…… Fence questions for the hive mind

[Macgyver]

Had a bit of a scare with the dog chasing dear today.
Back of my property is a dear freeway. I need to cut that off.
Area in question is heavy trees and brush.
Doing anything is going to be a bitch and a half and putting up real fencing is expensive and would require machinery.
If I were to drive big t posts in and just string steel fence wire between them how high should I go and how close together for the wire?

I've heard people say dear can clear an 8' fence but there is no way for them to get to any kind of running speed or clear landing areas so I don't know if the height is that important.

Whats everyone think?

We want to eventually fence the entire property but that's not in the budget right now. But deer proof fence was really not in the design plan anyway. Post and rail with wire was the plan for the dogos.

 

[Dobbin]

Um. That would be "deer" - unless you're referring to the wife.

Or your prized even natured useful equine.

For his garden neighbor uses square hole "hardware cloth" (1" hole) which is 6 feet high. 6' "aggie posts." Fence comes about 18" beyond the post.

Dobbin

 

[tnphil]

I've heard people say dear can clear an 8' fence but there is no way for them to get to any kind of running speed or clear landing areas so I don't know if the height is that important.

Yeah, height is real important. For a 4' chain link fence, they don't need running speed. They just mosey up to it and jump it like it's no effort at all. Even from a dead stop.

 

[Delta]

My dad once told me that with a fence for deer, the key is the height of the posts. The fence material itself does not need to be as high as the posts as the deer will assume that the fence is as high as the posts. I don't know anything about that. When I fenced my garden, I added very visible 2x4s to the existing 4x4 posts, extending them well above the existing posts. But I did fill in the space between posts with some plastic netting (with 1- or 2-inch spacing in the "web"). Right or wrong, I have not had any problem.

So, your situation is a "deerway" across the back of the property. That can be fenced, but what happens and the ends the sides of your property)? What happens to the "deerway" on adjacent property? No point in building a fence if the deer can just walk around the ends of it.

 

[Millwright]

4' field fence.

Keep the dog in, not the deer out.

They won't jump into an area with a dog...not more than once or twice

 

[duchess47]

Deer here in the city will clear a six foot fence from a standing position. Just fence the dogs in. Doubt the dogs will hurt the deer, deer won’t hurt the dogs, just your garden and roses.

 

[Haybails]

Had a bit of a scare with the dog chasing dear today.
Back of my property is a dear freeway. I need to cut that off.
Area in question is heavy trees and brush.
Doing anything is going to be a bitch and a half and putting up real fencing is expensive and would require machinery.
If I were to drive big t posts in and just string steel fence wire between them how high should I go and how close together for the wire?

I've heard people say dear can clear an 8' fence but there is no way for them to get to any kind of running speed or clear landing areas so I don't know if the height is that important.

Whats everyone think?

We want to eventually fence the entire property but that's not in the budget right now. But deer proof fence was really not in the design plan anyway. Post and rail with wire was the plan for the dogos.

View attachment 428643

Our back land is a "deer freeway" (as you put it - LOL) . . . on the way from the forest behind us to the old apple grove in front of us. (Doesn't bother us at all - but the gentleman down the road gets furious about it, ) He put a bunch of motion sensing sprinklers in his back land . . . Just an option or a thought for you.

HB

 

[Dennis Olson]

I ran 5’ field fence on t-posts. Kept my dogs in just fine. The deer (dear? lol) would come up to the other side and play with the dogs, running back and forth along the fence line, with the dogs “chasing” them on the other. Looked like they were all having great fun actually.

 

[Murt]

I fenced 3 acres with 8' woven wire ---haven't had a deer in it in three years
the fawns do like to bed right against it in the spring

 

[bluelady]

Yeah, height is real important. For a 4' chain link fence, they don't need running speed. They just mosey up to it and jump it like it's no effort at all. Even from a dead stop.

Cows can even do that. We were at a friend's house, there was a cow in the squeeze chute but they didn't get it tight enough, fast enough. That thing went straight up & out, with NO space whatever on any side of it to get up to speed, & took off running only feet away from us! Don't know how high the chute was, but at least four feet, I'm sure.

 

[Millwright]

Figure about $400 per 100yds of 4' woven field fence, tposts, end posts (should really be an H-frame but you ain't keeping cows in), concrete, etc.

Cheeper material at tractor supply.

I'm playing that game right now, but doing barbed wire.

