Evaluating the construction and effectiveness of slash walls at the perimeter of regeneration harvests to exclude deer

•Forest regeneration harvests with perimeter slash walls effectively excluded deer.•Slash walls resulted in greater height growth of tagged seedlings.•Construction costs for 4 slash walls averaged $4.82/m ($1.47/ft).•Slash walls slumped approximately 8–14% per year.•Slash walls have been replicated in 6 other even-aged harvests.