Whitetail, Mule deer cross?
Whitetail Deer
Got this deer on camera for the first time the other day. Do you think that the closest one is a cross? I have the 9 point in other photos but this is the only time I saw him. Notice the different color in the velvet, I have other deer and they all have darker color velvet.
THe last muley I saw in this area was about three years ago, used to be a small population of them in the area, but are few and far between now.
Just wondering what you think?
Couple more angles, Ears even look big in this one.
Does not look like a cross to me. Other than his rack, what if any are the other indicators for you to consider this a cross? I personally am just not seeing it.
rack is the only thing along with the grey velvet. This is in south central Kansas.
I would say no. Whitetails can have bifurcated antlers and the metatarsal gland looks normal for a whitetail.
Yep.
Glunts got it right. Metatarsal is the giveaway. Whitetail.
i would say its a mule deer, we have lots of mule deer up here and you can see in its tail there is black on it, also there is a big mule deer by my place that has the same looking antlers as those ones and its a mule deer so id say its just a mule deer
Looks like a whitetail with forked tines.
This is blatantly obvious that the deer is a whitetail. Antlers come in all shapes and sizes, and velvet color can vary widely from a dark brown to light grey.
Glunts and Bill are correct. The Metatarsal is the only way to tell the difference.
However....They do cross-breed. We get into this some on the ranch we guide on in west texas. If you have a lack of bucks in an area of either type, they will cross....i&e not enough whitetail bucks to breed the whitetail does, a mulie will take up the change, or vise-versa.
I think what you have here is a cool looking buck with MD forks. I wouldn't think too much of the different color velvet or the black tip on the tail. Neither one is that uncommon among whitetails...great buck though...
I have seen (and taken one) whitetail in NJ with bifurcated tines... There aint no mulie's 'round here!
Curious as to why a "cross" would not have metatarsal glands?
As to the discussion- the front forks do not look mule deerish to me.
Hybrids do have metatarsal glands, but they would be bigger than this deer's. Muleys have really long ones and whitetails have really small ones. Hybrids are about 2" and usually not white hair around it.
Nope, just a whitetail buck with cool forks. That's not overly uncommon.
Curious, as to what county in SC KS?
15 or so years ago a friend, who is a wildlife biologist, shot a 170-ish (gross mule deer score) north of Abilene. It's the furthest east I've seen one documented in Kansas.
I've watched whitetail bucks pushing mulie does west of Garden City.
Google, Picture of mule deer whitetail hybrid, for some good info on this subject.
Seems this breeding is very rare according to the story on Coueswhitetail.com paragraph, and other research.
Writer in the mid 90's there was a Muley shot in the northern Flint Hills ( Potawatomi county).
Whitetail with matching split tines. Cool deer, but definitely a whitetail.
Buck on the right is a cross with an impala for sure, look at his hide
Lucas,
Not surprised. I lived in Manhattan 86-92 and there was a small herd of about a dozen mulies south of Oldsburg. Never heard of any evidence of cross-breeding there, though.
That's about when we quit seeing another small herd in eastern Ottawa County, too.
looks like just another forked whitetail just like this guy both his G3 are split ,,
