As far as smell goes, both species of deer rely on their exceptional sense of smell to avoid being eaten or shot at. The White-Tailed Deer is named for the thick white fur on the underside of the neck and the rear. Hunting Whitetail populations are generally doing well throughout the country, but there’s evidence that populations aren’t as high as they were a couple decades ago. in nearly all of the continental United States. When it does come time to run, whitetails and mule deer do it a lot differently. Later, when I moved west to Colorado, I became a die-hard lover of mule deer and the rugged, mountainous country where they live. Whitetails are found anywhere there’s some cover and food, even suburban neighborhoods and city greenbelts. Like a lot of big game animals, mule deer and whitetails are. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. For mule deer, it’s the straw that could break the camel’s back, but it’s not a problem whitetail are likely to face. Elsewhere, where wolves aren’t present, coyotes have moved in to places where they never existed before, filling a predatory void. Some of these tactics are used on occasion by western mule deer hunters. Over a period of hundreds, possibly thousands of years and generation after generation of hybridization, mule deer emerged as a new deer species. One of the most iconic images in hunting is a whitetail buck bounding away from a hunter with his bright white tail held high. Both black tails and mule deer have pelts that vary from brown to golden brown in the summer and grayish in the winter. The underside of the tail of both species is creamy colored to white, so there isn’t much of a comparison there. , which doesn’t seem to have nearly as much influence on mule deer body size. They’re accessible, abundant and widespread. This is in large part because they don’t have to. Wishart et al. Scoring a few mule deer racks can also help you when field judging deer because it gives you a better understanding of what measurements make a 160″ class buck versus a 190″ class buck. I guess the old saying “It isn’t the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog,” holds true.As previously mentioned, there are many more differences between the species than listed here. In the Rockies, it’s a different story for mule deer. They’re also common in several Canadian provinces, with a northern limit near the arctic circle in the Yukon Territory. Mule deer does weigh in between 100 and 220 pounds, whereas white-tailed does come in anywhere from 90-200 lbs. Like a lot of big game animals, mule deer and whitetails are crepuscular, meaning they most actively feed and travel near dawn and dusk. It’s not uncommon to see mule deer in colder climates with chunks of their ears missing due to frostbite. These days, mule deer are my true love when it comes to big game hunting. In the upper midwest, wolf populations are growing enough that it is believed they are having a significant impact on certain deer herds. This phenomena is known as. While whitetail bucks are constantly on the move at this time, they don’t cover nearly as much ground as mule deer bucks during the rut. As the ice age ended and the glaciers receded northwards, mule deer took advantage of new available habitat, habitat for which they were specially adapted. Mule Deer vs White-tailed Deer – Doe Front View. Whatever the case, for deer hunters, a white flag bouncing away through the woods is never a good sign. Stotting is unique to mule deer, as no other deer species utilizes this stiff-legged, high bouncing gait. Whitetails almost never do this, but they’re almost always a quick sprint from cover. Wherever they’re found, they rarely travel more than a few miles from their birthplace. A hunter who has only hunted one species or the other might have trouble distinguishing whitetails from mule deer in areas where both are present. Still hunting works very well for mule deer, but whitetail hunters east of the Mississippi rarely have the opportunity for a spot and stalk hunt. Confirming whether it’s necessary or not to run a long ways prevents them from wasting valuable calories. Their tail is a thin, short rope with a black tip. Be Her Village. The largest concentration of mule deer populations tend to fall along either side of the Continental Divide, with smaller numbers extending into the central plains. Mule deer have a coat that is more greyish-brown, while whitetails are more of a reddish-brown color. Meanwhile, the overall range of mule deer is smaller and their numbers significantly lower. The long-term impacts of CWD are still being assessed, but the disease is already impacting whitetail conservation and management strategies all over the country. Whitetails also have a higher birth rate, their does can often breed their first fall at … Ear Size. Whitetail deer are the world’s “oldest” deer species; they’ve been around in basically the same form