Mule Deer in Kitsap County?

[salt n sage90]

Fellow from my work claims his wife and he on several occasions have seen deer near where they live while on bike rides that he believes could be mulies.
I felt him out a little about knowing what an elk looks like as well as blacktails, but he says he has seen deer that are double/triple the size of blacktails.
I am not very familiar with Kitsap County, but has anyone seen reports of this or have any info. Seems pretty far fetched to me but thought I would ask.

Are there Mulies/Benchlegs in the Olympics that could have traveled? (I thought those were all BTs).

[fishngamereaper]

No

[highside74]

Delete this now. There are no giant deer in the Kitsap area. 

[buckfvr]

Maybe an adult opposed to a yearling or such, but no chance a mule. 

[elkboy]

Maybe fallow deer or another exotic that escaped from somewhere?  I guess my first guess would be that it was a band of elk ranging around the landscape. 

[Sundance]

No on mulies in Kitsap. There have been rumors of elk before, but I've never seen one or heard a recent rumor. Chances of benchlegs in the Olympics I'd say is extremely unlikely.

[kball4]

No, but a mature blackie in his prime is gonna be all of 200-225lbs on the hoof.  Were a 1.5-2.5 year old forked horn may only be 120-150lbs.

[blackveltbowhunter]

 

[lewy]

 

[bhawley76]

I hear there are 200 plus inch mule deer there that migrated from 101. But shhhhhhh keep this under your hat!

[Platensek-po]

Have him send me coordinates of where he is seeing those deer and I will be happy to confirm in October if they are Mulies or BT. A pm will work just fine. Thanks

[fishngamereaper]

Curious what part of the county they think they are seeing these. And is he judging body size or antlers

Elk have been known to wander the Bremerton watershed but they are few and far between...last I heard was a cow and calf about 3-4 year's ago.

[MADMAX]

20 years ago I talked to an old fish cop across the bridge
Told me that in the early 60s they brought some mulies into Jeff county and turned them loose
Urban legend I suppose
Kinda like the wild pigs

[pd]

Curious what part of the county they think they are seeing these. And is he judging body size or antlers

Elk have been known to wander the Bremerton watershed but they are few and far between...last I heard was a cow and calf about 3-4 year's ago.

 

It is not impossible to have elk wander from the Shelton/Hoodsport gap onto the Kitsap peninsula, and then onto the Tahuya forest.  However, there are enough hunters in this area that such an event would not go unreported.  In recent years there have been elk in the Bremerton watershed, for sure.

But, no.  No mule deer west of I-5, and certainly no up the Olympic peninsula to the Kitsap peninsula.  We are more likely to get grizzly bears first.

[salt n sage90]

He said they saw one near the Kingston Terminal and another near Port Gamble.
If I had to guess they just aren't that familiar with blacktail deer or deer in general and his eyes were playing tricks on him. He said he saw a buck one time and a doe another and they looked like deer he had seen in yellowstone...
Sometimes I forget how little people know about wildlife, prolly just saw one up close a few times finally and never realized how big deer actually are when they arent out the car window.

I would definitely say that I have seen a few blacktail bucks on my cameras that could be mistaken for a mulie for sure.
Once again I dont know the area so I was just curious if there was something weird going on over there.

thank for the input.

[fishngamereaper]

There's allot of weird over here...
But no mule deer.

[brewzer13]

That would be hilarious but just a fairy tale. The last two confirmed elk sightings that I'm aware of were one in the watershed and then the bull that managed to get all the way to Stokes Auction and then got darted and moved but thats been years.

[Birdguy]

There's allot of weird over here...
But no mule deer.

 

[Hairhunter]

 No mule deer, but years ago I saw a blue grouse in lowland Gig Harbor,near salmon beach.

[bankwalker]

Realistically a doe on the smaller size is gonna be pretty tiny in comparison to a big mature blacktail buck.
I could see confusion especially if getting a fast glance!

[scoutdog346]

100% no...only bt in that area. All that tells u is that he is knew to deer hunting or he has done a very small amount of reading on the subject

[Flaming Antler Outdoors]

Remember BT are a sub species of Mule deer    Kinda like my 2 cow elk by Mason Lake that walked by me bear hunting. 

[nwwanderer]

Probably the other way around, BT first, but you get the idea

[bigmacc]

You have any white tail over there? That’s pretty much where they ALL came from around these parts(America that is)🤣

[Alchase]

There are some huge Blacktail out on Bangor and a couple other bases out there. I could see how someone could be a bit confused.

[MADMAX]

There are some huge Blacktail out on Bangor and a couple other bases out there. I could see how someone could be a bit confused.

They used to be
When I was on the annex 20 years ago
They bio came through and sterilized a bunch
Too many car wrecks

[Alchase]

There are some huge Blacktail out on Bangor and a couple other bases out there. I could see how someone could be a bit confused.

They used to be
When I was on the annex 20 years ago
They bio came through and sterilized a bunch
Too many car wrecks

Oh no that should be a sin!
They had some monsters out there.

[MADMAX]

The biggest bucks are all in Port Townsend or Ocean shores living on rose bushes

https://www.ptleader.com/stories/oh-deer-how-many-of-you-are-there,24096