I've had bucks do this on a few occasions where I work, it's the time of year for this damage. I've used spiral wraps which I don't think are very expensive (sorry don't know the price because we have a supply in the storeroom but you could check out a local garden centre). If you scroll down this page there is a picture, and you might get some other ideas too:
http://www.myminnesotawoods.um...
If you're using the normal length spiral wraps you'll probably need to put more than one to cover the length of the tree trunk.
A very inexpensive alternative might be to try fishing line on bamboo canes around each tree, believe it or not. We had deer eating a young apple tree so I pushed four bamboo canes to make the corners of a square around the tree, far enough out that they'd have to reach past to get to the tree, and then strung fishing line around them to make a "fence". I used two strands about a foot apart. Deer don't like to go through fishing line. Other people I've mentioned this to have tried it and found it worked. Whether it would work across a route that they've become used to traveling I don't know. Anyway, they haven't touched this apple tree for years now. I once watched a deer approach and as soon as its chest touched the line it backed off. I wonder if feeling something that they can't see is what bothers them. I can't find a good picture of the whole set up but this cropped image shows one corner bamboo with the lines, obviously the tree is out of the picture to the left.
