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Whitetail or Mule Deer?
#8962312
11/27/23 12:34 AM
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Joined: May 2020
Posts: 937
Sauerkraut
OP
Tracker
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OP
Tracker
Joined: May 2020
Posts: 937 |
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." - Ecclesiastes 9:10
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8962317
11/27/23 12:38 AM
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Joined: Oct 2023
Posts: 165
DJ22
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Oct 2023
Posts: 165 |
Whitetail. Looks similar to the big, wide, and nasty 187 scoring deer just posted.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8962322
11/27/23 12:44 AM
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Joined: Jul 2023
Posts: 129
HunterGuy
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Jul 2023
Posts: 129 |
Whitetail, doesn’t fork out like a mule deer
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8962327
11/27/23 12:53 AM
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 25,387
Creekrunner
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 25,387 |
Things aren't that cut-and-dried in far west Texas. 'Fools a lot of "experts."
...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8962348
11/27/23 01:24 AM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
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Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
Only real way is to check the length of the metatarsal gland or do a DNA test. The gland on the back of the leg is only about 3/4” long on a white tail and about 4” long on a mule deer. This is also how you tell if a hybrid deer is WT or MD.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8962416
11/27/23 02:58 AM
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Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,248
QMC SW/EXW
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,248 |
Whitetail. Ears are too small and no black forehead patch.
Retired Navy Chief NJROTC Instructor for Tascosa High School
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8962422
11/27/23 03:05 AM
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Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 273
Nickbyrd
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 273 |
White tail , now what do I win ?! 😁
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8962424
11/27/23 03:07 AM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 4,479
4Weight
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 4,479 |
WT not sure why this topic was posted or why I answered it
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8962432
11/27/23 03:21 AM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 430
rmp
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 430 |
I'll play, same question.
Jameson Peak Ranch Trophy Whitetails "Lets go hunt a BIG one."
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8962438
11/27/23 03:26 AM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 430
rmp
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 430 |
Hint, hint
Jameson Peak Ranch Trophy Whitetails "Lets go hunt a BIG one."
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8963278
11/28/23 04:08 PM
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,414
dkershen
Rev Dave
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Rev Dave
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,414 |
Wow. Can't believe 5 of you guys wiffed on that muley mount.
To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.www.NewHopeEquine.com - Health and Healing through Horses.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: SapperTitan]
#8963282
11/28/23 04:16 PM
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Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 5,956
Jgraider
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 5,956 |
Only real way is to check the length of the metatarsal gland or do a DNA test. The gland on the back of the leg is only about 3/4” long on a white tail and about 4” long on a mule deer. This is also how you tell if a hybrid deer is WT or MD. This, 100%. I do know that antler configuration, forks, etc are not the most reliable indicator sometimes.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8963333
11/28/23 05:48 PM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 12,182
kry226
The General
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The General
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 12,182 |
I've got a hybrid doe running around on my place right now. She shows characteristics of both species, but the metatarsal gives it away. I think I've also shot a hybrid buck there about 10 or 12 years ago. Except for the jacked antlers, it looked very WT so I never checked the metatarsals. My wife's cousin did the Euro for me (he does a ton each year) and he called not an hour after I dropped it off saying he thought it was a hybrid due to the skull's structural differences he only sees in MD. Not that it matters much, but they are an interesting critter. Here's the doe...
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: HunterGuy]
#8963335
11/28/23 05:52 PM
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 60,615
BOBO the Clown
kind of a big deal
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kind of a big deal
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 60,615 |
Whitetail, doesn’t fork out like a mule deer ?
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8963347
11/28/23 06:03 PM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 12,182
kry226
The General
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The General
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 12,182 |
Yup, antlers are notoriously bad for determining species.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: kry226]
#8963389
11/28/23 07:14 PM
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,414
dkershen
Rev Dave
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Rev Dave
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,414 |
I've got a hybrid doe running around on my place right now. Here's the doe... Cool.. I'd bet money that she's a hybrid just from that pic. If you get a chance try to film her running. In most cases hybrids look like an uncoordinated teenager because they incorporate a mule deer "hop" into the whitetail trot.
