Whitetail/Mulie crossbreeds
- Thread starter Sisco
- Start date
Bottom Gun
New member
There are a lot of them around here. I almost shot one by mistake last year.
The whitetail bucks will mate with mulie does and the results are these hybrids.
The mulie bucks will not mate with whitetail does because they can't catch them.
At least that's what a Game and Fish officer told us.
By the way he also said if I had shot this hybrid, I could have been busted since they do not consider it to be a whitetail and we had whitetail tags. I would imagine the same would hold true for a person with a mule deer tag.
The whitetail bucks will mate with mulie does and the results are these hybrids.
The mulie bucks will not mate with whitetail does because they can't catch them.
At least that's what a Game and Fish officer told us.
By the way he also said if I had shot this hybrid, I could have been busted since they do not consider it to be a whitetail and we had whitetail tags. I would imagine the same would hold true for a person with a mule deer tag.
Bottom Gun
New member
The lions have been keeping them in check down south here.
G&F says that's why they've been kind of scarce here lately.
G&F says that's why they've been kind of scarce here lately.
slick slidestop
New member
I had read in a Hunting magazine that someone put Mule deer on their land (not indigenous to this particular part of Texas) in an effort to get big deer genetics into some of the Whitetail on their property, and within one year the Whitetail Bucks killed every one of them.
The lowly Whitetail reportedly are some real bada##es and can whup the Mule deer.
Don't know if it's true or not, but thats what I read.
The lowly Whitetail reportedly are some real bada##es and can whup the Mule deer.
Don't know if it's true or not, but thats what I read.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
Some west Texas ranchers in mule deer country will shoot any whitetail they see, anytime.
The whitetail bucks are more agressive about mating. Mulies tend to sorta hang out and wait for volunteer does, mostly. Also, they apparently go into rut later. Too much later, I guess. Early bird and all that...
SFAIK, in Texas, the "code of the west" is that a muletail is counted as a whitetail; that season is longer, more typically can be taken, and it's a help to the mule deer herd dynamics.
Art
The whitetail bucks are more agressive about mating. Mulies tend to sorta hang out and wait for volunteer does, mostly. Also, they apparently go into rut later. Too much later, I guess. Early bird and all that...
SFAIK, in Texas, the "code of the west" is that a muletail is counted as a whitetail; that season is longer, more typically can be taken, and it's a help to the mule deer herd dynamics.
Art
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
Don't have a Texas TP&WD rulebook handy, but the whitetail season is right at two months long, beginning in early November.
The Panhandle mule deer season is earlier than the Trans-Pecos, but SFAIK is only 16 days, total. (The Trans-Pecos season always opens the Saturday following Thanksgiving.)
Where the seasons are open at the same time, either species may be taken.
The caveat is that this year, TP&WD has instituted "areas" or "zones" and there are also some county-specific rules. Takes a lot more reading than in the past.
Art
The Panhandle mule deer season is earlier than the Trans-Pecos, but SFAIK is only 16 days, total. (The Trans-Pecos season always opens the Saturday following Thanksgiving.)
Where the seasons are open at the same time, either species may be taken.
The caveat is that this year, TP&WD has instituted "areas" or "zones" and there are also some county-specific rules. Takes a lot more reading than in the past.
Art
SnakeLover
New member
My first buck, a east river South Dakota whitetail in 1983, has a perfect five point whitetail rack on it's left side and the right side has a pair of mulie forks and sprouts 6 points. There is a small mulie population in that area to this day, but I haven't seen any other bucks like this one. I'll see if I can get a picture of it to post.
Snake
Snake
The "What if" question that comes to mind:
In Western KS we find lots of deer in CRP grass, waist to head high. What if... you had a whitetail only permit and saw only head & shoulders. Looks like a whitetail to me!
By law the deer is a Mulie, would the mistaken idenity defense hold up?
In Western KS we find lots of deer in CRP grass, waist to head high. What if... you had a whitetail only permit and saw only head & shoulders. Looks like a whitetail to me!
By law the deer is a Mulie, would the mistaken idenity defense hold up?
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
SK, the horns are distinctly different; it should become a problem only if a hunter's reflexes are wired into "If it has horns, I shoot!"
Depending on the judge, ignorance might affect the penalty, but it may well not affect a finding of "Guilty."
, Art
Depending on the judge, ignorance might affect the penalty, but it may well not affect a finding of "Guilty."
, ArtJosephBoeckner
Moderator
cool
i havent ever heard of that but i guess its possible-i am from hays-where r u from SK-i will ask my grandfather and uncle-from greatbend-he bow hunts/rifle hunts whitetail and might hunt mulie-i dont know-i'll ask em if they have heard of that happening and if so any stories on monday-where did he get that deer?-out at the black powder range we belong to-18 miles north of hays-on yoceminto road-on the way to plainville-we saw about 5 mulies crossing hte road there one time about 7 miles away from it-almost ran em over-and then up the road about 1 mile from the shooting range we saw 2 fawns and a doe abuot 4 months ago-i think-i guess they live pretty close together so i geuss its really possible for the crosses
i havent ever heard of that but i guess its possible-i am from hays-where r u from SK-i will ask my grandfather and uncle-from greatbend-he bow hunts/rifle hunts whitetail and might hunt mulie-i dont know-i'll ask em if they have heard of that happening and if so any stories on monday-where did he get that deer?-out at the black powder range we belong to-18 miles north of hays-on yoceminto road-on the way to plainville-we saw about 5 mulies crossing hte road there one time about 7 miles away from it-almost ran em over-and then up the road about 1 mile from the shooting range we saw 2 fawns and a doe abuot 4 months ago-i think-i guess they live pretty close together so i geuss its really possible for the crosses