With snow on the ground, you’ll find them by looking for their brown bodies. In light of the uncertainty and confusion that current subspecies designations have produced, some have argued that it is time to discard subspecies names al- together. The evaluation of subspecies is more than just looking at some genetic results. The physical variation in mule deer led early natural-ists to collect a mule deer from one location and another from someplace else and designate them as different species or subspecies because slight differences they described. Rocky Mountain mule deer through-out their entire range from northern Arizona and New Mexico up to the Yukon are remarkably similar genetically. Stodding it's called IIRC. Then you watch the deer to see where they’re going to bed down in the late morning. But if you have intimate knowledge of how mule deer respond to threats in your particular hunting area, you might have luck posting standers along preferred escape routes and then sending pushers in to bedding areas to spook the deer out. If major weather is imminent, it’s best to back out and wait for a better scenario. When still-hunting mule deer, focus on edges between bedding and feeding areas. Also, mule deer tend to be much more laid back and less jittery. Mule deer are available to hunt in 16 Western states. There is no well-defined line that could be drawn between desert and Rocky Mountain mule deer either on a physical or genetic basis; bigger, darker northern deer gradually change to lighter, smaller deer in the Southwest.

Though larger than the Texas whitetail, Texas’ mule deer are smaller than their northern cousins.

Thanks guys, interesting info about it here. And when you find you’re after, don’t be afraid to pull off an aggressive stalk. Buy, Sell, and Trade your Firearms and Gear. And the smaller body size of mule deer means that one hunter can manage packing the carcass out of a backcountry location without needing to enlist pack stock or an army of buddies. Since the bedded deer are blind to their backside and can’t smell what’s above them either, they will often bed with a rock, cliff or clump of vegetation to their backs. If mule deer subspecies designations are to be of value in management, they must be based on genetic, ecological, and physical differences between populations of deer. Ranching, wildlife management, finance, oil & gas, real estate development and management. The number of samples we collected and analyzed exceeded nearly every other study of this type.

Thanks, and you are right about academic competition, and also sloppy scholarship. Emily Latch and O. E.Rhodes, Jr., two wildlife geneticists recognized for their previous work in this area. The desert mule deer name Odocoileus hemionus crooki is not valid because, as I wrote in a journal article, its scientific designation was based on a specimen that was a mule deer x whitetail hybrid. Required fields are marked *. Throughout the geographic range of mule deer and their black-tailed subspecies (Odocoileus he-mionus), we see a lot of variation in body size, coat color, antler shape, behavior,and other attributes. Mule deer antlers are bifurcated, meaning they fork as they grow. Jim has authored or coauthored more than 200 magazine articles, dozens of scientific papers, and 20 book chapters in regional, national, and international publications.

Fortunately, in the case of blacktail vs. mule deer, we already have a foundation of previous genetic research which shows that both blacktail subspecies have mtDNA that differs substantially from all the mule deer subspecies. As much as mule deer are associated with sagebrush habitat, in the early season they are often found up in the high country basins where they can enjoy cooler temperatures and high-nutrition feed. Some of these populations apparently have been separated from mule deer on the mainland since the late Pleistocene. Mule deer, particularly rut-crazed bucks, are not that hard to approach.

The mule deer on San Jose Island off the Mexican coast in the Sea of Cortez have never been described in detail, but a few genetic samples from deer there indicate they are no different from the mule deer on the mainland. Mule deer are much more likely than whitetails to pause for a few moments after they’ve been alerted to your presence. Diet You might sit on a glassing knob on October 20 and see two bucks, then return on November 20, peak rut and see 20. Several currently described subpecies of mule deer are at risk of being used by anti-hunting groups to further infringe on our ability to legally hunt; the most obvious is the “Inyo Mule Deer.” A court injunction could be granted by a sympathetic judge in California to stop the hunting of this deer until we “prove” hunting it is not detrimental. Big bucks, land management, rut reports, and tips for the whitetail obsessed. From this sparse collection of deer, the geographic ranges of mule deer subspecies were drawn on a map. Central Colorado has... “The key to mule deer hunting is covering ground. Words by Steve ReidSpending time behind your optics can greatly increase your odds of harvesting a... Our picks for the week’s best hunting, fishing, wild foods, and conservation content. Don’t ask me why or how much trouble one would get into by doing this. The limited gene flow and small population size in island populations can reduce genetic diversity. By starting the stalk above the deer, the hunter is at a huge advantage for this reason alone.

