I despise Bambi - just a rat on long legs, as far as I'm concerned. Colorado is a 'picky' state too - I have to take hunter safety this summer, and tags here are outrageous, but if I can get my act together, I plan to spend rifle season sitting on top of my barn roof, eating an apple and waiting.

We have used that Liquid Fence stuff, but you have to re-apply every time it rains...plus they still do some damage. They've rutted several trees completely out, and they eat a lot of leafy tips, so all our pruning is messed up now. They go around in the fall biting multiple apples too, which just makes me want to post venison recipes on all the trees.

I've read that putting fencing ON the ground around the trees makes them trip/stumble, but again, expense - and I don't want to move it to mow. Not that it's rained here this year, but still. I figure I'd need cattle panels or something similarly heavy (it's windy here) and for that kind of money, I can buy a lot of fruit.

We've also tried this weird thing we heard about - get some 50lb. test fishing line and string it 2-3 levels all around your trees. Supposedly when they walk into it and don't see anything, it makes them nervous/makes them freak out. It did seem to keep them out to a point, but it certainly wasn't 100%. But it costs 2.50 a roll at Walmart - a lot less than high tensile fencing.

I have a few likely stupid redneck ideas I want to try too - like using cable ties to attach pvc (8' lengths) alongside t-posts (the previous owner of this place left a lot of t-posts, so that wouldn't cost anything). I might try the 50lb test strung pretty regularly along the t-posts, and then intermittently up above, with those little marker flags (you can buy this thin plastic, about an inch wide at home depot that can be cut/torn in pieces about a foot long) and tied here and there on the upper bits of fishing line, hopefully to give them the idea that something is there and they should stay away.

Why are you laughing?