Cross?

[Sundance]

cross breed?

[Bigtine96]

My buddy killed a cross bread 2years ago, and it had a typical white tail and a muley face with a whitetail rack.

[Woodchuck]

It's easy to tell if they are cross bred. The other pure breed's are mean to 'em 

[millertime89]

It's easy to tell if they are cross bred. The other pure breed's are mean to 'em 

haha and they have different bedding areas   

[Pathfinder101]

I have looked into this for one of the classes I am teaching.  Statistically, you would have to breed 100 whitetail bucks to 100 muley does to get one pregency to come to term (doesn't usually work the other way, whitetail bucks are agressive enough to breed muley does, muley bucks generally arent...).  Then, on top of that the offspring are usually so fragile that they don't survive a year.  Every once in a while a bona-fide cross pops up, but most suspected cases are just mistaken identity...

[bigpaw 77]

My dad killed one last year. It had a mulie face and ears with a whitetail rack and the tail was a whitetail tail with the bottom tip of it being black and he was a little darker than the whitetails around. It was the best tasting deer I have ever tasted.

[AMBUSH OUTFITTERS BC]

I got one a hand full of years ago looking at the rack on my wall as i type.same as bigpaw77 M face whitey rack 3+4 last tine on main beam has a mulie fork very werd thats why it's on the wall but like bigpaw77 said IT WAS THE BEST I MEAN THE BEST eating dear i have ever had.

[Pathfinder101]

What did it's tail look like?

[KopperBuck]

I have looked into this for one of the classes I am teaching.  Statistically, you would have to breed 100 whitetail bucks to 100 muley does to get one pregency to come to term (doesn't usually work the other way, whitetail bucks are agressive enough to breed muley does, muley bucks generally arent...).  Then, on top of that the offspring are usually so fragile that they don't survive a year.  Every once in a while a bona-fide cross pops up, but most suspected cases are just mistaken identity...

Yessir! If this were to take we would see lost characterizations of mule deer in these regions. Whitetail tend to be more agressive breeders, and opportunistic. While I'm not discounting these deer may show similar characteristics of the other (whitetail vs mule), it's more likely it's just a coincidence. They can breed, and there probably are hybrids running around, but the survival rate of a hybrid is extremely low, even in captivity. Given the odds, the frequency of these kills and sightings leads me to believe the coincidence explanation.

[Maverick]

nobody has pics of these crosses???

[blacktail luv]

Pathfinder, since you seem to know the most about the situation are mule deer and blacktails similar enough genetically that there offspring are more likely to survive.  We have lots of bench leg deer just wondering why biologically speaking. Not trying to jack the thread either, just curious.

[boneaddict]

Yes they will readily survive and yes these crosses are often referred to as benchlegs, and yes they can breed back and forth "contaminating" the gene pool. 

[boneaddict]

Pathfinders' info seems fairly accurate,(especially about the buck part) though I have no knowledge or proof of the 1:100 thing.  I have seen several crosses, don't recall if I have photo'd any of them, but most that I see pictured are just mistaken identity, usually due to the horns being of "whitetail" shape.  They are also supposed to be infertile, meaning they won't breed back.  That being said, I haven't figured out how blacktails came to being if they are supposedly the cross of a whitetail/muley.

[Alchase]

Can Mule deer have a white only tail?
I have seen what I thought was a mule deer that did not have the typical black on the tail up in the Pearygin.
Then weekend before last up by Big Creek (Cushman Lake area) we saw a small group of what I presumed were blacktails, but 3 of the 6 did not have a black tail? I do not believe White Tails have made it that far west yet but this had me baffled. It could have been a weird family trait I guess 

[boneaddict]

Frost bite, predator, damage in fighting...YES!    Reemmber a whitetail has a complete different tail structure than a muledeer.

[Alchase]

Frost bite, predator, damage in fighting...YES!    Reemmber a whitetail has a complete different tail structure than a muledeer.

Good point

[Elkstuffer]

While muzzleloader hunting in the Connell area in 2003 I came across a spike buck that had a whitetail face, muley ears and an odd looking tail. I grew up hunting whitetails in Idaho and he definitely looked different.

In Montana in 1997 I shot a whitetail buck that was bedded with 7 muledeer does. I know what he had on his mind. It was in the middle of the rut.

[bearpaw]

I think WT/MD crosses are sterile, so if that is true, a doe with a fawn would not be a cross.

[boneaddict]

Thats the way I understand it too.

[gonehuntin68]

ive seen it a few times myself