I'd wondered about deer, too.
The damned hooved rats have really been active in my
orchard, eating all the leaves off of small
mulberries, young pear grafts, and young
pecans/hickories.
Fencing everything is out of the question, so I mixed
up some egg spray yesterday, with a teaspoon of
Dave's Insanity Sauce added for good measure. We'll
see how that works, sprayed on the target plants.