180" WHITETAIL VS 200 MULEDEER

HNTNFSH

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IS A KILLING A 180 INCH WHITETAIL BUCK COMPARABLE TO KILLING A 200 INCH MULEY BUCK? JUST WONDERING CUZ I GOT A 180 6/8 WHITETAIL BUT MY BIGGEST MULEY IS 160+ AND HAVE HUNTED MULEYS MY WHOLE LIFE AND WHITETAILS ONLY ONCE AGAIN JUST WONDERING
 
i would rather shoot a whitey over a muley anyday. i would rather shoot a 150 whitey than a 190 muley....

i think the whitey is more of a trophy. around where i am they become noc-turnal and just vanish. then across the river in the fields is 50 muleys with a couple of nice bucks. muley's dont get my blood flowing.
 
I have a 177" whitetail from public land (northern MN) and a 197" muley from public land (CO). They were both difficult but I would bet that I will shoot a 200" muley LONG before I ever shoot a 180" whitetail. It would actually surprise me a whole lot if I ever get a 180" whitetail.

Big whitetails in big woods (northern MN) are just plain difficult to catch in the daylight. Heck they are difficult to catch on a game camera. Once they get to that point in their life they are so smart and know their area so well it is nearly impossible.

Mule deer put themselves "out there" too often and are available to hunters. Just the natural more open terrain, migration and having to show up for food and water are all things working against a mature muley.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"


Let me guess, you drive a 1 ton with oak trees for smoke stacks, 12" lift kit and 40" tires to pull a single place lawn mower trailer? See Zeke for prime example....
 
mntman you said it perfect.

i find it more of a challenge trying to harvest a big whitey... i have shot a couple of 160 bucks and it was tough.. which is super tough for wyoming. my buddy and i found a 180 pig while shed hunting.

when hunting muleys and you jump them they run out and stop adn run and stop and on and on. where a whitey when he runs he is gone. i have watched whitetails get jumped and they run out slow without a trace of noise and jump in a ditch and cirlce back to where they got jumped and the poor hunter never knows it happened
 
I would rather shoot a 200 inch muley......personally I dont think you can compare the two. I think the biggest factor is the type of terrain these animals call home. Just depdends on the condition of the hunt on which is harder to harvest. Put a muley in that thick deciduous type terrain where he cant be watched or seen and I bet he would be just as hard to kill....and on the flip side put a whitey up above 12,000 feet above timber line where you can glass him from miles away then try to close the distance on him where he can see you coming from hundreds of yards off. Better yet try stalking a big ol muley above timberline with a bow....too many factors to say which is harder to kill
 
A 180 whitetail is a heck of a trophy. I live in Nebraska and hunt some of the best river and farm country around here and have only seen 1 maybe 2 that were even close to 180.I have shot some 165 bucks and my brother has a 170 buck,but they are tough. I know they are around but very smart when they get that big.A lot of nocturnal bucks.On the same note a 200 Muley is very tough also.I have hunted a lot in Colorado and have seen some good ones,I don't think I have ever seen a 200 inch Typical,but have seen some non typicals that would go over that,of course when I didn't have a tag or before or after season.
 
I'd rather shoot a 200" Mule deer than a 180" whitetail any day of the week. The land we hunt whitetails on produced a 175" buck last weekend and a 147" buck 2 weeks ago. We have one we have all seen that is much, much bigger than the 175" buck we just killed. There have been 2 over 180 inches killed in the area last season.

I'd rather hunt a high country mule deer with a back pack than sit in a tree stand, tripod or box blind and hope a big whitetail comes through.
 
Big deer are hard to get, don't matter if they're muleys or whiteys. I agree 100% with mtnman post.

My dad has been hunting a whitetail on our farm for two years. He is a 150ish" buck, which is big for our area. In two years he has tons of game camera photos of the buck.....only one of those is during daylight! He got one daylight photo last year, all others were at night. This year he started getting pics of him in June and gets several every week, all of them, even during the summer months have been at night. And my dad nor myself have NEVER seen the buck in person.
 
Set up more cameras and figure out which direction he is coming from. That buck does move in the daylight, just not where you are set up. If you can find where he is bedding, quietly sneak in while it's dark and set up a stand early in the AM. Then just wait it out all day, leave at dark. The second you spook him from his bedding area, his whole routine will change and his bedding area will too.

We had a buck like that a few years ago. Everyone was getting pictures of him at night, just nothing during the day. We started studying all the photos for each night and learned what stand he hit first. This pin pointed where he was coming from. My cousin slipped in one early, early morning and set a stand on a trail in some very thick vegetation. About 30 minutes after daylight, he shot the buck as it was sneaking to his bed. Scored 167.
 
I agree CO is easier for Muleys than any other state. Come to NM and you will see how hard a big Muley is.

Hands down I would pick a Muley of a whitey any day.
I would rather shoot a 120 Muley than a 160 whitey

~Master the Tines~
 
A 180 whitetail vs 200 muley is like asking ....would it be better to sleep with the worlds most beautiful blonde or the worlds most beautiful redhead...Both are top shelf... Congrats on your big whitey.
 
