What species am I ?

[NOCK NOCK]

I am fairly certain I know, but curious to see what ya'll think.   Same deer in both pics.

[Timberstalker]

Benchy

[Mfowl]

Yearling mulie.

[jrebel]

Blacky and Mulie Mix.  Short legs, short nose, fat body.....more blacktail traits than mule deer IMO. 

[Bigshooter]

Tule elk? 

[crabcreekhunter]

Been seeing more and more of those in the Chelan Mountains, not good for the genetics!  Seen some huge bucks, until you realize the size of head and width of the ears is 16"-17".  Don't ask me how I know lol

[jrebel]

Been seeing more and more of those in the Chelan Mountains, not good for the genetics!  Seen some huge bucks, until you realize the size of head and width of the ears is 16"-17".  Don't ask me how I know lol

There's more to this story......Pics or it didn't happen!!   

[grundy53]

Bench leg

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[High Climber]

Mostly Mulie. Yearling

[OutHouse]

To me, it looks like a straight up BT, but I'm no expert. I ran into a similar looking deer in 218 unit and when compared to the other does around her, it looked like her ears were smaller than the mules and the tale was just like this one.

[DOUBLELUNG]

Odocoileus hemionus, showing phenotypic traits intermediate between O.h.hemionus and O.h.columbianus
 

[NOCK NOCK]

Ok OK DL....

This is in an area that should be Muleys only,  but I agree, there are a lot of blacktail traits in this deer.

[actionshooter]

Odocoileus hemionus, showing phenotypic traits intermediate between O.h.hemionus and O.h.columbianus
 

YA,  What he said... 

[DOUBLELUNG]

Ok OK DL....

This is in an area that should be Muleys only,  but I agree, there are a lot of blacktail traits in this deer.

I killed one in Hay Canyon during late archery about 15 years ago that was by all appearances a "pure" blacktail doe - pointy face, small ears, very brown coat and a pure black tail the size and shape of my hand.

[Reidus]

Did it smell like a blacktail?

[link]

That right there is a Burnworth blacktail.

[blindluck]

I’ve been seeing the same tails nowhere near bt country

[Bill W]

would like more details on this especially if it was around Wenatchee.  I thought I shot a cross on the high hunt 30+ years ago around Lake Wenatchee.

[xX Let ER Rip Xx]

BENCHLEG ALL DAY

[NOCK NOCK]

Interesting deer for sure. I have seen lots of different variations in mule deer tails, but this one is way closer to a blacktail tail than I have ever seen before in muley country. I will keep a closer eye on the upcoming cam checks throughout the season to see if I can find any more that are similar.

[mountainman]

Benchleg. See them all the time in chelan and okanogan counties

[hunterofelk]

Black-tailed deer-Wikipedia

Taxonomy

Though the black-tailed deer arguably is a species, virtually all recent authorities maintain it as a subspecies of the mule deer (O. hemionus).[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Strictly speaking, the black-tailed deer group consists of two subspecies, as it also includes O. h. sitkensis (the Sitka deer).[2] The black-tailed deer group and the mule deer group (sensu stricto) hybridize, and mule deer appear to have evolved from the black-tailed deer group.[6] Despite this, the mtDNA of the white-tailed deer and mule deer are similar, but differ from that of the black-tailed deer.[6] This may be the result of introgression, although hybrids between the mule deer and white-tailed deer are rare in the wild (apparently more common locally in West Texas), and the hybrid survival rate is low even in captivity.[4][6]

[Bigshooter]

I've been in Idaho more than once and was told there were to many blacktails in the area.  I'm a firm believer that dumb people have dumb thoughts. 

[slim9300]

Mule deer? 🤷🏼‍♂️


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nwwanderer]

Whitetail are the basis for all three species, been around for millions of years, blacktail are a long separated species with a whitetail base that again crossed with whitetail to produce mule deer, the new kid on the block.  You can expect blends with such a diverse base.  Not really unusual to find whitetail with fangs and weird facial stripes generally lost millions of years ago.  Some curve balls exist in the DNA studies to make all of this a bit murky but generally this is what the gene studies show.

[7mmfan]

What I don't get is why there is still controversy over the fact that anywhere within about 25 miles of the crest, on either side, you can find Mule Deer, Blacktail, and crosses of the two.

[Tenkara]

That right there is a Burnworth blacktail.

lol

[link]

That right there is a Burnworth blacktail.

lol

I believe its being considered a new species of deer. Its home range is within a 2 hour driving radius of Portland, OR, any direction. This varies depending on the speed limit and which route you take. All bucks are Boone and Crockett, Pope and Young or SCI record book caliber. Unfortunately, its not found on public ground, only private. You can tell you've harvested one of these rare beasts if it smells like ferns, cedar boughs and bull feces.

[Bango skank]

I've been in Idaho more than once and was told there were to many blacktails in the area.  I'm a firm believer that dumb people have dumb thoughts.

An old man that lives in 121 and has a lot of killer property insists that the mule deer on his property are not mule deer, theyre blacktail.  He says the state transplanted blacktail there back before he was born.  His dad told him that, therefore its true 

[NOCK NOCK]

I've been in Idaho more than once and was told there were to many blacktails in the area.  I'm a firm believer that dumb people have dumb thoughts.

An old man that lives in 121 and has a lot of killer property insists that the mule deer on his property are not mule deer, theyre blacktail.  He says the state transplanted blacktail there back before he was born.  His dad told him that, therefore its true 

LOL, My FIL used to talk about how the deer around were he lived (Columbian Whitetail) had tails that were 3' long. 

[AL WORRELLS KID]

Some Strange Critters are headed North into Washington, must be Global Swarming. 
Doug

[Ridgerunner]

Benchleg no doubt.  90% of the deer I see in yakima county are like this.  Seen a few in Chelan county over the years too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[D Coates]

Pork?

[AROTTY]

IDK I think its more muley than benchleg. Most of the benchlegs have a true blacktail like tail.