Deer and ticks

I am a city girl. I am used to living in a small house on a small, postage stamp sized lot. In the city, a big fence surrounds the small yard and nothing bigger than a squirrel comes into the yard uninvited.
Deer used to be sweet, Bambi animals.
Then we moved to the fringes of the country, on to an unfenced acre of land.
When we first moved into our home and watched the deer walk through our yard, their lovely eyes and quite ways mesmerized us. We smiled as they ate from our bird feeder and grazed on the bushes.
We are not smiling any more. We are buying a stinky Deer Fence spray that smells like rotten eggs to discourage them from our yard and plants. The deer, once so sweet, decided that our plants were so delicious that they needed to eat every green leaf and twig. They left nothing but sticks. Now we have to fight back.
And Ticks. They used to be something I would only worry about when I was in the wilderness on a hike or camping. I saw no more than 3 ticks in the first 30 years of my life.
I have seen 3 ticks this week...in my backyard! It is spring here in Georgia and the ticks are hungry. Since we are keeping the deer away, they are looking for human snacks.
But, we have an appointment with the pest control! I am not going to let those nasty bugs harass me and my kids while we try to enjoy our backyard.
I love the open space but I didn't expect it to be such a war! Us against them. And somehow I think that nature might have an edge.