Protecting 80 acres would be expensive. Have you contacted the county cooperative service. If not, do so as they would have info pertinent to your area.

If you tried fencing and it didn't work then you didn't do it right and that is why you still have a problem. Effective deer fencing is the only reliable method. Construct a corral for the kinds of plants that they go for and grow them within that. Plants they aren't particularly interested in most of the time can be grown in other parts of the garden.

I Must Garden makes a deer repellant, but you must be diligent about applying and repellant -- every 2 inches of new growth on the vegetation.

An 8 foot fence is the other option.

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: I Must Garden repellants

I have had really good luck with this Kopy Kat liquid fence recipe. Once in a while I will sprinkle some blood meal to keep the deer guessing. It even keeps the deer out of my corn. I have been using this for the last 4 years. The deer will look, but they don't come near enough to eat. Just sprinkle it all around the perimeter of your garden. I re-sprinkle about once a month. If you live where it rains a lot, you may have to use it more often.

Copy Kat Deer and Rabbit Repellent

There is a version of "Liquid Fence" on the market. I found this works just as well, just you have to use it more quickly due to it not having the preservatives in it. It smells bad when you apply it--this is your warning!! You will need 5 one gallon containers to mix this up. Fast and easy.

4 to 6 eggs
1 lg head of garlic, chopped
5 gallons of water
Any hot pepper you may have in the house

Put eggs, garlic and pepper in a blender with some water and blend until well mixed. Empty mixture in one of the gallon containers. Fill the container with water and mix well. Distribute the mixture into the other 4 containers until all 5 containers are equal.

Fill all 5 containers with water and set in the sun for 3 days to "ripen".

Sprinkle around the perimeter of the area you want to protect. You can also strain some mixture and put it into a spray bottle to spray on plants that might need extra treatment. Retreat every month or after a hard rain.

I have also mixed in onions. I donÂt know if it helped or not. I think the eggs and garlic is enough.

From what I have read, it helps to change the recipe every once in a while, so the deer donÂt get used to it. You can add milk, dish soap or salad oil in to help it work better.

I live in Wisconsin too and love to hunt deer. Maybe we can help each other out! :)

I have six fenced acres but not fenced to keep deer out. My fence will keep sheep, goats, horses, etc. in but deer can jump over it. So, I have dogs. The dogs keep the deer out. But then, I like dogs so this may not be a solution for you but it works for me.

I hope no one gives me any grief for this but.....
I use moth balls in my garden and FINALLY have the beautiful blooms on my stella de oro daylilys which were supposed to be deer resistant. I just take a few moth balls and place them hidden under the foliage. They are cheap, easy to purchase and last awhile. My neighbor gave me the idea when I saw that the deer stopped eating his row of Leland Cypress when he scattered moth balls around them. I know moth balls have their opposition but my garden looks sooo beautiful now!

I have found that "Liquid Fence" not only keeps deer & rabbits away, but I noticed another very important thing: Plants I've sprayed with it don't get as attacked w/ Japanese Beetles as the others. So now I spray almost all of my flowers & fruit bearing plants (grape vines get really attacked).

BUT... you must spray after it rains... each & every time. Plus, you also have to keep spraying once a week when there are dry spells.

I had 5 deer nearly consume 3 of my large flower beds to the nubs & was about to give up until I found liquid fence @ the store.

If the same ones are coming around, they'll get the hint after a while & spraying won't have to be as consistant.

I am not sure from personal experience but I read on another thread that stringing up Irish Spring soap works like a charm. Several of the people wrote that they could not believe how effective it was.

How, exactly, are we talking about "stringing up" Irish Spring soap? Would it not be effective to lay it on the ground?

I have tried irish spring before, and it was no help.I recently mixed up a concoction similar to above and it seems to be doing the trick. Strong stuff tho, makes me cough.
Tammu

We also live in WI.
While we don't have 80 acres to protect...we have had as many as 14 deer in our back yard at one time. Our one acre lot is heavily wooded and we too have lots of deer. We also love to plant perinials. I was tired of the deer coming in and thinking of all of our hostas as their salad bar.
The liquid fence works but it's too high of maintenance.
I read in some magazine about mixing hot sauce (tobasco or your brand) with vegitable oil and spraying the leaves.
IT WORKS! Plus, the leaves have a nice shine due to the vegie oil. Use old windex bottles and pour in a bottle of hot sause...top off with vegie oil and spray away or mix up bigger batches and spray with your garden sprayer.

Good Luck.