Whitetail in Mule Deer Country at 7200 feet

[muleracks]

Weird to see a young buck at Ice Lakes in Chelan County this week.  Mule deer spend the summer up there but whitetail typically stay in the lower valley; mostly north of Lake Chelan.  June 28, 2017

[muleracks]

Another photo.

[huntnnw]

May be a whitetail , but it identifies as a mule deer therefore it's a Muley 

We see lots of whitetails in ID up to 7,000 and we hunt whiteys up to 5,500 in NE WA

[muleracks]

Yep, if he identifies as a muley we shouldn't kick him out our mule deer country.

[greenhead_killer]

Nice pics!

[NOCK NOCK]

Seeing more and more Whiteys in central wa mule country every year. 
Cool pics

[boneaddict]

Ive killed two of my nicest whitetails in Muley country.  I couldn't pass them up.   Not at 7200 though.   Fantastic shots

[milldozer]

Nice shots.  About what elevation is snow line in that area?

[DOUBLELUNG]

My first year in Wyoming as a poor nonresident college student, I was hunting blue grouse at 10,000 feet at timberline during the October deer season.  I came around the top of a riparian stringer and jumped a huge whitetail out of his bed.  The river bottom at the base of these mountains always has whitetails, but I was 2,000' above the river and never saw another whitetail up high like that.  Pretty sure he was just waiting out hunting season. 

In Chelan County I often see young whitetail bucks in funny places during the rut, definitely unusual to see this one there in summer.  Thanks for sharing, great pics!

[huntnphool]

 I ran into a few at about 8000 in the Bitterroots, West of Darby several years ago.

[Doublelunger]

Seems that whitetail are the more dominant species. I see more and more whitetail all over the higher elevations in NE WA where ten years ago I would only see mulies. 

[muleracks]

We took our first whitetail out of Benson Creek in Okanogan County in 1961; the invasion has continued and now they are even in Chelan County south of Lake Chelan.  My son took a one above the town of Entiat in 94.  Not fond of the species because they spend all summer eating what the migratory mule deer need for winter browse and they are more dominant; watch them at the haystacks in the Methow chase off the timid muley.  We have never before seen any in the Glacier Peak Wilderness and this one is at over 7200 feet in the June snow field.

[crabcreekhunter]

Should be considered an invasive species in chelan county and be exterminated, the mule deer numbers will suffer immensely if they continue getting a stronger foothold.

[Opportunist]

I think the most out of place animal I've seen was in Idaho at 9,500  feet, a really nice antelope buck up in the boulder mountains.

[OutHouse]

This issue is always on my mind. Where I hunt, it's a mixed unit and over the last 15 years the whitetail have exploded. Mule deer correspondingly declined. Makes me wonder if mule deer have a lasting future in WA given the apparent adaptability of whitetails at these elevations. With regard to dominance, I remain undecided. I've seen mules shy away from whites, but I've also seen a single mule deer buck completely intimidate a whole group of whitetail bucks with chasing and what looked like biting though I cannot be sure given the distance. I'm starting to think they should open up a one day season in certain units and allow a second harvest. Does anyone else think there is a long term sustainability issue with the expansion of white tail territory?

[muleracks]

In 94 when my son took a whitetail buck on the hill back of Entiat, on the way down the road we met a wdfw rig, stopped him, show the buck and asked why they didn't open the season for any whitetail.  He said that, if they did that, people would be shooting mostly muleys by mistake.  seems to me that its Not that hard to see the difference.  Love to see Chelan County remain mule deer country (at least south of Lake Chelan).

[Skyvalhunter]

Benchleg

[nwwanderer]

His mother chased him off just before fawning and he went for a long walk.  I would not consider them more dominant but certainly more invasive and adaptable.

[boneaddict]

Id use the terms more aggressive and more adaptable.

[JM]

In 94 when my son took a whitetail buck on the hill back of Entiat, on the way down the road we met a wdfw rig, stopped him, show the buck and asked why they didn't open the season for any whitetail.  He said that, if they did that, people would be shooting mostly muleys by mistake.  seems to me that its Not that hard to see the difference.  Love to see Chelan County remain mule deer country (at least south of Lake Chelan).

That's BS! If they really wanted the public to harvest more whitetail than they would allow the buck permit holders in those areas to hunt during the actual Whitetail rut in early Dec and not the mule deer rut in early Nov.

[Skyvalhunter]

 

[Bushcraft]

I'm a mule deer guy. IMHO, whitetails are an invasive species that should be dealt with accordingly.

[Widgeondeke]

That first pic is great.

[meatwhack]

I think bone hit the nail on the head with "more aggressive and adaptable". I've watched smaller less mature whitetail bucks run more dominant mule deer bucks off during the rut. The range they've spread to now compared to 50 years ago is proof of their adaptability. Everyone always seems to cry and freak out over a blue tongue outbreak but I thinks it's natures way of keeping the population somewhat in check.

[UBA]

They definitely have a hold west of Lake Chelan

[scoutdog346]

i saw one ttibits mt in swakane one year archery hunting.  i thought it was a rare thing to see after talking to people I guess it's pretty common.  i would like to harvest a hybrid.

[Gringo31]

Id use the terms more aggressive and more adaptable.

Don't forget the twinning rate in whitetails is significantly higher as well.....AND they breed every year where some mules take a year off.

[UBA]

Seen 5 right along the entiat river last night. Im afraid they are here to stay.

[hunt2hunt810]

The whitetail are taking over in the Pasayten Wilderness too. Muley numbers are on a decline in Northern Okanogan County. WA Fish & Game better get off their asses quick and make some serious changes (Late Archery Season, more late whitetail permits both sexs, minimize stress on Mulies durring rut, etc......) or Wa will lose the great Mule deer. It's probably safe to say that what is going on in Okanogan and Chelan Counties is most likely same situation along the Eastern side of the Cascades because of the WA Fish & Game lack of better judgement management.

[timberfaller]

Growing up in Lake Chelan in the late 60's early 70's the Boyd District(above Manson back towards Chelan) was full of Whitetails,  had to go into the Methow over South Navare to get into Muley's.

As for "managers" the WDFW are far from being that!!!!!

AS for the Whitetail,  the only Muley(IMHO)that beats it for taste is one that lives in the wheat land county!

[buckcanyonlodge]

I agree the whitetail is more adaptable than mule deer. They are NOT more aggressive. I live with whitetail and mule deer in my yard and my leases every day 365 days a year. I have seen mule deer yearlings chase whitetail bucks away from a food source. In my 14 years of living with them on a 24 hour day to day basis , I have only once seen a whitetail buck act aggressive toward a mule deer. When it comes to a food source the whitetail ALWAYS take backseat to the mule deer. When I feed in the winter , I have to feed the mule deer and whitetail in separate areas. The mule deer will not tolerate any whitetail--including bucks- to feed near them. I see it   I live it...everyday starting at 5 o'clock in the morning. I am convinced the reason the whitetail multiply and the mule deer seem to be decreasing is the way they deal with predators. A couple years ago there were 10 mule deer does and all had twins. 20 fawns in the spring. Only 5 survived by December.  I know 3 were hit by cars. Too many cats , bears ,  coyotes and an occasional wolf.

 I can guarantee one thing...whitetail do not aggressively push mule deer from their established territory.