hilltopper
5 year old buck +
I live in an area that has had high deer densities since the late 60's. Alder and Ilex (winter berry) are virtually the sole surviving shrub species on my farm. The odd grey and red osier dogwoods survive here and there. I want to start planting native shrubs (dogwoods, ninebark, highbush cranberry, service berry and similar) but I think better to plant 25 that are well protected from browsing than 500 that aren't. I've found a fair amount of discussion on tubes, cages etc but mostly with regard to trees. What is the best method for protecting shrubs from high browsing pressure? And yes, we shoot does. I've even considered exclusionary fences of say 10X20 yards with a variety of shrubs in each one but that would be unsightly and expensive.