when did Mule Deer become known as Mule Deer?

[MiG25]

The deer nickname thread got me thinking, when did the name "Mule Deer" come into usage? Around here they were (and are by older people) called "Blacktails" to distinguish them from "Whitetails". I think I started calling them Mule Deer or Muleys after being told at CORE back in the 80's that the Blacktail was a different animal.

Before Lewis and Clark ever saw a "Mule Deer" they were known as "Jumping Deer" (a literal translation of the various Indian names) or as "Chevreuil".

 

[powdergun]

My guess is when settlers driving mules in front of the wagons came into the country and made the connection with the ears of the deer and those of the mule.

 

[MiG25]

In my section of BC, the name only seems to have come into use after CORE (hunter safety course) came in.

 

[Boomer]

Mule deer had that name certainly for all of the 20th Century and for much of the 19th, once the Mississippi was crossed and western lands were settled.

 

[bearkilr]

The deer nickname thread got me thinking, when did the name "Mule Deer" come into usage? Around here they were (and are by older people) called "Blacktails" to distinguish them from "Whitetails". I think I started calling them Mule Deer or Muleys after being told at CORE back in the 80's that the Blacktail was a different animal.

Before Lewis and Clark ever saw a "Mule Deer" they were known as "Jumping Deer" (a literal translation of the various Indian names) or as "Chevreuil".

You're referring to Columbia Blacktail, not what most commonly think of when they hear "mule deer". I suspect those on the coast called them mule deer due to their similar appearance, but they're actually a separate species along with Sitka Blacktail. I have a book by Valerius Geist about deer species, pretty interesting. He's explains the differences between mule deer and blacktail.

 

[lefty-Cunuck]

Isn't a true Black Tail a subspecies of a Mule Deer? They are smaller and mostly coastal?

*Edit* ^^^^ faster typer above me

LC

 

[MiG25]

I am far inland from the Columbia Blacktail, talk to just about anybody over 60ish and they call Mule Deer Blacktails.

 

[MiG25]

Mule deer had that name certainly for all of the 20th Century and for much of the 19th, once the Mississippi was crossed and western lands were settled.

Tyrell in "Mammalia of Canada" circa 1888 has them listed as Jumping Deer, Mule Deer, Blacktail and various Indian names that translate to Jumper or Jumping One and Blacktail and similar things.

And David Thompson refers to them as Jumping Deer.

 

[BigUglyMan]

When they were discovered initially by Lewis and Clark they were described as "deer with a black tale(sic)". They later referred to them in journals as Mule Deer. The Frenchmen that they had along on the expedition had been in that country before and called it "black tailed" but apparently others in the expedition called it "mule". It seems that the terms were used interchangeably. In the end they just settled on Mule Deer.

Now when it became common parlance in rural BC? Couldn't tell you. That said, there are no shortage of old commercial fishermen out there that refer to "blackfish". I think the old verbiage dies hard.

 

[MiG25]

A solid 15 years before Lewis and Clark, Thompson was referring to them as Jumping Deer.

 

[olympia]

i heard an enterprising young businessman decided to use deer as pack animals, his idea went bust when he decided to transport nitroglycerine and many deer were lost due to their jumping characteristics when travelling

 

[MiG25]

Even the regulations in BC say "Mule Deer (Black-tailed)".

 

[billdick]

My grandpa was born in 1919 and he said they were mule deer here in saskatchewan when he was a kid. He said in the thirties the muledeer where only up north like Rosetown and north way up into the bush and there were no whitetails there. whitetails were only in the south and very few muledeer.

 

[07blackwater]

My dad's nearly 84 and he's always called them mule deer.

 

[Suka]

My guess is when settlers driving mules in front of the wagons came into the country and made the connection with the ears of the deer and those of the mule.

That's what I was told.

 

[Brandon3]

My elderly Great Uncle, who lived in Southern Manitoba all his life, called them "jumpers"

 

[BigUglyMan]

A solid 15 years before Lewis and Clark, Thompson was referring to them as Jumping Deer.

Well we're narrowing it down a bit...late 1770s to early 1800s. Thompson was better about local knowledge that Lewis and Clark were.

 

[MiG25]

Well we're narrowing it down a bit...late 1770s to early 1800s. Thompson was better about local knowledge that Lewis and Clark were.

Well, they were following his maps.

 

[bearkilr]

My elderly Great Uncle, who lived in Southern Manitoba all his life, called them "jumpers"

They're still called that here, but that's whitetail deer. Some claim the name comes from the fact we used to have a lot of mule deer.

 

[Ronforca]

As far as I know they are two different species.Having shot lots of both they are quite different.The Blacktail have a bit different head and their antlers are shaped a bit different. Also on the average they are smaller.Hang them together some time and you will soon see the difference.I think that they are related but to me they have a lot of Whitetail traits.