White Tail/Mule deer Hybrid

[Boomer454]

Out looking for a Whitetail this afternoon and I stumbled onto a pretty strange sight.
A whitetail rack on a Mulie's body. And it was one hell of an impressive rack!!!
I have only seen one other hybrid in all the years I have been hunting.

What is legal here?
I have a Whitetail tag. The deer has whitetail antlers, but a mule deer's head/rump.
Is it legal for me to shoot it?
I am in Alberta, if there are any locals that have had this problem, or know the answer for sure.

Thanks

 

[todbartell]

most likely it was a purebrd mule deer, go by the body, not the antler style

 

[crazy_davey]

most likely it was a purebrd mule deer, go by the body, not the antler style

In areas with high concentrations of both species it does happen. I have seen it on more than one occasion and the ones I have seen are most definitely cross bread deer.

I asked SRD about this scenario a few years back and if I remember correctly I was told always go with what body the animal has, like Tod said.

 

[Walter Hornby]

go with the body. of course if you get mulie ears and a white tail butt or vice versua then you have your option.

 

[Lazy Ike]

I just saw a rack that was forked twice on one side and 3 tines on the other. The guy who owned it kept callin it a whitetail so I guess tht what it was. Now my question is are these animals sterile?

 

[martinbns]

I discussed this with somebody a few years ago, a CO told them either tag would be OK.

 

[catnthehatt]

I discussed this with somebody a few years ago, a CO told them either tag would be OK.

Yup, either tag is okay.
Bin thar, dun that.
Cat

 

[stubblejumper]

Ignore the antlers when determining species.Just because a deer has forked antlers doesn't mean that you can use a mule deer tag,and just because the antlers are not forked doesn't mean that you can use a whitetail tag.If it has a whitetails rump and tail,it is legally a whitetail.If it has a mules rump and tail,it is legally a mule deer.

 

[catnthehatt]

Ignore the antlers when determining species.Just because a deer has forked antlers doesn't mean that you can use a mule deer tag,and just because the antlers are not forked doesn't mean that you can use a whitetail tag.If it has a whitetails rump at tail,it is legally a whitetail.If it has a mules rump and tail,it is legally a mule deer.

I agree, and so does the F&W, but a mule deer head is also different from a White tail.

The one I shot had a whitel tail head, but a mule deer tail only!
It was following 4 white tail does.
Called the warden up, and he said, tag it with either, bring it in , and we will
qualify it for you.
I did, and no sweat.
The danged things ( the hybreds, not the F&W!) don't have any preproductive organs, and are dumber than dog turd.
Dr. Val Geist and I were talking a few years back and he figured it was nature's way of controlling a species change too suddenly.

Cat

 

[fester]

I just read an article on this in a hunting mag and the guy said in all the reported cases he had seen only one was a true hybrid. He also said that it was mostly guys shooting the wrong animal and then making up this story. I can't remember what mag.

 

[leslea_kate]

So long as they taste good eh

L

<snip>
The danged things ( the hybreds, not the F&W!) don't have any preproductive organs, and are dumber than dog turd.
Dr. Val Geist and I were talking a few years back and he figured it was nature's way of controlling a species change too suddenly.

Cat

 

[catnthehatt]

I just read an article on this in a hunting mag and the guy said in all the reported cases he had seen only one was a true hybrid. He also said that it was mostly guys shooting the wrong animal and then making up this story. I can't remember what mag.

it happens more often than you think.
There are many documented cases, same as does with antlers.
Not to hijack, but Camp Wainright has an incredible amount of does with antlers - apparantly the highest rate in North America, according to one F&W biologist I taked with a few years back.
They normally stay in velvet, and rarel get past a spike or fork.
Cat

 

[MiG25]

i've heard them called "kootenay deer". i suppose because historically, the kootenay district was one of the few places in BC with both whitetails and muleys.

 

[H4831]

Hybrid

I have hunted quite a bit with a retired game biologist. Drove through bush trails to a morning hunting area. Didn't see any deer. Driving back on a bush trail, came around a bend and a buck was fifty yards ahead, sideways to us. I asked the biologist if he wanted it, he said no, "do you want it?" "Not really," I said, then he said it is a hybrid. So we studied it for several minutes, until it got tired of looking at us, then it walked away. So, maybe the stupidity of him came natural to the hybrid!
The biologist also said that they can't reproduce, and it is only one combination that creates them. I think he said a mule deer buck and whitetail doe, but not the other way around.

 

[Silverado]

I once jumped a decent WT buck bedded down with a handful of Mule does in a coulee... surprised the heck out of me LOL

 

[DVXDUDE]

I love to see a picture of a hybrid, Never knew it was possible til now, never really thought about it either though

 

[whammy]

I read on article on hybrids, I heard that muleys were being driven out of areas(in the states) by an increase of white tail, and the mule doe whitetail buck hybrid had a better expectancy to live than the other way around.

 

[Steeleco]

I love to see a picture of a hybrid, Never knew it was possible til now, never really thought about it either though

Well here you go. This was taken in Kimbley BC last fall. It raised a good debate on HBC.

As far as sterile, I'm not sure they wouldn't be able to reproduce. Two similar types of dogs interbreed all the time, and their offspring are fertile.

 

['Boo]

Well here you go. This was taken in Kimbley BC last fall.

100% mule deer.

The body, tail and coloration are all mulie. The long metatarsal gland on your guy however is the give-a-way. All Whitetail/Mule deer hybrids that have been verified using DNA testing have a metatarsal that are about half the length of the one showing in your picture or about 2-3 times as large as the relatively small metatarsal on a whitetail.

Strange antlers abound and they are far from being rare.

Here is a strange one we took a few years ago:

 

[Camo tung]

100% mule deer.

The body, tail and coloration are all mulie. The long metatarsal gland on your guy however is the give-a-way. All Whitetail/Mule deer hybrids that have been verified using DNA testing have a metatarsal that are about half the length of the one showing in your picture or about 2-3 times as large as the relatively small metatarsal on a whitetail.

Strange antlers abound and they are far from being rare.

x2
Lots of factors will influence how a deer looks. The smaller skulls of a younger deer will make the ears look larger or "mule like". Body size can be a impacted by diet, as is horn growth. Not sure how many here saw or took a buck during our drought in Alberta a few years back but there were some very odd looking bucks taken. Most of the protein they were able to find went to sustaining life, not growing antlers. Those that grew antlers in those areas didn't have much antler mass, nor were they all symetrical. The radical change in diet seemed to produce a bumper crop of non-typical looking antlers without the usual non-typical sizes and scores.

Go with the bum/tail identification.