There is a HUGE difference killing a 180 WT in farm country vs the big timber of South Ohio where I hunt. Almost impossible to kill a monster big timber WT. You may have a 3 or 4 days all year where he will show himself in daylight.
 
The same is true with muleys. There is a huge difference between open country muleys and timber mountain muleys like I hunt. I just finished up my holidays and put on over 100 kms of boot rubber and saw 4 deer in 7 days. This is in an area I have killed 200 inchers before. When you put all your eggs in one basket and go after a giant, it don't matter if it is a whitey, muley, blackie, elk, bighorn, thinhorn, you name it. A critter gets big with age and with age comes wisdom. Hunting them on their own home turf puts the advantage in their court.
 
I say it's comparable, and heres my two cents on the differences between whitetails and mule deer.

I believe there is a huge discrepency in the behavior of eastern whitetails and western whitetails. There is also varied terrain that can become a behavior changer.

I hunt whitetails in mountain country, no riverbottoms or fields for miles in any direction and nobody uses treestands. The vegetation is thick but with clearcuts, shots can be out to 300 yards. Mule deer are not uncommon in these areas and I usually see a few does every year and a buck every couple years. The two species behave similarly.

I hunt mule deer in high mountain and sage brush country, where seeing deer is easy, finding a big buck and then getting close to it with very little cover is the challenge.

Whitetails stop to look back just as often as mule deer. Whereas in open mule deer country you can still see a deer that stops 80 yards away, in my whitetail areas, 80 yards puts them out of sight due to the brush but I know they stop and watch.

Last weekend I had a nice 130 inch 4x4 whitetail bust from cover 45 yards in front of me and then stop broadside at 80 yards, if I wasn't carrying a doe tag at the time he would dead.

Whitetails are not supernatural creatures that are magically more elusive than any other deer species, the challenge of whitetails is just different than the challenge of mule deer.

No matter which one I am hunting, my boots will be on the ground sneaking through the woods and glassy bare hillsides and clearcuts.
 
I really want to do a Whitetail hunt someday. They sound like they have habits like our Blacktails, except our Cali high country Blackies get into steep stuff combined with the thickest cover around and stay nocturnal. Seems like both would be hard earned but I would go 200 Muley first just because they are my Favorite.
 
this post sounds like me and my brother bantering.
he calls mule deer "carp"
he lives in the black hills of wyoming
i live in casper and i love mule deer with a bow.
if i can't land a big muley with a bow i go to sundance to rifle hunt white tails.
he calls muleys "carp" and i call white tail "flagits"
i like both but you know i gotta banter back with him.lol
i've got three white tail mounts and two mule deer mounts, i've hunted20 days for mule deer to every one day of white tail.
i do have one muley euro mount and one more coming from this years buck.
130's to 140's on the whitetails and 160's to 180 on muleys.
never even had a chance at a 200" muley or seen one hunting.
shot a 170" whitetail when i was a kid thought nothing of it back then, hung it on the barn and shot it up with a 22. i look back and kick myself in the bum.
i hunt every day off for elk and muleys during sept but have never needed more then thanksgiving weekend for white tail.
i walk my tail off for muleys, drive around and spot for white tails.
in my book white tail are 10,000 times easier to hunt - tell this year. i found a muley that was tooo easy and took him on labor day 170" gross. daylight on the 3rd day, archery.
shortest bow season so far.
shot my elk the next friday.
ok ok i'm rambling
 
Having lived in Iowa and NW Ontario prior to moving to Montana and killing nice ones of each. I would say actually killing a big whitetail is a much larger challenge than killing a big mulie. I hate sitting in a stand/blind waiting for the whitetails, in my opinion thats the best way to hunt big whities. I rather hunt Mule Deer any day.
 
> i hunt every day off
>for elk and muleys during
>sept but have never needed
>more then thanksgiving weekend for
>white tail.
> i walk my tail off
>for muleys, drive around and
>spot for white tails.
> in my book white tail
>are 10,000 times easier to
>hunt

easier to hunt, but look at when youre hunting them. you hunt muleys during september, but whitetails during the rut. of course theyre going to be easier to hunt under those circumstances.
 
It's an age-old arguement. "which one is tougher"

It depends on where and when you're hunting.

They're both like any other animal, the really big one are tough to come by!

I think it matters little whether it's one or the other, chances are 95% that none of us will ever see either specie, of that lofty size, during our actual hunting season.

I'd take either one and count myself lucky!

I count myself lucky,
Zeke
 
Lets see a pic(s) Zeke. Assuming the way you eneded your posting of counting yourself lucky you must have one or both.
Love seeing pics of big bucks either way...

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"


Let me guess, you drive a 1 ton with oak trees for smoke stacks, 12" lift kit and 40" tires to pull a single place lawn mower trailer?
 
mntman,

I certainly do NOT have one of each! I think anyone who has one of each, or even close, is a stud!

