there are several deer that frequent my yard. they chill out, sleep, whatever in my yard for some reason (when i cut grass i can see their droppings and big depressions in the grass where they've been laying around). so i was slightly concerned about them, too.
after planting last spring, the new rhizome grew well, even better than expected considering i kept it in my fridge for about 2 months. by the middle of the summer, it was approaching 10 feet or so in height. i had no protection around it, so it was vulnerable to being munched.
well, sure enough, one day, it happened. i came out for one of my frequent "admire the hops vine" sessions and practically every leaf between my knees and my head was gone. the deer got it!
this must have been a gardener-friendly deer, though, because he or she didn't eat the main climbing shoot, just all the leaves. and there were still a few little leaves near the base and above (out of the reach of the deer).
the good news is that after that event, the vine grew even more vigorously than before, it was like hops on steroids. amazing. the act of deer eating the leaves served the function of the pruning/trimming and the vine did very well after that, it didn't miss a beat. tons of new leaves instantly, and i noticed the vine produced a lot more side shoots than before. it kickstarted it. my vine even produced a good 1/2 oz or so of hops cones in the fall (its first season), something i didn't expect until the 2nd or 3rd season. for some reason, after that first time, nothing ate it after that.