I have to cage mine. I use 3 ft chicken wire, 1/2 pipe, and zip ties. It is the only thing I have found to keep the deer from browsing my trees.

 

I once put 400 white 5 gallon pails with 5 or 6 1/4 holes over white pines for 3 winters now they are 20' so it worked just took a little time, the last year I even bent the trees over some and it had no ill effects.

 

I have to cage mine to.

 

Last Spring I planted 50 Norway Spruces to act as a screen and windbreak. Everything I have read on the spruces is that they are not a preferred food of whitetails; however, perhaps the weather this winter has led to desperate times for the deer in my area.

Correct, Spruces are very low on the deer preference list. It is a sign, a clue, a wake up call, trying to tell you something. I have had bucks rub off 4' spruces and turn them into bushes.

With this said, has anyone else had this problem with their Norway Spruces? If so, what products or methods have you used that were effective in preventing damage to your trees? Your input is appreciated.

• Lower the deer population to the carrying capactiy of the land.
• You could improve the native habitat by planting primary and secondary browse species(bushes, shrubs), but these too would have to be protected for several years to become established.
• Plant winter foodplots to take pressure off the low preference browse ... turnips, brassicas, corn.

 

What sagittarius said.

If deer are eating your Norway Spruce, you have too many deer. They are WAY down the preference list. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was blessed with relatively low deer densities at my place back when I was planting conifers. I planted over 5000 white pines between 1997 and 1999, and don't think I lost a one to deer damage, and white pine is supposedly more desireable than NWS. Probably planted 4000 Norways, and never even saw evidence that deer took a nip off of them.

You may want to try White Spruce; a little slower growing, but they are even skankier from a palatability standpoint than Norways.

It may also help to plant transplants (2-1, 2-2, 3-1) as opposed to seedlings (2-0, 3-0). Transplants are not only hardier, they are also better able to withstand a nip or two and survive. You'll pay more for the nursery stock but make it through lower mortality.

 

Farmlegend, funny you should mention the White Spruces. I planted 25 or so of them in the Spring alongside the Norways and they have not been touched.

As far as the trees I planted, I planted the 2-2 transplants. They have secondary buds just below the leader buds which were nipped. I am hoping new leader shoots will emerge and will remain relatively straight.

I purchased these trees from the conservation district and was real impressed with the quality. The roots were at least 36" long on the Norways. Other than the pruning, I have not lost any.

Regarding the deer density, yes, you could say we have a huge problem. We planted 4.5 acres of beans this past year and had to write it off. The field was mowed like my front lawn. Unfortunately our land is less than 40 acres, so we are a small piece of the local puzzle. Most of our neighbors have been great and most are getting on board to thin the does and let the little guys walk. This past Fall we, along with many of our neighbors took at least 25 deer. We still have a ways to go though.

I have also heard that stapling a piece of paper over the leader shoot can prevent nipping. Has anyone tried this?

 

I also read somewhere about stapling a piece of folded paper to the leader bud. Apparently this stops the nipping and then mother nature deteriotes the paper so you have no follow up work in the spring.

I haven't had to try it myself since (knock on wood) the deer haven't been eating my trees.

 

a place i hunt up north has about 50,00 to 55,000 on his farm and they are getting absolutely destroyed, he is very upset about it, good luck

let us know if you find something that works

 

The deer, in most areas, are already in desperation mode around here, people are finding remains of fawns already, and if you have shrubbery, the deer have already devoured it.

But I've never seen any deer damage to any of the white or Norway spruces up here, and both are VERY commonly planted species.

Are you SURE it's not bunnies doing this? We have very few bunnies around here...

 

i know that right after the new year my buddies fields of norways were getting hammered, he has quite a big range from 1 to 11-12 footers

 

Today I folded and stapled paper sleeves over the lead shoots that had not been nipped. I will keep you informed on whether or not the idea works.

Long-term, I will look to add some winter forage species as suggested earlier. This forum has been tremendously helpful...thank you all.

 

The deer, in most areas, are already in desperation mode around here, people are finding remains of fawns already, and if you have shrubbery, the deer have already devoured it.

But I've never seen any deer damage to any of the white or Norway spruces up here, and both are VERY commonly planted species.

Are you SURE it's not bunnies doing this? We have very few bunnies around here...

I have property near Baldwin and have planted quite a few Norway Spruce in the 2-3ft range. the first year, they weren't caged and the deer destroyed them from the tops down.. Now they are all caged and all is well.

I also planted a some white spruce the first year and they werent' caged, and a couple are still not. They are about the only thing that i plant up there that don't seemed to be browsed by the deer. Guess what I am planting this year....more white spruce.

scott

 

Too many deer..
This winter has been very hard so far. You may not get as much browsing next year. I stapled folded paper over the top leader bud in white pine. I made sure bud was down inside folded paper. Make sure the staples go through needles, to keep the sleeve from blowing off. Paper worked good, then it rots off next spring.

