Crossbreading

LeadPoison · Mar 25, 2005

Would a mule deer and a whitetail ever mate and have succesful offspring?

RLH · Mar 25, 2005

only if they teach it to ignore the taunts of others and set money aside to send it to college.

LeadPoison · Mar 25, 2005

I must admit I set myself up for that one! Very funny!

fowlmouth · Mar 25, 2005

RLH...thanks for the laugh...that is too funny!

bigLouis · Mar 25, 2005

friend who lives in Cody killed one near Meteetsee over ten years ago.Had it mounted,and I have no reason not to believe him. Big Louis

tufferthandug · Mar 25, 2005

I shot a buck 2 or 3 years ago that I thought could be a hybrid. Here's a picture. The left side was starting to show whitetail qualities. What do you think?

AndymanSavage · Mar 25, 2005

When I'm breading something for frying I like to use one type of crumbs only.......oh, crossbreeding, my bad.

Yes they can mate, it's most common with whitey bucks and mulie does, happens all the time,,,,,,,,,,

LeadPoison · Mar 25, 2005

Man, I am getting exploited! Is there anything else you guys can find in my original post to make fun of.

LOL This is too funny. I usually consider myself intelligent, but it's just one of those days. My excuse is that I couldn't fall asleep until 4:00 am. Oh well... God help you if I catch one of you guys slipping up on the keyboard...

wehunt · Mar 25, 2005

I had a late Entiat archery tag in 04, we chased a big muley buck around for half a day that was with a whitetail doe and would not leave her for anything. I don't know if he ever breed her, but I know it was on his mind.

intimidater37 · Mar 25, 2005

it would be the only tag bobcat could get!!!!

Shane · Mar 25, 2005

Hey Wehunt,
How did the hunt go? It seemed slow as far as I could tell. I was hunting the other side of the road and did not see any bucks in the back of trucks.
Shane

RACKMASTER · Mar 25, 2005

THEIRS JUST SOME THINGS A MULEY REFUSES TO DO!
Here on the west coast Blacktail and Muley party!
RM

ddy58 · Mar 25, 2005

I read somewhere that people always think they have Muley and Coues Whiteys crossed. But after testing they hardly ever are.

bowhuntinnut · Mar 26, 2005

The two cross on the eastern plains of Colorado all the time. Mostly whitey bucks getting on muley does, they are some of the dumbest weirdest looking things that i have ever seen.

kingfish · Mar 26, 2005

To answer your question....YES, They crossbread....but can't share their medical plans...

Mule_Deer_Crazy · Mar 26, 2005

A species by definition is a group of individuals that can successfully breed, producing fertile offspring. The question he's asking appears to be, "Can they produce fertile offspring?"

There's lots of data showing muley's and white-tailed deer crossbreed, but I've never seen any suggesting that those offspring are fertile. Likewise, if they produced fertile offspring, they technically aren't different species and white-tailed deer would just be another subspecies of Odocoileus hemionus. While the mule deer and blacktails are of the same species and produce fertile offspring, mule deer and white-tailed are not, so...?

Anybody seen any research articles that actually do some genetic investigation on mule/white-tailed offspring and their ability to reproduce?

LeadPoison · Mar 26, 2005

Anyone want to build a pen and conduct an experiment? I will provide the beer for the mule deer buck if doesn't find the whitey attractive.

RACKMASTER · Mar 26, 2005

Bring lots of the suds for the muley buck and an burlap sack!
However it would also have to be 1:59 am before opening morning!
rackmaster

orion23 · Mar 27, 2005

couple years ago i talked with a biologist about this same subject bacause i shot a buck several of my buddies were saying was a cross breed. the biologist told me that the tests that have been done showed that they can breed but the fetus has not lived in the studies that he knew of. i dont really think you can go by the figuration of the rack. racks come in all shapes and sizes. take if for what its worth. travis

Lien2 · Mar 28, 2005

RACKMASTER - That was good! Scarey thing is, I can relate. LOL

LeadPoison - Poor guy. All you did was ask a simple question, and all the smart@rsses came out to play! That's why I love this site!!! LMAO.

Lien2

buckslayer89 · Mar 28, 2005

ummm... Yes they do crossbread not often but it happens the only ways to tell is it has no testicals but has the organs of a doe...sounds gross but true.. It grows horns of either a Whitetail or a Mule Deer. My dads friend shot one like this in hardisty.. Where I shot My big 7x7 this past season. It was pretty small though and with the signs of whitetail horns and tail.. it had not testicals.. and was able to use a doe tag. So ya it happens

NDBadlandsbucks · Mar 28, 2005

LAST EDITED ON Mar-28-05 AT 12:41PM (MST)[p]In one of my many Biology courses in college, the same question came up. The professor said that they can and do occaisonally interbreed, mostly whitey bucks and muley does. The offspring are normally sterile. The male offspring tend to have larger than average racks if they make it to maturity, but that rarely happens. They rarely make it to maturity because they do not know which escape mechanism to use, if they should run like a whitey, or bounce like a muley - they usually end up doing a combination of both which looks vey uncoordinated and they can't get away from predators fast enough. Thats what I know about that issue, but if anyone knows anything more or different, please post it, because I have been interested in this too. Oh yeah, they also usually have antlers that mostly resemble a whitey, a face like a muley (with the dark forehead), and a tail that is shaped like a whitey, but it has a dark brown or black tip on it like muleys.

Keep the Sun at Your Back and the Wind in Your Face