Calling and driving are two tactics that aren’t typically used by mule deer hunters, though there are situations when each strategy might be put to use. Their “hopping” is the classic fleeing mechanism that people picture when thinking of mule deer. The many perversities of so-called wildlife “management” are major contributing factors to the decline.

More open bedding areas such as coulees or ridges with sparse coverings of pine and juniper are also good.

Bobcats, coyotes, wolverines, black bears, grizzlies, and golden eagles all prey on mule deer as well, usually targeting fawns. Hunting Methods Humans do all manner of things to artificially increase numbers of favored species like mule deer and bighorn or manipulate physical attributes such as deer antler size. This solution, however, would be a little too drastic. It is meaningful to recognize some geographic differences for improved management, particularly if they provide a useful designation of a population that is physically or ecologically different. Just don’t expect this behavior from the big bucks of the species, with old age, they commonly a adopt a trick used by their whitetail cousins, get clear of trouble in a hurry by heading immediately for escape cover without looking back. Luckily for you, after reaching relative safety, the mule deer will often stop and take a look at its pursuer, sometimes providing a shot opportunity. This is when having a well-trained game eye really comes in handy.

These somewhat-arbitrary subspecies names have been repeated over and over in books, scientific papers, and magazines to the point that everyone assumes there is a solid scientific basis for these categories. We are accumulating some idea of genetic relatedness among these subspecies, but also have to consider the entire package that may make them different from others of the same species. Because of the lack of any clarifying information, the original list of subspecies has not been altered much through the years and so the same mule deer subpecies continue to be recognized today, regardless of whether they are valid or not. These deer are undoubtedly different (as physical descriptions have indicated) from other mule deer, but how different?

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We will continue to refine our knowledge with what we have learned from not only their genetic differences, but also physical and ecological uniqueness that might warrant recognition for conservation reasons. All Rights Reserved. Once they’ve settled in, it’s time to plan your stalk and make an attempt. Each world has more than 20 groups with 5 puzzles each. When you find this pocket, be sure to hunt it. Secondly, high country basins have a fairly predictable mid-to late-morning thermal which causes the wind to move up the hillsides.

Whether you’re spotting from a hard-to-reach mountain peak or a pickup truck parked along a ranch road, plan on treating your binoculars as though they are glued to your face. Whitetails don't do that. On the flipside, this flavor can be described as highly aromatic and “herby.”  Good for any red meat application.

It is common for does to drop twin fawns. Most of these samples came from hunters who harvested deer and agreed to help with the study. You don’t want to spook the deer before they even get out of their beds. Edibility Beware, though, because the deer will be highly sensitive to any noise that comes from its blind side. It’s smart to glass large expanses of sagebrush at this time of year, especially in areas where the sagebrush is bordered by aspens. Brownish gray in color, with white rump patch and a small white tail which is tipped black.

To complete this research, I brought together Drs. Elk were natives to Texas and all native Texas elk are Rocky Mountain Elk, as we proved in our peer-reviewed paper found here: https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://pitchstonewaters.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Are-Elk-Native-to-Texas-Historical-and-Archaeological-Evidence-for-the-Natural-Occurence-of-Elk-in-Texas.pdf. I’m fortunate to live in the epicenter of the country’s best mule deer hunting. For instance, even the most recent textbooks contain the same stagnant, outdated information about mule deer subspecies because no one has reevaluated the same old list of subspecies names and designated ranges.

Ambush Hunting At first it’s a funny sight, until you realize that this goofy looking jump puts a mountain of steep, obstacle-filled terrain between hunter and hunted in a hurry. The Sitka may simply be an island-hopping form of blacktail shaped more by environment than long-term genetic isolation, Sitka blacktails have much less genetic diversity than other subspecies, probably because of their history of existing mostly in island populations. Rather than ignore local adaptations or disregard geographic differences, we should describe them accurately based on physical and genetic relationships that show true relatedness and differentiation. Mule deer behave much differently than whitetails. Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.

Almost all mule deer tags are distributed through some kind of a lottery that must be applied for. The previously described Inyo Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus inyoensis) is not genetically different from other mule deer in California.

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