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in general, I think mulies are bigger.
I'd like to see some actual studies that have been done, or data that's been compiled of the actual live or hanging weight of both species. Anyone know of any such thing?
Quote from: bobcat on November 22, 2013, 11:41:20 AMI'd like to see some actual studies that have been done, or data that's been compiled of the actual live or hanging weight of both species. Anyone know of any such thing?Hard to do, which group of WT are you going to compare?A Florida WT - no contest they're tiny. TX? Also small WT Alberta? Some of them bruisers would give any mule deer a run for hanging weight!
Not a lot of 'small' muleys that I can think of; but with being outnumbered by a bunch and much larger territory, I think Whitetails have areas where they average larger than mule deer.
Basically what I'm trying to get at with my question is which species, where they occur in the same areas, would weigh more, on average. So if you were to kill a mature animal in the same GMU, would the mule deer be bigger than the whitetail, and by how much.
* White-tailed deer will out compete mule deer for available resources (food, shelter, etc.) in most habitat types. They occupy the same habitats and have similar food preferences (they are almost identical). They are similar in size, however, their ears, face, antler configuration, running (gait), etc. are different.
As I’m a Utahan born and raised and I’ve noticed the recent influx on Whitetail deer in a Mule Deer range so I thought I’d compare the two cousins for everyone.Whitetail deer could be described as having a reddish-brown coat in the spring that becomes more of a grayish-brown during the fall and winter. They got their name for the white underside of it’s tail. They stand about three feet tall with the buck weighing in around 130-220 lbs. and the doe coming in anywhere from 90-200 lbs. The mule deer is generally a grayish brown year round. The mule deer gets its name from the size of its mule-like ears. Mule deer have a white rump patch around tail, which is thinner than the broad tail of the whitetail, and has a black tip. The mule deer stand three to three and a half feet tall at the shoulder, with bucks weighing 125-250 lbs. and does weighing in between 100 and 150 pounds.
Body size: mules weigh in a little heavier, but obviously there’s a lot of overlap, and age/nutrition play a big role in determining a specific deer’s size.
Quote from: bobcat on November 22, 2013, 04:18:42 PMBasically what I'm trying to get at with my question is which species, where they occur in the same areas, would weigh more, on average. So if you were to kill a mature animal in the same GMU, would the mule deer be bigger than the whitetail, and by how much. Kind of an impossible question to answer considering genetics also comes into play. Two mule deer eating exactly the same amount of food and being exactly the same age can have very different weights. All depends on who your daddy is! I guess on average your muley will come out on top though.
Okay, I realize there is variation between individual deer. Let's put it this way- say you're going on a meat hunt to Wyoming. Two people, with four doe tags each. The tags are good for either species. If you came home with eight deer, would you be likely to have significantly more boned out meat if you killed eight doe mule deer versus eight doe whitetail deer?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quote from: bobcat on November 22, 2013, 05:45:56 PMOkay, I realize there is variation between individual deer. Let's put it this way- say you're going on a meat hunt to Wyoming. Two people, with four doe tags each. The tags are good for either species. If you came home with eight deer, would you be likely to have significantly more boned out meat if you killed eight doe mule deer versus eight doe whitetail deer?Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkI think on average you can count on getting 50-60 pounds of boneless meat off of mature mule deer does, and about 40-50 on mature whitetail does. I personally think the whitetails are a little better eating, but if you are going to make it into burger, pepperoni, etc then I wouldn't worry about it.
I have shot alot of Mule deer. The mule deer I just shot in New Mexico was the smallest mule deer I have ever seen (body size). The world record mule deer (Antlers) was killled there. I had an article years ago about a 560 lb white tail. It was in the mid west. Generaly the white tail are smaller. I got to see some mounts that the locals had in their homes while I was there. HOLY Mule deer Batman. One was over 250 " Many over 200" I will be going back. They eat dry Dry DRY DRY feed all day. Best tasting deer I have ever eaten. I was thinking about eating mesquite and grease wood my self. The deer all looked like they just got back from Jean Juaraze Salon.