Packwood, cross breeds or blacktail?

[Houndhunter]

alright well ive talked to alot of people about whether the deer are pure blacktails or not and wonder what most people on here believe. for me i know there blacktails , we've killed alot of em there and ive never seen anything that showed they had some mulie in them. when you compare these deer to ones shot out of the klick, definetly alll crossbreed there, they dont look similar and there horns are much smaller. BC recongizes them as columbian blacktail so they make the book but kinda curious to here what you guys think

[Alan K]

I'd definitely say BT for the vast majority of 'em.  Maybe some way up high have a little mixing? 

[luvtohnt]

It is hard to say, especially since mule deer carry the same mitochondrial DNA as black tails. So I guess the only real determining factor is what you beleive. I seen a few deer around that area (from the highway driving through) and they all appeared to be black tails to me.

Brandon

[twopoint]

i have hunted up in south ranier and saw some mixing there have shot two in stampede that were bolth mixes for sure up high though

[bobcat]

I think you've got to go farther east to start getting into the crosses. Rimrock and Cowiche have blacktail/muley crosses, and maybe some that are more blacktail than muley, so in my opinion anything in the Packwood GMU is pure blacktail. (during hunting season at least)  I could see some muleys being in the far eastern edge of the Packwood GMU during the summer.  

[JackOfAllTrades]

Dad hunted beyond Packwood lake in the 60's & 70's, He mentioned to me that there were some crossbreeds up there back then.  That area was poached so much in the 90's, that I'd be surprised that there's any Blacktail left at all.

Regarding where Mulies roam...  I saw Mulies west of the PCT but still east of Ross lake three times this year. I killed what I feel is a cross near Baker lake in the late 80's.  There are certainly crosses west of Klick all the way to the Big Lava bed.

-Steve

[DOUBLELUNG]

In the summer, there are some deer in the Goat Rocks and S. Rainier that look pure muley.  I've seen roadkill just west of Naches that looked every bit pure blacktail.  I suspect the intergrade is mainly east of Packwood, but that some mule deer summer west between Packwood and the Crest.

[PolarBear]

I shot a 4 point in the Quartz Creek area that was for all practical sakes, a muley.  It had some blacktail in him but had the typical muley rack, short, stubby tail, monster ears, and was buit like a beer barrel.  Just because some group calls and animal one thing due to  an imaginary line dosent make it so.  That has been proven on several bucks on this site.  The probability of mixed genes is pretty good around Packwood but it is more hit and miss that if it were a few miles East.  

[7mag.]

I've seen mule deer in the Kapowison tree farm, S.W. of Mt. Rainier. I've shot several "blacktails" in there also. Almost every one of them has signs of muley. A true blacktail rack almost never exceeds 20 inches in width, and they usually carry a lot of mass, with short tines that turn back in at the top. The WDFW considers Packwood to be East of the true blacktail boundary, I believe the only true blacktails are on the coast, or in Alaska. My uncle, who recently passed, grew up and lived his life in Lewis County, near wear the #1 and #2 blacktails in the state book were taken. He told me of a WDFW project he worked on, that transplanted mule deer in that area, as an experiment. It was several years later that the top 2 blacktails were taken, near that same release spot. Within 20 miles I believe. So, in my opinion, it's hard to find true blacktails in Washington. They most definitely don't live in Packwood.

[Houndhunter]

good to see some discussion here, i just personally have never seen a deer there that looked like it had any mulie in him but i know you cant tell from just the ears and the tail. i know its a big unit, but i could see where its atleast possible a mulie could wander through there

intresting read 7mag, ive never heard that they did transplanted mulies in lewis county

[Bigshooter]

I think you've got to go farther east to start getting into the crosses. Rimrock and Cowiche have blacktail/muley crosses, and maybe some that are more blacktail than muley, so in my opinion anything in the Packwood GMU is pure blacktail. (during hunting season at least)  I could see some muleys being in the far eastern edge of the Packwood GMU during the summer.  

I agree 100%.

In places where I have seen crosses is around glennwood.  And arond glennwood down in the fields you can see 3 different types of deer.  You can see mule deer, blacktails, and you can see crosses.  No where around packwood have I ever seen that.