for nearly 4 million years. While the white-tailed deer inhabits most of the contiguous United States, the mule deer inhabits less of it. The distance between those two points may be well over one hundred miles. This is the beginning of my comparison between Axis and whitetail meat. Marsh Deer 19. Once a deer herd is infected with CWD, the disease is there to stay. Shika 17. It’s likely that several factors, many of which mule deer could withstand on an individual basis, are adding up to a much larger problem. Gestation for mule deer is seven months, for white-tailed deer 6 1/2 months. However, two species stand alone as the undeniable favorites of both nature enthusiasts and hunters. There’s little argument that it’s the most effective way to hunt whitetails in places like the Midwest, Northeast, and South where the woods are thick and agricultural food sources draw them into the open. In the 'big' whitetail world, a deer starts to get interesting at about 140" B&C gross. 12 Apr. the effects aren’t temporary. Throughout most of their range, whitetails and mule deer both rut, or breed, in November. Lesser Kudu 22. Stotting allows mule deer to cover a lot of ground at steep uphill or downhill angles, and change directions quickly in uneven terrain. The hybrid evolved as a new form, the mule deer, by adapting to climatically more extreme, open landscapes…”. Both stand between 3 to 3 1/2 feet tall at the shoulder. The white-tailed live in most of southern Canada, all of Mexico, all of Central America to Bolivia in the south. This is the most popular method of mule deer hunting out west. Although capable of running, mule deer are often seen stotting (also called pronking), with all four feet coming down together. The typical. This is a football roast from a small axis. Earlier I mentioned that Colorado has over 400,000 mule deer; the state supported well over 500,000 just over a decade ago. Meanwhile, the overall range of mule deer is smaller and their numbers significantly lower. A whitetail can easily live its entire life in a single square mile. Tail is longer with brown on the top and white underneath. So the blacktail and mule deer are the same species, but the mulie is a subspecies of the blacktail, and they are both close cousins to the whitetail. Pronghorn 10. Personally, I believe mule deer rely on their eyesight more than whitetails and that they see a bit better at long range. If hunting it is absolutely essential that one can distinguish between the Whitetail and Mule deer to ensure a mistake is not made and the wrong species is taken without the proper tag. Hence, this is the main difference between whitetail and mule deer. Mule deer have white, ropy tails with black tips. Both species have good eyesight when it comes to picking up movement. Mule Deer 14. White-tailed deer and mule deer have slightly different reproduction and mating cycles. They bound high and raise their large white undercoated tail when alarmed. Southward, whitetails extend into Mexico and the tropical jungles of Central and South America. Here, they mingled with blacktail deer whose ancestors migrated from southeast Alaska, south down the Pacific coast during the ice age. Whitetails are now found in nearly all of the continental United States. Blue Wildebeest/Gnu 25. It must work well against coyotes and mountain lions, but it has been the demise of many a mule deer that thought they were out of reach from a human threat. In general, whitetails can be considered a little more paranoid than mule deer when it comes to hunting pressure, but they’ve got a few million more years of evolutionary experience avoiding predators and thousands of years more experience evading human hunters. Muntjac**** 15. meaning they most actively feed and travel near dawn and dusk. The Mule and Whitetail deer also have similar brown coats making it even that much more difficult for a new hunter. Mule deer were named for their mule-like ears, which are larger than those of whitetail. Elk 18. Both species will eat hundreds of different types of plants. It’s believed there’s around three and half million of the two species combined. The main difference I’ve noticed between spooked whitetails and mule deer is that mule deer often take more time than whitetails to confirm whether something is an actual threat or not. Note the intermediate appearance of the tail. Mule deer, on the other hand, are considered the world’s “youngest” deer species, having evolved into their current form as a post-glacial species only 10 thousand years ago. When spooked, mule deer have historically gotten a bad rap from hunters for stopping on a vantage point to turn and see if they need to keep going. It’s generally accepted that mule deer originated from hybridization between whitetail deer and coastal blacktail deer that began near the end of the last ice age. In fact, it was recently discovered mule deer migrate farther than any