a lot of friends with my varmint rifles. One special friend and farmer would go with me on hunts. Sure miss the 'ol boy. He even "let" me handle his John Deere diesel with a bush hog just to keep the weeds down so we could see the varmints. My first season hunting on his 40 acres produced 29 kills alone. After the second season, 'chucks were hard to find.
My record for 3 farms was 80 kills. Best alone evening was 10, it was like a shooting gallery. Beans were up maybe an inch. Shoot one, give it 10 minutes and they came back out. In that one particular field, sun was at my back and by 5:30 - 6:00 p.m. they really couldn't see me with the sun in their eyes. Fence row beside the farm lane had trees for shade
Beans were put in and harvested early that year, so they got harvested early and more came up that went on through the combine in the Fall after a good rain. Threw a rag rug across the hood of the ole' GMC 4-WD and have a bi-pod on both rifles. Small cooler in the truck with 4-5 ice cold Coke's, and a pack of Marlboro reds. A little patience always paid off at that field. Buzzards ate good that spring and fall, never left there without getting at least 3 or 4.
Beans were put in and harvested early that year, so they got harvested early and more came up that went on through the combine in the Fall after a good rain. Threw a rag rug across the hood of the ole' GMC 4-WD and have a bi-pod on both rifles. Small cooler in the truck with 4-5 ice cold Coke's, and a pack of Marlboro reds. A little patience always paid off at that field. Buzzards ate good that spring and fall, never left there without getting at least 3 or 4.
I enjoyed watching vultures recycle the 'chucks, too. Problematic 'chucks that I had to work especially hard for sometimes found themselves on my dinner plate, as well. Dang good eating, too. After parboiling, they could be put on the outdoor grill for an extra measure of tasteful revenge. Guess I'll have to sight in a rifle now.
Question about peppermint extract. Why not just spray a strip around the outside of the garden? Space permitting. Neighbor just planted beans so I shouldn't be bothered by deer too much. Chucks? Lead at a high speed works good although I use traps more. Getting built up around here and the township has zoned it residental. Wouldn't know it though from the amount of gunfire.
Didn't make myself very clear on the use of fishing line. The line is not fastened from one end of the garden to the other, the line was passed thru screweyes and thru a pulley at the end and weighted. I don't recall a problem with breakage this way. Vern
Didn't make myself very clear on the use of fishing line. The line is not fastened from one end of the garden to the other, the line was passed thru screweyes and thru a pulley at the end and weighted. I don't recall a problem with breakage this way. Vern
I don't think they would get that much scent off of just a strip, walking heads up. Spraying it directly on the plant they will browse on definitely gets their attention. I have hung a 1/4 bar of Irish Spring soap on T-posts when the electric fence was up. It may have helped some. Just drilled a 3/16' hole through it, and tied it on an insulator with a small zip tie.
Can't wait to try the cinnamon extract, I know how much it bothers me if it's fairly strong with as sensitive as Deer are, thinking it may work better than the peppermint.
Can't wait to try the cinnamon extract, I know how much it bothers me if it's fairly strong with as sensitive as Deer are, thinking it may work better than the peppermint.
It didn't work for me. They built a condo complex in what used to be 50 acres of alphalpha next door. They are even eating my potatoe blossoms. Bobbex repellent has helped most but I'm trying electric tape fencing in several configurations and heights this year. One year I got 5 tomatoes and tons of peppers off almost two acres.
Tried solar motion lights and the solar electric snap and crack devices with little positive results.
If the electric tape fencing doesn't help drastically improve results I'm going to a much smaller garden and a much taller fence. Probably 10 to 12 ft. I'm also going to see what it takes for a nuisance permit.
This season or next might be my last for gardening of any size.
Not to mention what's happening to my fruit trees. Good luck
Here's an update on the fishing-line fence and peppermint oil: My fishing-line fence is about 5 feet tall and apparently not high enough. My trailcam caught a deer inside the fence and I found a single tomato plant topped. All the lines - about five of them - are still intact. This morning, when I checked the camera card, another deer was inside but no further damage. Nothing has touched (or eaten) the young melon seedlings or pumpkin plants. Yet.
I am not going to spray the plants with the peppermint oil anymore, because when I did it the first time, I thought I had killed them all. Leaves were brown overnight. The good news is that they were not killed and have begun to produce new growth.
Going to try some store-bought repellent left over from another season and crossing my fingers.
I am not going to spray the plants with the peppermint oil anymore, because when I did it the first time, I thought I had killed them all. Leaves were brown overnight. The good news is that they were not killed and have begun to produce new growth.
Going to try some store-bought repellent left over from another season and crossing my fingers.
Don McCombs
501 Club
Liquid Fence has worked fairly well for us on ornamentals. The downside is that you have to re-apply every week. More often if it rains. I am currently testing two new methods. Will report on results.
Against all odds, I caught the woodchuck that had done an early in May grazing on some of my planted veggies...he jumped up on the 24" hi bed. Caught him with cantalope and some shredded celery. The rabbits I get with a pellet gun, but the squirrels are notorious bandits that eat beans and snap peas. I put up solar electrified poultry netting and it has kept out everything since the middle of May. Impressive.
Did you spray them with 100% oil..?? It only takes 2 TBS. per gallon of water, so if you used it straight, it probably did burn them. I've never had any problems using the 2 TBS. per gallon mix.
Didn't measure the mix and that could have been the issue. Put maybe a teaspoon full of the oil in a quart spray bottle.
No new damage but deer are seen by camera surrounding my garden area. Put some commercial deer repellent on everything. The plants that were damaged are recovering nicely with lots of new growth. Been a bit cold for melon seeds to germinate (50s at night), although a few have popped through the soil. Pumpkins untouched so far! Long way to go.
The warmer weather has the plants popping. Every day I check the garden camera card and was shocked what I found yesterday: a bobcat. Never had them here in mid-Michigan (that I know of), but I've heard that other such cats have been discovered in our area recently. At least nothing has damaged the plants. Only one deer breached the fishing line so far and departed without incident. Also, saw a rabbit within the confines of the fence but the Liquid Fence has kept any critters from sampling the merchandise. Still have a long way to go, but the new system is encouraging.
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Don McCombs
501 Club
The bobcat is a good sign for rodent control.
Don McCombs
501 Club
Cats and dogs should be inside during the hours when bobcats are typically active. Owner responsibility, you know!