Contributors to this thread:
I just returned home from helping a kid on his first ever hunt. I took the boy and his father into the Gila in search of cow elk. Neither of them had ever been hunting or even spent time in the forest. It was an incredible experience.
During our adventures we stumbled upon a mule deer buck that I would swear was cross-bred with an elk. The coloration and markings were exactly like a mule deer. The antlers were identical to a rag-horn elk. The body size was much closer to a cow elk than even the biggest mule deer buck I have ever seen. The body was abnormally elongated. Also weird, the antlers were 100% covered in clean velvet. The deer seemed to be quite docile. We observed him for quite q while at a distance of about 25 yards. My young hunter and his Dad wouldn't have known the difference between a Muley a whitetail or an elk prior to this hunt. They got a kick out of how amazed I was at this creature.
Who on this site is qualified to comment as to whether or not an elk could successfully breed with a mule deer? If that's not possible, can anyone explain what I saw? I've spent my whole life pursuing deer and elk (mostly in the Gila) and I've never seen an animal like this one. Curious to hear from those who might have an explanation. Thanks.
To both your questions: NO
You may have run across what some refer to as a stag. No effective testicles, little testosterone, don't shed the velvet and since they don't chase the girls, can get to be pretty big.
If he doesn't have any cajones then that explains his indifference to hunters. Begging for death most likely.
It's a stag. They can't crossbreed. No testicles equals much bigger muscle mass, sometimes bigger antlers in odd configurations, and often never lose velvet. See it with whitetails occasionally too.
Next time somebody invites me to a stag party, I'm staying home.
My cousin in Montana had a muley whitetail crossbreed hanging on his wall. Rory
I know there are antlered does, could it have been an antlered cow elk? Pretty sure that all of the antlered does I've read about had velvet covered horns regardless of the season.
It definitely wasn't an elk...at least not entirely an elk. Lol by the sounds of things it was a stag. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. My camera was stashed in my pack. I had the swaro's glued to him for well over a minute before he spooked. He had busted us before I spotted him, but even at such a close distance he waited a long time to spook. Had I know he would be so patient, I would have taken my pack off, retrieved the Nikon and taken some photos...he likely would have waited around for that. Even if he is a stag it's surprising to me he has lived so long considering his tolerance of hunters. Crazy sighting for sure!
