Oh Deer!

Plant some mint around the area. It can become somewhat invasive but manageable. The deer don't like the strong aroma for some reason. I have put it in hanging baskets, large pots and along the edge of raised veggie beds.

You can also plant some plectranthus in the areas (cuban oregano), co-plant caesalpinia with your bouganvilla, salvia (many types), etc. Many of my customers plant deer resistant/deterrant plants throughout their landscapes and along the property border to keep the critters away.

Sprays like garlic, vanilla, cayenne are only good for a short time due to any heavy rain washing them away.

Thanks Treeman!
I'll definitely look more into those plants.
I definitely don't want to go with sprays or harmful chemicals.

Once deer find a food source, they’ll keep hitting it till there’s no more food

Since turning them into venison is not allowed a dog is the next best deterrent.

Stringing a line around your plants an combo of noise (think cowbell) and cloth tied to the line with a spray repellent

Repellent plants are those that are highly aromatic, in the offensive scent category for deer. These are often perennial herbs such as artemisia, tansy, and yarrow. Culinary herbs such as mint, thyme, tarragon, oregano, dill, and chives can also be interplanted throughout the garden.

Recipe for repellent.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/recipe-deer-repellent-using-garlic-powder-40847.html

I just remembered reading about using Irish Spring soap as a repellent.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/use-irish-spring-soap-repel-garden-pests-97701.html

Welcome to my world in NC. Deer chomp down almost everything. What they don't eat they scrape the bark off of with their antlers. I've got chicken wire cages all over the place. Seems to keep them at bay.

One thing they don't seem to touch is the daffodil family in spring. They'll eat other stuff around them.

Mothballs is another one that's supposed to keep them away. I hang them up all over in the little plastic hangers you can buy for closets and refill them. They seem to last quite a while.

I'm assuming it's due to the lack of rain on the east end lately (STX), but the deer in the area seem to be going after everything. I've got veggies in half rum barrels that I have built cages around and last night they yanked one of those down. They're even going after things like bougaveilla and marigolds. Our croton plants were leveled two weeks ago. Last night it sounded like a herd coming up the stone driveway.
Short of fencing off the whole place, buying a pack of wolves, or building a minefield, what else can I do to keep these deer away from the garden/plants?

Gallows sells natural repellent spray

My dogs keep them away.

I like the mothball idea.

Tried the Irish Spring. No good.
But the yard did smell nice 😉

I've also mixed up some deer scram which is a like a gallon of dried blood, a scoop of white pepper, a scoop of cayanne pepper, scoop of garlic powder, and scoop of cumin. The restaurant size jugs aren't that expensive. You can buy it ready mixed but it's not cheap. Supposed to keep rabbits away too. Sprinkle it on the ground around and on top of the plants. Instead of the yard smelling like soap it'll smell like Tex-Mex. (The dried blood doesn't smell and is good fertilizer) Of course it doesn't hold up long after a few rain showers.