Lakeshore Riders have faced a unique challenge in the past 10 years regarding our trail system.  Our trails pass through a large number of apple orchards.  The farmers have been very generous and allow us to pass through on their land.  With the large deer population in Wayne County NY, they have incurred major damage from deer as they eat the young trees.  This has forced them to fence in their orchards to keep deer out.  The challenge is in many cases it blocks us from having snowmobile access.

Rerouting around the farms has been a challenge. In 2016 a board member came up with an idea as a possible solution to maintain access to farmland and keep deer out.  The first “Deer Flap Gate” idea was built this past summer at a farm thanks to the cooperation of a farmer to let us try it out.  So far there has been no deer passing through it.

Please see the pictures below to make yourself and others aware of these as you come across it this season.  If completely successful you will see more in coming years.  Please approach them slowly and drive slowly through them.  The trail is well marked with warnings as you approach.  Please DO NOT pull on the flaps, just move them aside. If they are vandalized the trail will be in danger of being permanently closed.

Please respect landowners and these Deer Flap Gates because without them we face the chance of no work around and the trail being closed or riding the roads for miles.

Thank you for your cooperation to help keep our trails open. Plead ride safely and respectfully!

Update:

We will be working with a new option called Spark Away Deterrent. We will be testing a few of these this year.  The flaps in some areas will be removed and/or the fence gates will be left open.  There will be a motion detection electronic deterrent installed on the gate.  There are a few Videos at the end showing how the deer will not pass through the open gate.  You may see a flashing strobe light, especially at night, and hear an electric arc sound.  There is no electricity actually being used, mainly just a startling sound to scare the deer from the open gates.

The following videos display the new deer fence Spark Away deterrent in use: