If deer do not browse pawpaws (which is what I have read but can't attest to personally) and given that pawpaw leaves do have that distinctive smell (which makes the claim more believable) you wonder if an extract from pawpaw leaves or bark could be used as an effective deer repellent if sprayed on other plants. Or, better yet, a cheaper synthesized version.

Deer will grow used to about anything like oder repellants, water sprinklers,flashing lights you name it. I control mine here but you may not be able to do it in our area with a 410Ga shotgun with target loads in it. At 30 ft that will not penatrate the tough hide on a deers rump. But it will certainly deliver a very strong long lasting memory. If you can manage to catch them out in the dark. the combination of the roar of the shotgun the muzzel flash and the sting of the shot is just about enough to keep them away from the area for a life time. I had a whoile herd scared to come into my area for a couple of years but a a cpuple bucks wondered in from other ares this year and I had to clarify the boundries to them.

I have copied and pasted what I posted in the Hosta forum. I am using the gadget you are asking about and many,many other things. If you are gardening and have deer and other wildlife it is going to be a lot of heart broken lost and lots of work to grow anything. Good Luck. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Everyone told me you have to train them not to come to your yard for food. Once they do not like what you have they do not come as often. My property was vacant for a few years and there is a orchard so they knew food was here and they were free to roam. Start spraying early....as soon as anything peaks out of the ground. Spray every week. It really is not expensive if you make your own mixture. I purchased... Wolf urine that I put in a spray bottle and Spray that occasionally on grocery store plastic bags and hung them on the fence where I see they may have been by the poop evidence. I put some of the Sweeney's Deer Repellent gadgets. They are covered containers that you put on a stem. That is suppose to trigger flight response to the deer. I suspect it is a wolf urine concoction. Home Depot purchase. Homemade spray. Onion, Garlic, hot sauce, wolf urine, egg, mixture. (if you want my recipe I will post) I am on 4 acres and this mixture does not cost more than $10 for a season. Biondi Deer off work for my deer. I tried every one on the market. Every area deer are different. I do think you have to try them all to see which one your deer do not like. Nite Guard system. Home Depot. It is a flashing red solar light to fool the deer that they think danger. Of course near that area I spray the wolf urine. So it is a site and smell fix I am using. Move them around every month. They know a wolf would not stand in the same spot blinking for days. I have herds of deer not an occasional walk through deer problem. When I see deer it is 10 or more. I have had as many as 20-50 deer in the front yard at one time. I have also sprinkle Millorganite 3 times a year. Finally, there path I have picked up pallets from the grocery store for free. They have trouble walking on these because their feet go through the slat space and fall down. I have watched them limp away after falling down when they step out of the woods heading for a meal in my yard. As you can see I have done everything short of a gun. So far for 5 yrs of growing seasons only one hosta has been eaten I have 100s. So I am not sure if that was deer, rabbit, groundhog, etc. since it was only one hosta.

I started adding a shade garden around the quiet side of the house last year, still working on it but almost finished. I truly believe that the deer know my bf and his whole family are hunters so they know better than to come around our place! unfortunately theyre not so timid when it comes to hanging out and feasting on the plants in the shade garden. in the past 3 days theyve mowed down half of the hostas. it pisses me off bc I just spent so long planning, prepping, and planting but theyre just hostas, they can be replaced. HOWEVER!! They also took off the tips of one of my hydrangeas (annoying but I can live with it) and now theyre getting mighty close to a very sentimental hydrangea that I just transplanted to our yard last month from my bf's parents (his mother passed away recently). if any of those tick infested oversized rats even think about tasting that hydrangea I will hunt down him and his family and shoot them myself. Anyone have success repelling deer? Store bought spray? Homemade recipes? Motion sensor lights or sprinklers? ill try anything!