Pamphlet trivia: black-tailed deer

[DOUBLELUNG]

I was looking through the pamphlet and was struck by something.  There is an area in Eastern Washington where deer of the species Odocoileus hemionus are defined by WDFW as black-tailed deer, not mule deer. 

I'd be curious if anyone knows the history and why (I don't)?

[bobcat]

It depends on your definition of "eastern Washington." I assume you're referring to Klickitat county?

[DOUBLELUNG]

It depends on your definition of "eastern Washington." I assume you're referring to Klickitat county?

Yes, although I'm using WDFW's definitions - eastern and western Washington are defined along the Big White Salmon river, while the mule deer/black-tailed deer split definition is along the Klickitat river.  Therefore O. hemionus in "eastern Washington" between the Big White Salmon and Klickitat rivers are black-tailed deer.

[link]

I've hunted there quite a bit, and most of the deer are illiterate. They have to have boundaries somewhere.

[bobcat]

The majority of the deer in that area are genetically a mix of blacktail deer and mule deer, so for the purpose of keeping the hunting regulations from being excessively complicated, they had to define blacktail deer and mule deer by a particular line, and the Klickitat River is what they chose. At least that's my take on it.