 

The first winter I planted about 300 Norway Spruce seedlings, the deer nipped off the leader bud on most of them. They were just above the snow level, the deer came along and "tasted" them - most tips were found laying on top of the snow. You would think that after trying a few they would leave them alone, but a little green poking out of the snow was too inviting. Most of the trees lived, but their growth was stunted for years.

 

Yup, same here southern Newaygo Co. last winter had all 400 of my Norways nipped off and the bits left laying there. I don't have the resources to cage that many trees, so I put down Milorganite in early November. So far so good, no browsing on my cedars, white pine or Norways.

 

I am having the same problem.

I was talking to our local unoffical "tree expert", and he is under the impression that the browse my actually stimulate a more vigorous growth in spring. I have seen his norways, and they look prety good depsite being planted and forgotten about a number years ago.

 

he is under the impression that the browse my actually stimulate a more vigorous growth in spring. I have seen his norways, and they look prety good depsite being planted and forgotten about a number years ago.

I can testify to exactly the opposite, just my experience. I lost many of those browsed Norways, and those that did survive have been set back noticably. The trees I planted this past Spring fared far better than those I'd planted the year before.

 

Yup, same here southern Newaygo Co. last winter had all 400 of my Norways nipped off and the bits left laying there. I don't have the resources to cage that many trees, so I put down Milorganite in early November. So far so good, no browsing on my cedars, white pine or Norways.

Gwiki,

How much Milorgranite did you apply to each tree? Maybe I will give that a chance, I have heard about putting it on food plots, but figured with the snow, it wouldn't work for the trees during the winter.

Thanks,

Scott

 

Milorganite has worked well for me. I used to put 1/2 a cup around my silky dogwood in early spring. This would keep the deer from browsing the new leaves. I also had good luck with Deer-Off. It would keep deer off for several months and could handle rain fall. It is expensive. You can make your own deer repellant. Put two eggs in a gallon of water, let set in a warm area for a few days. Spray trees, on a day your nozzle will not freeze up. Re-apply after a rain. Eggs are the main ingredient in most deer repellants.

 

Milorganite has worked well for me. I used to put 1/2 a cup around my silky dogwood in early spring. This would keep the deer from browsing the new leaves. I also had good luck with Deer-Off. It would keep deer off for several months and could handle rain fall. It is expensive. You can make your own deer repellant. Put two eggs in a gallon of water, let set in a warm area for a few days. Spray trees, on a day your nozzle will not freeze up. Re-apply after a rain. Eggs are the main ingredient in most deer repellants.

If you throw in a little "Screaming Habanero Hot Sauce" type stuff that won't hurt either.

 

I have had the same problem with Norways & White Pine. The deer browse them every winter. I have caged some which is working, however, I cannot possibly cage every tree so I selectively picked certain trees. Another tactics is hanging soap on the trees. I collect "hotel" soap from my many travels. I drill through soap and attached to the tree with a zip tie. I'm assuming this is working as the deer don't appear to be browsing these trees.
I have not tried the paper method. As for the winter carry-over crops, I still have 8ac in corn and 1ac in brassicas. The deer are in these fields daily, so I don't understand why they continue to browse the Norways & white pines.

 

sjhawkeye I put down about a cup per tree. I'm cautiously optimistic as none of my evergreens have been touched yet. Hopefully if we get a thaw in the next month, I'll most likely be out there reapplying.

 

Kletus, having foodplots still available through the winter is not good if your trying to establish trees and shrubs. I learned the hard way years ago. Deer are browsers and will keep on browsing the trees regardless of how many crops are available to them. Your corn is probably attracting large quantities of deer...

 

Kletus, having foodplots still available through the winter is not good if your trying to establish trees and shrubs. I learned the hard way years ago. Deer are browsers and will keep on browsing the trees regardless of how many crops are available to them. Your corn is probably attracting large quantities of deer...

BINGO! Great advice Scott!! Never thought of that until you taught me that.

KK - you are onto the right path with the soap. I have used it for four years now and it works great. I don't take the time to drill through it though. I also leave the wrapper on the soap and only tear open the end I hang down near the ground (hotel soap bars) and attach them onto the trees with clothespins. Is super easy, fast, and works excellent.

You can protect a lot of trees with little work with this method and you don't need to do any prep work. Attach the bar in the package to a branch with the clothes pin, and then tear open the edge that is hanging toward the ground. The water will not wash it away as the wrapper protects it and it will last for a couple of years.

You can buy 100 clothes pins at the dollar store for a couple of bucks, and if you travel a lot like I do, the soap bars are free! Most fruit exchanges or fruit tree dealers sell the soap bars as well.

 

Thanks Koz. I will try the clothspin method. I too leave the wrapper on the soap so it will last as long as possible. So far, the soap appears to be working.

Bishs, my intention was not to leave the corn up. Unfortunatly, my property is a low at the main access point. Due to the wet fall, I couldn't get the tractor and picker into the field without getting stuck. My goal was to pick once the ground froze up. Now, it's just too damn cold and the snow is too deep. You are right on, I'm attracting everything in the county. One positive is I did find a nice matching pair of sheds last weekend on the edge of the corn in my brassicas field.

I have to figure out a way to harvest the corn next year.