I've run the dozer through the worst 100 yds, down a hill, teeing to an existing fence. Managed to not quite wind it up in the post hole auger.

 

[WalknTrot]

Concentrate on fencing the dogs in, not fencing the deer out.

Heavy snow country, you will need a high fence just for the dogs (they walk on top of the snowdrifts and out the fence). My dog walked over 5 foot fencing last winter - the snow was that deep in places. Banana belt living? No worries that way.

 

[Profit of Doom]

So, your situation is a "deerway" across the back of the property. That can be fenced, but what happens and the ends the sides of your property)? What happens to the "deerway" on adjacent property? No point in building a fence if the deer can just walk around the ends of it.

Might mention that to our southern border.

 

[Dozdoats]

Surveyor tape strips on the wire... or fence flags - https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=2e87c5a6-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5

 

[Raggedyman]

4' field fence.

Keep the dog in, not the deer out.

They won't jump into an area with a dog...not more than once or twice

THIS​

if you're not worried about the deer doing damage to your plantings and garden - but just keeping your dog in the yard to prevent it from being hurt an even cheaper solution is an underground electric dog fence.

 

[Ractivist]

I had fenced in a ninety by ninety garden. Four by fours every eight feet, wire up to four feet. I then took bailing twine every foot up to eight feet. Ran it thru u nails. Worked great for two years, then they learned how to jump thru the strands. It was over with. I'd keep the dogs in, not the deer out.

I was by the pool this week, sipping on an adult beverage, and talking to a friend on the phone. To my right, between the pool and the batting cage goes to fawns, not sixteen yards away. Spots and all. No mama to be seen. Love the deer, wild, or on the table.

 

[Macgyver]

THIS​

if you're not worried about the deer doing damage to your plantings and garden - but just keeping your dog in the yard to prevent it from being hurt an even cheaper solution is an underground electric dog fence.

My veggie garden is already fenced, 4' chicken wire then 2 strands of wire up to about 6'. Never had a dear in there.

 

[momma_soapmaker]

My veggie garden is already fenced, 4' chicken wire then 2 strands of wire up to about 6'. Never had a dear in there.

Dear me.

Or would that be deer me?

 

[Jackpine Savage]

This is our garden/orchard fence. It's 5 strands of hi-tensile wire and 2 strands of 1" poly tape. The highest tape is at 6'. It has done it's job and kept out deer, racoons, and bunny rabbits for about 20 years. And we do have full size deer here in MN I have replaced the tape a couple times. I have it hooked up to a pretty good sized high impedance charger. I laugh when I hear a racoon touch it.

I like hi-tensile wire. It's nice to work with as compared to barb wire. You don't need as many posts. The fence here has 4x4 posts every 50'. I think it lasts longer. I've repaired a lot of broken barb wire.

The downside to hi-tensile is that it needs electricity, otherwise animals will just crawl right through it.

 

[Old Gray Mare]

Found out the hard way an electric fence strung a few inches off the ground wouldn't stop rabbits, ground hogs or racoons. Fur evidently acts as an insulator from the shock? I was told to protect my hives from bears electrified barbed wire was the best bet. The barbs are supposed to claw threw the fur and deliver the shock to the animal's skin. YMMV

 

[greysage]

Tell your dear wife that dogs can smell fear, stand her ground, if she runs they will chase!
Other than that, hire someone with forestry mulcher on a tracked loader to clear a fence line. Then go from there.

 

[Dobbin]

Our back land is a "deer freeway" (as you put it - LOL) . . . on the way from the forest behind us to the old apple grove in front of us.

Owner has his "Dog patch" which stretches the distance between the house and his garden. 4' high board picket fence. The garden a bit lower at 3' and done 1" chicken wire on frames.

His small dog can "jump" the 3' fence and was seen frequently "nibbling" in the garden if not outright roaming free after jumping twice. (The garden is on the perimeter of Dog Patch.) So Owner "extended" the garden fence another two feet to discourage his "jumper."

Problem is, the two fenced areas and the house constrain what would normally be Owner's "Deer Freeway" to his front drive, the extension to the barn, and parts beyond.

I have literally been in my stall and seen a deer come in the barn front door, sidle along down the center aisle, and exit by the rear. Owner's "open door" policy?

So in fall and when in the woods beyond my field the deer have "yarded up" the deer literally walk down his entrance road to the loop in front of the house/barn. Owner tries to keep the barn doors shut which routes the deer path across the front of his house to the other side.