I've hunted whitetail so sporadically over the years that I feel lucky to have a few fair bucks. My best is a 140"+/- from Kansas with my bow (I'm kinda proud of it but I'm sure some would scoff). I'll see if I can track down a pics of this whitetail and will be glad to share if you don't make fun of it. It's not nearly as big as the buck your dad shot this year!

I do have a Non Typ Mule deer with 16 score-able points and a 32" "outside" spread. I have a half dozen other mule deer mounted which score from 166" P&Y to about 180". I'll be glad to get photos for you but I do NOT want to hijack the thread since it's interesting stuff and I like you hear all the opinions.

I'll either track down one of the old photos or take the mounted beast outside and get some digital ones. Thanks for the interest.

Zeke

PS: with work, family in town and the expo this weekend I might have to wait until Monday or so to get pics but I'll be glad to do it.
 
It's obvious that I'm NOT a techy dude! It's a iphone photo of a photo and I'm lucky to get this far with it!
Turn your computer sideways to view. LOL
Go ahead and laugh at my hat but I hope you like my buck.
Zeke

2582img_0160.jpg
 
That is an awesome buck Zeke, thanks for posting.
As far as a 140 whitetail, I am not passing that up. I'd shoot that anytime... Dad would say thanks, can't remember what his from this year scored but don't think it was over 140, if it was only by an inch or so.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"


Let me guess, you drive a 1 ton with oak trees for smoke stacks, 12" lift kit and 40" tires to pull a single place lawn mower trailer?
 
sad thing is some attach score with age...there is a 1-2% chance a whitetail buck will ever near 170" ! and the same with mule deer hitting 180" the question should be killing a 5.5+ yr old of either specie..I mostly hunt mountain whitetails in NE WA and N ID with a bow and I can say they are the hardest animal Ive hunted..patience is key..there is no glasssing..I have hundreds of hours in scouting all summer to be prepared for fall. I have been fortunate enought to kill three 150" bucks,177" and a 194" whitetails. I dont pass up 5yr old bucks ever..they are no more stupid as a 125" buck or a 180" buck cause they grew some more inches...some of the wiliest bucks I have hunted were over 6 and were barely 130"

I have hunted muleys in WA and ID with a rifle and yet to kill a 200" muley, but dont have a ton of experience either.

Another deal with muleys is there is multiple tags out west for primo units that give guys excellent chances at rutting or migratory bucks...whitetails have almost none to speak of and they are generally pressured as OTC general hunts and thru the rut. There is a huge advantage to hunting rutting or snow dependant mulies.
 
I have never hunted Whites but for anyone to say that a mature mule deer is dumb has never hunted mule deer or are full of shizz. Ya i am sure mule deer can be a bit easier to spot due to more open ground, but they have superior hearing to a whitetail,( ginormus ears) and are not easy to stalk on. Anyway my point is i think it really depends on area and hunting pressure. A big mule deer on Utahs henry mountains will be easier to kill then one on a general hunt. As the henries are manageed for trophy mule deer and have far less pressure. I think a big mature deer of any species outside of the rut is no easy task. Mule deer turn noctural as well.
i guarantee stalking on a mature mule deer with a bow is one of the hardest challenges in hunting. Im sure there are probably tougher things but i can guarantee stalking a mature MD is up there!
 
Those whitetails have some great hearing themselves. Walk the river-bottom and a whitey will bolt out of the country and never get to see what it is. A muley will just stand around watching ya and run a few yards and stop and look at you. A whitetail can jump a string on a bow and duck over a foot. That is simply amazing.. but im sure a muley can do the same.

I was raised hunting whiteys and im addicted. Muleys don't get my blood flowing. I get jacked finding a 120 class shed off a whitey and when I find a 170 muley shed I put it in the for-sale pile.

I have hunted muleys and been on nice bucks but I would rather tag a whitey.... And I don't really ever see that changing.
 
It just depends. I've seen both species just stand around. If the area is pressured both mature animals of each species are generally pretty Wiley. I have great respect for both. And both species are generally dumber than a bag of hammers in the rut. . . I used to pay little attention to white tails but took my first here in Wyoming last year and now I have the bug.
 
We spot and stalk muleys and whitetail during the same archery season in the same area. While the Mule Deer do put themselves in stalk-able areas more often due to their habitat preferences, we have found that both are about the same difficulty given the same conditions and location. If either see, hear or smell you, its over.

That being said, I would take a 180 whitetail over a 200 muley, but just because I have been fortunate to arrow a 211" muley already and my biggest whitetail is a 148" p&y 25" wide . Like was said already though, it is more of an age thing for me anymore. A 5 year old 160 buck is just as much or more of a trophy as a 180 4 year old.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-23-14 AT 09:45PM (MST)[p]I have killed many mule deer bow hunting and gun hunting through the years. I can tell you white tails are by far more of a challange to kill. I spent 5 years trying to harvest one and finally got one this year. Not the biggest buck but I wasn't waiting another 5 years. LOL I still like the mule hunt better.

 

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