Mule Deer SubSpecies

T

Texas_Hunter

Guest
I am curious about something about Mule Deer, do they have sub species like Whitetails do?

I have only taken a couple mule deer, but they have been from different parts of North America all in the Late November to Early December timeframe. My mulie from Northern New Mexico is light gray with streaks of black under his legs and has a big white throat patch. He has a little black on his face, but nothing outstanding. The bucks I have taken in Wyoming and Colorado are pretty similar in look. This buck was aged at 4 1/2 (if that helps).

I recently took a buck from Saskatchewan that is almost black to extremely dark gray, has virtually no throat patch and he has no color markings or differences in his shoulder or leg area. He has a very defined black streak around his mouth that looks like a gotee. The only similar traits about the animals is the big, wide ears.

Anyhow, I was just curious if Mule Deer have sub species like whitetails and what are the distinguishing marks?
 
It has been awhile since I had my wildlife biology class, but lets see if I can remember. I belive there are 4 or 5 sub species of Mule deer. Rocky Mountain (the largest), Desert, Inyo, & California (the smallest) Mule Deer. Like I said it has been a few years & I may have forgotten 1 or 2 species.
ProHunter
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
 
Yes they do, here in California anyway. We have several sub species that I know of. The Inyo mule deer of the Eastern Sierras south of Reno, California Mule deer in the mountians of southern California, the Burro mule deer that inhabit the areas along the Colorado River and down into mexico And Your tipical Rockey Mountian Mule Deer In the North East corner Of the state. I would think there would be the same type of thing in other states. Hope this helps a bit.



hntnnut
 
All western deer are sub-species of the whitetail. The whitetail generated it's own sub-species that developed into the blacktail and the mule deer is a sub of the cross breeding of the blacktail and whitetail.
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Eric
 
Subspecies or not, there are big differences in appearances, hair patterns, colors, and shapes of mule deer even from one common location.
I live on the Paunsaugunt in So. Utah, and I see around 150 deer each season brought into my taxidermy shop, and there are some really different looking animals, even from right here. Bucks with double white throat patches, golden foreheads, black foreheads, short faces, long faces, long ears, short ears, black mustaches, no mustaches, long hairs under the chin, and every other thing you can imagine.
I assume that it will be similar in every area. Just like people, you will get different hair color, head size, body size, and many other traits even within one family.
I think it is cool to see bucks with different characteristics, and colors.
I have a friend who is a taxidermist in Kanab that has a buck that is almost completely black from head to toe that came from Green River Utah.
 

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