He has almost no plantings across the front of the house.

Building his "man cave" (Connector wing between the house and barn) didn't help as it made the deer path longer.

It's interesting to listen to comments from those who partake of Owner's "Honor Cart."

"Are these your pet deer?" (They encounter on the road.)

Dobbin

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Found out the hard way an electric fence strung a few inches off the ground wouldn't stop rabbits, ground hogs or racoons. Fur evidently acts as an insulator from the shock? I was told to protect my hives from bears electrified barbed wire was the best bet. The barbs are supposed to claw threw the fur and deliver the shock to the animal's skin. YMMV

It has worked for us. What kind of fence charger were you using? Many of the fence chargers you see in the farms stores are junk. You want a low impedance charger. Oversize it. We have Gallagher that is almost 30 years old, similar to this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CP8K97R

Tips for electric fence are to make sure the fence charger is well grounded. Keep vegetation off the fence. If you live in a very dry area and there just isn't enough moisture in the ground to conduct electricity you can alternate hot and ground wires on the fence.

Most animals check out the fence with their nose first. I have heard of smearing peanut butter on the poly tape or strip of aluminum foil wrapped around the wire for bears.

 

[moza]

Deer have poor depth perception. In your situation maybe a 3D fence would work.

Installing 3D Electric Fence for Deer
Runtime: 6 minutes

View: https://youtu.be/Yn_pDQBfh-U

 

[Old Gray Mare]

It has worked for us. What kind of fence charger were you using?

It was so long ago I don't remember the brand.

Right now my garden problems are dehydration, keeping ahead of over productive garden plants, huge invasive snails, mosquitoes and feral cats. I keep a respectful look out for the occasional centipede. So far they haven't been an issue.

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Sorry OP if this is getting astray. Another electric fence lesson I learned is about wire spacing. When training calves we found that, if they could stick their head between the wires without getting zapped, and then get zapped on the back of the head or neck, they would bolt right through the fence. We made sure when training calves to have a paddock set up with tight wire spacing. I would guess this applies to other animals as well. In my picture notice the bottom wires are only a couple inches apart.

 

[CaryC]

4' field fence.

Keep the dog in, not the deer out.

They won't jump into an area with a dog...not more than once or twice

Quoted you Millwright because you are dead on.

Without a dog, deer would come in and lay down in the front yard. With a dog behind a fence, and loves to pee on every post, no deer inside, but they travel along the fence during the night, and sometimes during the day.

No sure what you mean by "field fence". Over here in MS that might mean hog wire, or something.

Too much land to use chain link, unless you're rich.

So what we did, and my son followed suit:

We used what is called 2 X 4 welded wire. 4 foot high wire, which is welded in 2 inch by 4 inch rectangles, and most rolls run 100 feet. You can get them at TSC along with T-posts.

We just put up a fence in an area around my son's place that is similar to what you have. You only need to clear enough room to walk the fence through. You can do that by hand, or hire a mulching machine to drive through there.

You will need to drive T-posts every 8 feet.

And at the beginning and end of every 100 feet you will need to put 2 - 4 x4's by 6 or 8 feet depending on whether you want to run a strand of barbed wire on top, with a 4 foot cross piece, brace in concrete. These will act as anchors for you to pull the wire tight.

Nail with staples the fence to one 4 X 4, then pull at the other end with a comealong or wench on the front of a 4 wheeler to tighten. Once it is pulled tight staple the other 4 X 4. and start putting the ties in place (3 to a post at minimum)

Use wire ties to hold a spare T-pole to fence to use as an anchor to pull the entire 100 feet of fence. If you just pull against the fence it will give and deform. When you get ready for the next 100 feet of fence, over lap on the 4 X 4's. with the next run.

You may have to go back and put fencing or blocks or something in low places where there is a gap.

And I might add go ahead and spend the money for a "Fencing Tool" it will save you a lot of cuss words, and makes cutting fence and pulling staples much easier.

As a side note:

The above will keep most dogs in, depending on the dog. Some dogs are diggers, and some are climbers, and there is nothing you can do to stop them.

Hope that helps.

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Quoted you Millwright because you are dead on.

Without a dog, deer would come in and lay down in the front yard. With a dog behind a fence, and loves to pee on every post, no deer inside, but they travel along the fence during the night, and sometimes during the day.

No sure what you mean by "field fence". Over here in MS that might mean hog wire, or something.

