FWIW, (don't laugh) , I've planted Marigolds around my veggie garden for years. Learned this trick from an old timer. Deer and rabbits won't come near it. They'll eat the crops right up next to it though. Something about the smell of the flowers. :-)

I replanted about 80% of mine about a decade ago. Yes it cost about an extra $70 for seeds and plants but got lot of plants wholesale as the places were closing down. Some varieties of veggies I could not get, but late May still leaves one with a lot of growing season and I learned some things about planting and having crops growing well in September also. I am always a gun jumper and some things just need some more heat. Soil temps are high in late May and germination is quick. I have rabbits and I fence for those. Deer are not an issue for us. Coons can get hard on the sweet corn.

We are very dry here. About .4 inches the last 3-4 weeks. Lawn looks like mid July right now.

Bryce

Growing up in the south with high deer populations we tried every trick under sun. Human hair clippings, Irish spring soap, marigolds, plastic bags fluttering in the wind, fences (just not 10 ft high fences). Even electric fences. Eventually the deer get hungry enough. The electric fence goes out for just a bit. It only takes a night or two and it's all gone. When I finally move back out to the country on some land I'm going to build a 10 ft fence with rabbit wire at the bottom. I know it'll be expensive and annoying to build. I'd rather suffer the pain of building it the first year than worry every year about the deer.

I can remember one summer when I was in highschool my dad could see deer in the garden at night under a full moon. He stepped out on the back porch and fired a 20 gauge with birdshot up in the air and they ran off. In the morning I went out to feed the horse and chickens and a doe was laying dead about 20 feet from the garden in the horse pasture. She didn't have a mark on her. We could only speculate it was a heart attack or maybe she bounced off a fence post as she jumped into the horse pasture and broke her neck.

Deer will not walk on black plastic. I use it in my garden to hold down the weeds and hold in the moisture, deer will not jump my 4 foot fence as they would have to land on the black plastic. Also deer will not jump over the black plastic silt fences even though they are only 2 feet tall.

Sorry to hear Hobbie. They are really a problem in our area. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy hunting them and seeing them around. But trying to grow 900 acres of corn and soybeans is tough! We get crop damage permits, mostly shoot just to scare but some go in the freezer and given to those who want some. We’ve tried a lot of deterrents , most are expensive and need reapplying. I’ve resorted to taking a ride every evening I can, it’s became a job in itself! They’re out there right now, chomping away , one bite at a time. I gotta go

I put a 6’ fence up around my yard and its been great. No dog. I hear a lot of these mythical deer clearing 6 and 8 foot fences. Its bogus. If you dont have a fence its called a food plot. Nothing else will really work. Nothing. Indid have luck with the fishing line trick for a few weeks

Our garden at home has the rabbits, which I can easily deal with. At our son's place 6 miles away we have the larger garden and we built our outdoor dog run which is about 40 by 160 feet, that runs about 30 feet from the garden. With the two dogs in their most of the time we have never had deer and no coons either. There are 2 10 acre woodlots not far away. When our sheep get out then there can be an ISSUE for a bit.
We don't have the sheep getting out anymore after we took the 3 goats out and put them in a secure enclosure. Goats are hard to keep inside, and they soon find every easy spot,.

Bryce

Ok
The Right fences work

I've built them

We use black plastic in our garden too.

LOL, I HAVE a 6' fence.
They go over it. I've seen it.

Maybe you just got midget deer?

It was probably two decades ago and I was in the Pacific Northwest and saw all of their orchards fenced in. I grew up in orchard country here but had never seen anything like that before. In the last decade most of the orchard country around here has now been fenced

It keeps them out——at first. Not only can they clear a 6 or 8’ fence but they can go over 10 footers too

Maybe yours are lighter in the loafers.

Have replanted and so far so good. Squash and beans are up from seed and the broccoli and brussel sprouts were transplants.

On a positive note the potatoes that went unscathed are flowering.

No fence yet but I have implemented some of the less expensive suggestions.

Thank you all.

A rabbit worked over my beets, but he left me plenty. He musta got full.

Two gardners I know have gardens actually right in wooded areas quite a distance from their houses and yes wildlife can be an issue.They both are using what I call very low investment, low tech and low cost and upkeep methods. They change up their alert or alarm and o r scare devices about every 2-3 weeks so the animals don't get used to the soulds, the movement etc. etc. Wind chimes, aluminum pie plates, flagging, temporary chicken fencing etc. etc. They are actually doing quite well. Another time one person instead of a full electric fence which once through they eat. Put 4-5 small wire cages and electrofied them. When the animals actually got zapped trying to eat it seemed to work a lot better at far less cost and upkeep.
I plant my small plots of sweet corn as close to the dog run as I can and that is working well.
Bryce

We have good luck with electric fence around the outside of garden about waist high, use a small hard to see wire that they will walk into in the dark and get a zap. First couple mornings you will have fence to fix as they bolt through it when zapped. It’s also not hard to run a couple random strands thru middle of garden.

I’ve seen guys protect newly planted apple orchards that were fairly large with this method.

If you really hate them just smear a little peanut butter on the wire.