Growing very well in partial shade! DdB is a tea, and a large one at that. Large teas really don't like being pruned down to fit in a cage, or anything else. If it were mine I would just let it go, and share it with the deer, as you say. Mine gets gently pruned by the deer all of the time - it makes it bloom better. I realize that though we both have deer, your deer pressure is much more than mine is, however.

Could you get one of those "invisible" fences which are made with black wire or something, and fence a much larger area for it to live in?

Jackie

I took another look at the situation and the slope and the height of the bushes does a good of protection. I could put a sort fence on the top of the slope, but is hardly worth the trouble.

I have a Buff Beauty next to Duchesse that is too deer accessible that is small and upright that I think I'll make a small cage for and see how it does.

I forget
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Pompon Blanc Parfait

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Steve -- you know you said that you do not want to fertilize, but have you tried Milorganic? It is made from sewage and is supposedly replusive to deer and other critters. I use it on plants around my house and so far have had very good results. (We have a herd passing through the back of our property twice a day. The good thing about it is that you do NOT need to work it into the soil or worry about burnding the plants. Give it a try. You can randomly throw some under your roses, and reapply maybe every 5 weeks. I buy mine from Home Depot. For me, it is very easy to do and the best part is that I can pretty much apply as much or as little as I want to as it is unlike to burn the plants even if I apply to much. I am attempted to suggest you should just dumb a bagful in a low-lying area on the slope, but that might be a bit over the top...

farmerduck: I have tried Milorganite and blood meal.
The only thing that has worked is cages. I had anchored them in 4 places and it was a pain to unhook them to tend to the roses. I found out that the weight of the cage is enough to deter the deer so they are a lot easier to manage. I just made a smaller cage for buff beauty and cut down the high side to account for the slope. Any growth over 3.5 feet is left alone by the deer. Climbers would be ideal.

I share with the deer. Sometimes it is two steps forward and one step back, but mostly they just nibble. The only roses they have severely damaged are [newer] hybrid teas, so I don't grow those.