Too much land to use chain link, unless you're rich.

So what we did, and my son followed suit:

We used what is called 2 X 4 welded wire. 4 foot high wire, which is welded in 2 inch by 4 inch rectangles, and most rolls run 100 feet. You can get them at TSC along with T-posts.

We just put up a fence in an area around my son's place that is similar to what you have. You only need to clear enough room to walk the fence through. You can do that by hand, or hire a mulching machine to drive through there.

You will need to drive T-posts every 8 feet.

And at the beginning and end of every 100 feet you will need to put 2 - 4 x4's by 6 or 8 feet depending on whether you want to run a strand of barbed wire on top, with a 4 foot cross piece, brace in concrete. These will act as anchors for you to pull the wire tight.

Nail with staples the fence to one 4 X 4, then pull at the other end with a comealong or wench on the front of a 4 wheeler to tighten. Once it is pulled tight staple the other 4 X 4. and start putting the ties in place (3 to a post at minimum)

Use wire ties to hold a spare T-pole to fence to use as an anchor to pull the entire 100 feet of fence. If you just pull against the fence it will give and deform. When you get ready for the next 100 feet of fence, over lap on the 4 X 4's. with the next run.

You may have to go back and put fencing or blocks or something in low places where there is a gap.

And I might add go ahead and spend the money for a "Fencing Tool" it will save you a lot of cuss words, and makes cutting fence and pulling staples much easier.

As a side note:

The above will keep most dogs in, depending on the dog. Some dogs are diggers, and some are climbers, and there is nothing you can do to stop them.

Hope that helps.

That is very similar to the fence we have for our backyard except I was a little cheaper. It's about 200' by 300'. We have about 12' between the t-posts, or 4 paces, ha. I've used angle braces rather than h braces for 30 years and haven't had a problem with one. I didn't put in any additional braces between the corners. It's been up for 20 years and stood up to goats, ha.

Floating Brace Assembly

Building a Floating Brace Assembly Step by Step Building a Floating Brace By: Jim Gerrish American Grazing lands Services LLC May.

powerflexfence.com

It doesn't keep out racoons. We have a big basswood tree in the fenced in yard that has a hole about 30' in air. For the last 20 years a momma racoon has had a litter? in that cavity. That's with 2-7 big dogs in the yard during the day. I've wondered how many generations of racoons have used that tree. Twice over the years I've seen her lead the little ones up the angle brace and out of the yard.

 

[CaryC]

That is very similar to the fence we have for our backyard except I was a little cheaper. It's about 200' by 300'. We have about 12' between the t-posts, or 4 paces, ha. I've used angle braces rather than h braces for 30 years and haven't had a problem with one. I didn't put in any additional braces between the corners. It's been up for 20 years and stood up to goats, ha.

Floating Brace Assembly

Building a Floating Brace Assembly Step by Step Building a Floating Brace By: Jim Gerrish American Grazing lands Services LLC May.

powerflexfence.com

It doesn't keep out racoons. We have a big basswood tree in the fenced in yard that has a hole about 30' in air. For the last 20 years a momma racoon has had a litter? in that cavity. That's with 2-7 big dogs in the yard during the day. I've wondered how many generations of racoonsView attachment 428789 have used that tree. Twice over the years I've seen her lead the little ones up the angle brace and out of the yard.

I'm sure that works just fine, but having that distance between posts, makes for weak spots, meaning they can push under. Just saying.

And can be used to cut the cost. I'm sure that some of the .....design is also a personal preference. So no harm, no foul.

But you are also right that any climbing animal, not just a 'coon, can get over the fence. Squirrels, and 'possums don't have a problem. And that includes digging dogs, or climbing dogs. And rabbits don't have a problem digging under either. Even with posts at 8 feet, my fence has been places along the top, where mostly coons have come over, and bent the fence, during the night. Armadillo's will dig out a weak spot, or small hole.

So as in the great west, riding fence, so too one should do a walk around every once in a while. I'm retired, and take my dog for walks around the place, for my exercise too, and do a check several times a week.

BTW for enclosed hunting areas in MS, lots of bucks to play, the fence is 12 feet. They pay big dollars to import the sperm from large Buck Whitetails, and they don't want that getting out in the wild.

 

[Knoxville's Joker]

A shishi odoshi (japanese deer chaser) is another option. But clear along the fence lines and put in some tall posts and run some wire.