other land animal in the lower 48. Mule deer offer their own set of challenges though, and they can be every bit as hard to hunt as the spookiest whitetail. Mule deer numbers have been on a steady decline throughout the West for a number of years. Mule Vs Whitetail Deer: Understanding Their Intelligence and Behavior. Mule deer bucks' antlers fork from the beam and then fork again. Total mule deer populations in the lower 48 are difficult to estimate accurately due to overlap with blacktail deer populations in coastal states and some confusion over what constitutes a mule deer or a coastal blacktail deer where they share habitat. Mule deer inhabit western North America from northwest Canada all the way south into central Mexico. Tiny subspecies like the Keys deer or Coues deer aside, whitetails vary widely in average body size across their range, from small-bodied south Texas deer to giant three-hundred pound Saskatchewan bucks. White-tailed deer vary more; on average they are smaller than mule deer, but some subspecies are quite bigger. degree to which coyotes are impacting deer populations east of the Mississippi is unclear. It is from the hindquarter. When it comes to size and weight, there are variations based on sex, age, and geographic location.Adult mule deer usually measure around 105 cm (42 in) tall at the shoulder. Whitetail deer were a creature of warmer climates. We have more whitetails now, by far, than at the time of European contact. and does weighing in between 100 and 150 pounds. Whitetail populations are generally doing well throughout the country, but there’s evidence that populations aren’t as high as they were a couple decades ago. It’s thought that their large ears are an evolutionary trait that allows them to more easily dissipate body heat in hot desert environments. 6. Southward, whitetails extend into Mexico and the tropical jungles of Central and South America. Muntjac**** 15. California and Nevada are the exceptions for the time being, but whitetails are constantly expanding their range into new areas. Gerenuk 23. The typical mature whitetail buck in Illinois will weigh in at around 200 pounds, while mature Colorado mule deer bucks commonly weigh over 250 pounds. They are mysterious, here-today gone-tomorrow travelers, that prefer tough, remote environments where people don’t like to go, especially the biggest, oldest bucks that never stop to look back before they slip over the ridge. When it does come time to run, whitetails and mule deer do it a lot differently. Colorado has the largest population of mule deer with over 400,000. In some places, whitetails and mule deer are found side-by-side, whether that’s in an irrigated alfalfa field in western Kansas or a remote canyon in eastern Washington. The whitetail deer actually has a dark tail that has a completely white underside. Mule deer may also have a slight advantage when it comes to hearing with those big ears. It’s unclear how or if it’s used for display purposes, but it sure makes them easier to spot on a distant hillside. Whitetails can get by just about anywhere. Blackbuck 20. White-tailed deer does, or females, can breed at 6 months of age. Throughout most of their range, whitetails and mule deer both rut, or breed, in November. Both stand between 3 to 3 1/2 feet tall at the shoulder. I will add that big, old mule deer bucks rarely give a hunter this opportunity anymore, so maybe they are adjusting to humans carrying high-powered rifles. Big antlers and long-range attraction was unnecessary. Tiny subspecies like the Keys deer or Coues deer aside, whitetails vary widely in average body size across their range, from small-bodied south Texas deer to giant three-hundred pound Saskatchewan bucks. A whitetail can easily live its entire life in a single square mile. Next post #EarnedIt: Meet “LAZY” White-tailed deer have brown tails with white fringe. Mule deer have a white rump patch around tail, which is thinner than the broad tail of the whitetail, and has a black tip. There’s a lot of theories behind why whitetails evolved this “flagging” display system. The white-tailed deer is North America’s most popular big-game animal because whitetails thrive just about everywhere. They do not raise in alarm. Mule Deer vs. White-Tail Deer: Behavioral Differences So now that you have a pretty good idea of the physical differences between white-tails and mules, let's take a look at some of the other differentiating factors between these two types of deer—and how they'll make a difference in your hunt. Because whitetails are so keyed in to human hunting activities, most whitetail hunters employ ambush and stand hunting tactics to kill them. The peak of the whitetail rut tends to fall during the first week or two of November. They use this hop to escape predators. Colorado has the largest population of mule deer with over 400,000 animals. 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