deer damage

[corco2000]

Trees planted three years ago.deer are now hammering

them.taken bark off birch and alder. and eating tops

off hazels.

Should i replace those damaged? Will they survive if bark stripped.

Erecting high fence too expensive so have guys in to cull them.

Thankd

[shendy]

Where abouts are you? It it coppice or new trees? Have they got tree Guards?

[corco2000]

In south ireland.new plantation.no tree guards.they work

out very expensive.

[matelot]

How many trees are you talking about?

 

Is there any gorse etc nearby? You could cut the gorse and put it against your trees to keep the deer away.

[corco2000]

500-700 in this section. gorse nearby.be very time consuming but great idea thanks

[matelot]

I've been in the same boat. If you can hammer the deer for a few years the trees might grow big enough so they aren't susceptible to deer.

 

However for a guaranteed result shelters are the way to go. I know they are expensive but you can reuse them...

[corco2000]

matelot...forest nearby has hundreds of 'old' tree protectors may re-use them.

Yes I think try to get deer numbers down. young deer. very frustrating.

not sure to replace damaged ones or not. prob no point till i sort problem out.

have another plot of young oak mix havent got at that yet...if that happens then its war!!

[M Large Forestry Equipment]

What percentage of the crop does 500-700 represent? And is the birch, alder and hazel the main crop? If you originally put in 50,000 trees then that's not so bad! If the trees are a nursery or edging species and don't need to be perfect specimens, again the problem might not as serious as you think. Anything less than 15-20% failure and just replace them.

More than that and you need to actively do something. Control the deer numbers and put guards on the trees.

[TTS North]

We've had a few very mild winters and deer numbers are up everywhere. We've got a busy year of Roe culling planned in NE England and the Borders. That is always going to be a part of the solution at least.

 

It's not like rabbits where you can make a huge dent in the numbers then a couple of months later they've bred back to the original numbers. Stalking can get the numbers right down. Even with tree guards, once they split off, the tree is still small enough for a deer to kill by territory marking.

[rem284]

Depends on the site but if possible culling the deer would be the answer. We cull to try and get the damage levels less than 10%. On my beat all restocks are less than 10% and some 0%. I would plant a tree near the damaged one but a leave the damage one in the ground too and hope if the deer come back they will leave the new one and nibble the damaged one.