To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.www.NewHopeEquine.com - Health and Healing through Horses.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: HunterGuy]
#8963426
11/28/23 08:15 PM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
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Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
Whitetail, doesn’t fork out like a mule deer and not all mule deer fork out either. Ive seen Whitetails with forked G2s on both sides and mule deer who are slick 8 points like a WT. Antlers aren't the best way to determine the species.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8963436
11/28/23 08:42 PM
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 485
Hunter Daddy
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 485 |
That first pic is a whitetail buck skin on that mount. I don't know if the antlers are mule deer or whitetail. The other photos after that are of a completely different deer.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: SapperTitan]
#8963443
11/28/23 08:53 PM
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Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 5,956
Jgraider
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 5,956 |
Whitetail, doesn’t fork out like a mule deer and not all mule deer fork out either. Ive seen Whitetails with forked G2s on both sides and mule deer who are slick 8 points like a WT. Antlers aren't the best way to determine the species. This big mule deer buck forked on one side and grew an inline point, but didn't fork at all on the other. You never know just by looking at the rack.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: dkershen]
#8963491
11/28/23 09:59 PM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 12,182
kry226
The General
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The General
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 12,182 |
I've got a hybrid doe running around on my place right now. Here's the doe... Cool.. I'd bet money that she's a hybrid just from that pic. If you get a chance try to film her running. In most cases hybrids look like an uncoordinated teenager because they incorporate a mule deer "hop" into the whitetail trot. Will do. I need to take a doe or two this season, so I might get a closer look too.
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8963541
11/28/23 11:20 PM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 12,900
PMK
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 12,900 |
never will forget shooting a MD at timber line in western CO one year back in the 1980s that looked like a normal WT 8 point antlers but about 22 inches wide, very tall and weighed about 230 field dressed (not big by CO MD standards). I left in cold storage in CO for the rest of our hunt before bringing it back to central TX with dry ice where we were going to process at my FIL place in a few more days. The guy at the central TX cold storage told me he wouldn't charge me for the cold storage if I would leave it a few more days so he could play with all the loud mouth city guys that brought in their "big" deer from central TX. My FIL thought it would be funny and said he would pick it up the following weekend and he would process it for me.
When my FIL picked it up, the guy that owned the cold storage told him he had a blast and ribbed a bunch of guys that brought in their "big" deer but they were shocked when they would drag into the storage beside my MD (everyone thought it was just a monster 8 point WT) and kept asking what part of the county that deer came from. He would tell them the NW part and let it go.
"everyone that lives dies but not everyone who dies lived..."
~PMK~
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#8964156
11/29/23 10:33 PM
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Joined: May 2020
Posts: 937
Sauerkraut
OP
Tracker
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OP
Tracker
Joined: May 2020
Posts: 937 |
Thanks for the input! This mount is hanging in a friends house. He always refers to it as a mule deer. I told him I thought it was a whitetail. We may both be right…
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." - Ecclesiastes 9:10
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: HunterGuy]
#8964497
11/30/23 02:03 PM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,607
Revoman
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,607 |
Whitetail, doesn’t fork out like a mule deer Not all mulies fork on top. This is pure MD I shot in Dawson Co
Call'm an Kill'm
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: Sauerkraut]
#9026320
03/29/24 01:24 PM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 12,182
kry226
The General
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The General
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 12,182 |
Circling back around on this... I've got a young mulie-like deer that's been hanging around by itself the last couple of weeks. Probably some of the largest ears I've seen compared to its body size. It's also the lightest brown color I've ever seen on a mulie, especially the tip of the very wide whitetail-like tail. The metatarsal seems to be more of an intermediate length, which is admittedly easier to see in the original pic... possible hybrid, I'm thinking. Thoughts?
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Re: Whitetail or Mule Deer?
[Re: kry226]
#9026664
03/30/24 07:20 AM
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,414
dkershen
Rev Dave
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Rev Dave
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,414 |
Circling back around on this... I've got a young mulie-like deer that's been hanging around by itself the last couple of weeks. Probably some of the largest ears I've seen compared to its body size. It's also the lightest brown color I've ever seen on a mulie, especially the tip of the very wide whitetail-like tail. The metatarsal seems to be more of an intermediate length, which is admittedly easier to see in the original pic... possible hybrid, I'm thinking. Thoughts? That’s a mule deer. I don’t think it’s a hybrid.
To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.www.NewHopeEquine.com - Health and Healing through Horses.
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