I heard from my acquaintance in Virginia. Here is his answer:
Quote:
Our deer fence is from the Benner Fence Company and is the heavy mesh... It is 7 1/2 feet tall and kinda blends in with what is behind it... Obviously, if you are looking down a long row of it it is more visable but if yoou are looking directly at it it tends to go away... You do see the poles, however... If your friend already has a 5 foot fence then he can use his existing poles with some 36 inch "T-stakes" (cheap) to hold the deer fence... What else??? Oh yeah... Seeing as it is hard to see the deer need to be "trained" to know where it is so we tie suveyors tape about every 5 feet which flutters and that allows the dummies to see it... BTW, so far the deer fence is 100% effective for the 6 acres we have fenced in... Gates are a little tricky but I've learned a few tricks there I'd be more than happy to share with your friends...
In his instance, he has about 30 acres that are adjacent to National Forest property in the Luray area of Virginia. Lots and lots of deer. He and his wife do a lot of landscaping work at their home and for a local nursery, so he really needs to keep the deer out. The six acres includes his large vegetable garden. He reported his progress as he put it up, it took a little while, but I remember his glee in reporting seeing deer bounce off of the fence, not sure what they'd run into.