Muley/Whitetail Crossbreed???

[sealer]

This reminds me of all those jackalope mounts you see in little country bars...I'm not a muley expert (this is my 4th) as some of you are, but what do you think of this guy...quoting a good friend of mine, "Hey Drew, that's a nice whitetail rack on a muley's head"...LOL

An interesting part of this guy's headgear, although not visible in the pics, is that he has an additional point approx. 1.5" long on each eyeguard just above the rosette but with the fur laid back over them...they have a funny spoon like shape to them so they're a bit wider than long and I assumed they may have been broken while in velvet.

I was hoping wyomingben and dakotakid might be able to comment on this one...I harvested in NE Wyoming between the small town of Aladdin and the S. Dakota border...beautiful country...

 

[massandtrash]

What does his tail look like? Is it a muley tail or does it resemble a whitetail tail?

 

[YH]

I would say there is a chance that it could be a crossbreed. But with that said I've see antler configurations like that on mule deer bucks that don't have a whitetail within 100 miles. I don't think you can go on antler configuration alone.

 

[dakotakid]

Look at the ears, throat patch and forehead, I'm betting hes 100% muley, but yes that is nice country up there in the corner of the state. Nice buck, thanks for sharing the pic and story with us.

Mike

 

[hornaddiction]

Looks all muley to me!


Horn
www.trophiesonthewall.com

 

[Bura Nut]

I dont see anything that would make me think whitey. need to see the tail....... Thanks, Allen Taylor......

 

[Wyomingben]

I'm not sure. His body is all muley, and his horns are somewhat whitetail like, but I'm going with all muley. If the front points went straight forward I say maybe. I lived in Sheridan, Wy. Whitetail and Mule Deer lived in the same area and I never seen or heard of a crossbreed. I lived in NM too, there I heard a lot more talk of it. I've read some books thats say it does happen and others that say it can't. I think everyone argees if it does happen, the buck can't breed. The area you hunted has both. I have hunted that area and I have also hunted South Dakota. Nice Buck and Nice Area. Winters can be hard on the deer there although. With all the deer esperts here, I would be intested in there take.

WB

 

[redrider86401]

hello ,
i live in kingman arizona and 8 years ago i shot a crossbreed just outside of town, i heard of them before but never seen one until i shot this one,once in awhile we will see them here to this day.

 

[txhunter58]

The only way I know to tell the difference for sure is to compare the metatarsal gland on the inside of the rear leg between the ankle and the hock. Don't know which is where but the whitetail and mulie have the gland in significantly differnt places on the leg. The crossbred is supposed to be 1/2 way between where it is on the mulie and whitetail. If you still have the back leg, freeze it and compare it to the next for sure mulie you kill and see if it is in the same location or different.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

 

[boneaddict]

I've seen several hybrids, and he looks all Muley to me. You can't go off of antlers alone. Nice deer.

 

[sealer]

thanks for all the good info...I really wish I still had one of the back legs because I'm intrigued by txhunter's comments...some of you brought up the issue of the tail and he definitely had a mulie tail...

What originally got me thinking about the possibility of a mix was the antler configuration (which you've discounted) and his overall body size which seemed to be a bit light...of course, I was using the mulie I got in CO as a body size comparison which I probably shouldn't have...

 

[dakotakid]

IMHO, his body size or lack of it is probaly due to the fact that he's a bit on the young side, if I had to hazzard a guess I would say that buck is not more than 2 or 2? years old. His rack shows that as well with the willow size beams, next year he would have probably forked his back tines and possibly put on some mass, but looking at him I dont think he would have ever been a bruiser.

Mike

 

[sealer]

I hear ya...that's exactly what we aged him at...consider him a management buck...I also noted that the majority of the deer (whitetail & muley) I saw this season up there were somewhat lacking in the headgear category and would assume that this is directly related to the current drought conditions.

 

[Wyomingben]

I was reading a book by Ed Wolff "Taking Big Bucks" a northern rockies whitetail book. He said if a whitetail is ever a spike he will never grow up to be a Trophy sized deer. If his first year he was a 2 or 3 point, then he has a chance. He said spike should be culled from the herd. He did a lot of research from texas game ranches where they manage for trophy deer.

I was wondering if mule deer are the same? If spikes and little forkhorns, you know the crawdad pincher types, could never grow a big rack no matter how long they live, under any conditions??

Just wondering.... what do you all think?

WB

 

[dakotakid]

I agree with the "crab claw" theory, if you go to certain drainages that seems to be all you find is little scumbag crabclaw bucks. I think its genetic.

Mike

 

[Wyomingben]

Maybe the Go Big or Go Home idea should be Go Big or Shoot a little buck on the last day! or an old doe, one not capable of reproducing. I don't know, but if I was a owner of a large ranch, with many mule deer, I think I may encorage these little bucks get shot, if they don't they will breed in a few years creating more crap pinchers.

The book also talks about doe to buck ratios. If there are to many does and not enough large bucks to breed them, the small bucks will. If there are too many does they should be shot. I think the Wyoming Game and Fish considers a buck a buck if he has antlers. And manage the deer on that theory. I think if they managed it so the right number of does and small bucks where culled out each year, it would make a lot of non-trophy areas much better such as the Bighorns and Black Hills.

Is the reason there are not many big bucks in an area is there are to many small bucks?

In this book he writes that it has been proven on these manage whitetal ranches that antler growth is contributed to high quality protein in there diet and not so much minerals as once thought. Simply deer need good feed, especially in the winter. So, any area could produce large bucks if the herd numbers where balanced and the feed was good.

Just some interesting reading I thought I would pass on. I was always under the usumption that the same areas have always produced the biggest bucks because of the minarals in there food and genetics. But with this theory an area that has no good buck now, could produce huge bucks 10 years from now given proper game management and range management. It has worked with Whitetails on game ranches in Texas. Although it takes many years.

WB

 

[HunterScout]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-21-04 AT 09:34PM (MST)[p]I've lived and hunted in Wyoming all my life, hunting big Whitetails and Muleys. There are crossbreeds running around in the Buffalo, WY area.