I've had some luck with
leucothe
illicium
kalmia
mahonia
redtwig dogwood
spireia
calycanthus
buddleia
cotoneaster
edgeworthia
but if hungry enough they will eat it all.

look at: http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/default.asp

this study was done in our area, central new jersey, but deer could be more or less desperate where you are. i generally stick to the "rarely severely damaged" (translation: they never touch it) to "seldom severely damaged" (translation: they will nibble at it occasionally but not badly).

we have forsythia everywhere in our neighborhood and we have lots of deer (one every day in my yard). the forsythia seem to bloom just fine. so do the buddleias. i've never seen my local mother and 3 bambis eating either in summer.

as for red-twigged dogwood, i've heard the same as you, brumeta, but never planted one nor noticed any in our area... p.s., other flowering shrub considerations are magnolia, bottlebrush buckeye, rose of sharon, weigelas, and lilacs

We need a privacy hedge or shrub about 8 feet long. Live near wind/water/deer.

Any suggestions?'

Near a patio.

Just lost all of our trees in snowstorms

In Central Jersey deer DO EAT Forsythias and eat them all year long! I am aggravated reading online about the false hope that this plant is deer resistant or deer do not prefer them. There are loads of stuff to eat where I live (next to a corn field) and the deer even snack on the Forsythia leaves during the summer. In the fall, the bucks will DESTROY the woody part of the bush. I have given up hope figuring out what these creatures will not bother. I do know they will NOT eat mint of any kind and Lemon Balm (smells like Pledge) does are good job keeping them away.

I live in Virginia, a state that is abundantly beautiful with a huge assortment of plants. I’m in a rural area, surrounded by tons of trees and foliage. I have forsythia in my front yard. I hate to watch the deer nibble on them every day, when they have a buffet all around them. No this plant is not deer resistant.