Well share. Don't keep it to yourself.
Okay.
Most of the ones I have used work very well, and if you follow the directions should be effective for up to 2 months. Some products claim longer (6 months under ideal conditions) and I used to get away with going 10 to 12 weeks with one product, even under medium heavy deer pressure, in town where the deer rule the neighborhood.
I would try to avoid using the same thing as your neighbors, if they are also trying to deter deer. The deer get habituated to a product or a smell (if homemade, the same rule apply's) and then just eat everything anyway, especially the babies, and especially right about now in late summer/fall. If you go to the hardware store and look on the shelf it will give you a good idea of what's popular. I have several jobs near a golf course, and I try to find out what they are using each year so I can be different. Although I have to tell you, when the deer population reaches critical mass, as in Dalton Gardens, Hayden, and Hayden Lake (oh, and CDA, parts of Post Falls and Rathdrum...
) nothing much is going to repel them short of electricity or sturdy physical barriers.
Also stinky doesn't necessarily equal effective. I had a client that bought some locally created moose/deer repellent from the farmers market and had me spray weekly. I don't know what the secret ingredient was, but it smelled like dog poo.
Just really really awful to use on a breezy day.
So here is what I've been using:
Plantskydd - it's a blood based repellent and has been one of my best performers, typically lasts 10 weeks, even in irrigated beds.
Deer Stopper - mint based, working pretty good most of the time.
Deer Out - another mint based repellent.
Those are my top three.
The rest:
Bobbex- blood base, actually this one seemed to do well, I only used a quart of the ready to use. I was out of my standbys and ran to the store to pick up something for
right now!
Repels All - probably egg based, worked ok.
A lot more I can't recall, but obviously didn't make enough of an impression on me to continue.
You'll notice that Liquid Fence isn't on my list. I'm sure it's a good product, but has been so overused in this area that you practically have to spray daily so isn't cost effective.
Another caveat,
I don't know what the deer are like in the places you need to use a repellent
@LocoYokel , but they work best if the deer (or rabbits ) haven't already opened a smorgasboard on your property. Once they've tasted they are much harder to convince that they don't like what you're offering. I have had a miserable two years trying everything to keep the filthy deer from consuming whole properties. And I'm talking about almost exclusive "deer resistant" plantings.
What finally worked was a hot wire around a clients cutting garden, which was of course the juiciest and best plants and a total deer magnet. I
love hot wire.
I'm not trying to discourage you at all from trying homemade recipes and if one works for you I'll be the first to get in line. So good luck and please keep us informed of your results.
