Does Sepp Holzer's bone salve/sauce actually work? Share results with us!

[Newbie posting alert!]  Researching Sepp's bone sauce/salve has been an exercise in frustration for me.  I'm planting a large number of tree seeds this coming spring, and I really want to use bone salve instead of investing in 8-ft fencing, but...for all the people touting it, I have yet to run across a site/blog post where someone has made it, used it, and can vouch for its efficacy.  If that person exists in this community, I would love to hear about it.  I know Sepp talks about how it repels deer, rabbits, and voles, and I'd love to hear whether that's true in practice, as I have all three in spades.  Thanks in advance to anyone who has any results to share with me/us!

I haven't tried it my self, but this thread might have some answers. https://permies.com/t/1805/critters/Sepp-Holzer-recipe-animals-trees

Yeah, that's one of the threads I read.  Paul W seemed very keen on it, but then there was no follow up after he tried it.  My hope is that he DID try it, and it DID work.  But again, nothing was ever posted to that effect.

Have you read through this thread? https://permies.com/t/1805/critters/Sepp-Holzer-recipe-animals-trees

There's quite a few people posting about their experiences with it

permafarmer Hatfield wrote:The Bone Sauce has worked so far. We visited our farm in late July, many trees had been browsed, but the trees that were given a dose of bone sauce had not been touched at all.

We planted maples and elderberries, all the maples in the area showed signs of being eaten, but not the ones that had been sauced.


I highly recommend the method and will continue to use it on more extensive plantings.

Kota Dubois wrote:...
Results....Neither anymore damage nor even their deer tracks in the meadow all summer long (which is rare). Did I put up an invisible fence?

I also had a groundhog try to move into my main gardens so I painted his burrow entrance with it. It didn't work for him. The porcipine wasn't detered nor were the wild turkeys.

I don't know how long it will last but I'd be tempted to do it every spring, just to be sure.

and,

Andrew Schreiber wrote:Howdy,

I can second the experience that The Sauce burns leaves. I've only put it on during winter dormancy.

We get a lot of bud and bark eating from deer in the depth of winter.  

However, throughout this spring, I have seen deer activity all around the trees I have put The Sauce on.  

No herbivory to the things I put the sauce on (including herbacious strawberries, which did get a little burned by the sauce but that is better than being eaten by deer).  But lots of intense grazing to the understory herbs and grass.  

I am very pleased with how The Sauce is working. I have not encountered anything that works this well. Literally 100% success at this point.  As I wrote above, I slathered it all over everywhere on the tree. What a partner felt was excessive application....but it is working so I feel that it needs to be laid on thick all over the plant.

FYI, also I made the bone sauce and then mixed it with equal parts sheep tallow. It extends The Sauce, and still works fine.

I also made bone sauce, and it worked really well the first year. Deer would be eating the trees, applied the sauce and BAM no more deer munching. The next year, I saw them munching again on my trees, and applied it again (it rains a LOT here) and the deer stopped eating the trees. This year, I noticed them eating my trees again this spring. I reapplied the sauce (which had gotten kind of moldy by this point) and the deer did not care. They ate all the leaves and apples they could reach. Either I did something a bit wrong when I made it so that it spoiled, or it just doesn't last "forever." I think I'll try remaking it next year so I have a fresh batch, as my first batch did a really good job of deterring deer those first two years!

One suggestions I would have if you make the sauce is to make sure to not OVERAPPLY it, or put it on the leaves, as it does seem to "burn" wherever you apply it. I just dab a dot on each branch with a paintbrush or feather.


EDIT: by the time I'd written my post, you both had already replied. Ooops!

I haven't made any, but wanted to share....

Youtube --->  Zach Weiss crater garden  <-- give that a youtube search.  It's in part 2 where you get to see him using, talking about, and smelling the bone sauce.  I think he's also in a video giving a talk at Wheaton Labs, about bone sauce.

Thanks, Nicole Alderman.  That's super helpful.  I see my problem now.  Sorry to all - I didn't see the multiple pages available to click at the bottom of the thread.  I thought the discussion ended 8 years ago!  Let me go over there and see what I can find...  Thanks also to Joshua Parke - will do!

Paul Haas wrote:Thanks, Nicole Alderman.  That's super helpful.  I don't see ANY of those people you quoted in the thread you linked to.  Where can I find THAT thread?  Seems like exactly the thread I was looking for, and I can ask them questions directly...  Thanks also to Joshua Parke - will do!

The thread Nicole and I linked to has five pages.  Is it possible you only read page one?

There are a few other examples of people using the bone salve in the Sepp Holzer forum and some more at the bottom of this thread under "Similar Threads".


I'm really glad you started this thread.  It gave me an opportunity to learn about this bone sauce.  I'm looking to transform 2 acres into a food forest over the next few years, but the biggest problem is deer.  I was going to make baskets for all the trees and plants, but this stuff might be worth a try if I can find the iron pots.

r ranson: YES, that's exactly what happened - edited my reply above to reflect same.  Thank you for all your help, and good luck with the bone sauce!

Picking up this thread, has anyone tried it and have a few years experience to share? I’m wondering how much to put on each fruit tree, and any other details they can share.

I tried making bonesauce!

Thank you for sharing the link to the original  video.

My issue is that my final product does not look like theirs.

Maybe it is under cooked as a few of the bones were not completely  burned.

Can't attach photos it seems, but looks a bit grainy/ brown.... not sure if I should put this on our trees  :/

I made an alternative sauce, inspired by Sepp Holzer's bone salve, using cow manure, sand, tar, wood ashes and cayenne pepper.
Before applying: deer were gnawing the bark, leaves and apples of my young apple trees.
After applying it on the tree trunks and thickest branches: they went somewhere else to gnaw.

I do find that an annual or bi-annual application is adviseable, since the rain and other elements will thin the applied layer.