Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    From what I know:
    
     Whitetails are more brownish/tan in color.
     Mule deer are brownish in color during the summer month and then
    turn to gray in the fall/winter.
    
    The west coast has a deer call the black tail deer, which I have
    never seen one to know. (Brett H. you should know more about these(?).
    Where have you been latley, anyway ?) But, picture I've seen they
    are more like a mulie than a whitetail in color and have a black
    tipped tail.
    
    How do you hunt whitetail - sit in a tree all day, see many go by
    with that one tree or limb in the way and then all night wonder
    if you should not have maybe taken that shot :) - right ? all you
    easterners.
    
    How do you hunt mulies - get up many hours earlier than you need to,
    to beat the rush. Walk over many mountains and streams, but only
    fall in the deeper ones, Then at first light, use your bino's to
    spot that buck watching you miles away and still going.
    
    mark

    		Here in New Hampshire, especially this time of
    year, the white-tail can get very grey.  I've seen swamp
    deer that were almost black in appearance.  I guess it
    depends partly on their environment (in my opinion).
    
                  Bob

    Re .0
    
     Where I hunt in Wyoming the deer population is about 50% mule 50%
    whitetail. So I get to compare the two all the time. The color of the 
    two are very close out there. A Mule has a more grey in the face and 
    ears, and bigger ears. The 2 deer run _VERY_ different. A mulie will 
    bounce similar in ways to a kangaroo. A whitetail has more of a run.
    The tail on a white tail is bigger. The Racks on the bucks is a sure
    way to tell the difference. A Whitetail has brow tines and a mulie will 
    not. 
    
      

    
    Bob has summed up the the color exactly for whitetails in autum/winter,
    they are reddish in summer.
    
    As to your question of inter-breeding I had a conversation last year
    with famed photographer Lennord Lee Rue who is a writer,phot, and 
    deer bioligist....He stated that 25 years ago there seemed to be a
    line in the midwest that on one side it was muley and the other
    whitetails, some areas have both. Today he's found whitetails in
    thw western part of the U.S. as well as some Canada areas where 
    whitetails didn't exist but do today. They've also found that Whitetail
    bucks are breeding with mule-deer doe. He's convinced as well as others
    that in maybe 50 to 100 years mule deer will be in trouble, almost
    a lost breed if this trend continues. The reason for this is because
    the whitetail buck is a son-of a *itch during the rut. He's 10 times
    more aggresive than the mule deer buck....once a whitetail buck gets 
    on a hot doe he will never back off until he's done what he's suppose
    to, the mule-deer buck will give up in a short period of time and
    this is why the mule deer species is at risk. I've never hunted mule
    deer but hope to some day...the mule deer in it's own right is a fine
    game animal hopefully he'll be around the next century. Len Lee Rue
    also concluded that the whitetail population in the U.S. is around
    14 million +, and out numbers the mule deer cosiderably, as the
    white tail moves into areas he's never lived (mule deer country) and
    with his highly aggresive behaviour (spelling?) he will no doubt
    dominate the range in 10 to 15 decades.
    
    Rick
    
    P.S. If you get a chance see if you can locate the book written by
    him concerning this finding. He's located in New Jersey under 
    Lennord Lee Rue...I forget the name of the book but maybe you can
    find a phone number in a book written by him at your local library
    then call and explain what your looking for, I'm sure they will know
    the name of the book.
    

    This rack was definitly that of a whitetail.  The color is what really
    threw me.  I remember our discussion here a couple of years ago about
    inter-breeding and I wondered if this might be the results of that.  I
    also thought whitetails were a little smaller than mules, but this was
    a good heavy animal.  I didn't get a good enough look at all the does
    to be able to tell if they were all whitetails, but I can tell you I've
    walked those woods many times over the years and have never seen but
    one whitetail.  To see that many (if they were all whitetails) would be
    very unusual.
    
    The blacktails here hang around the Cascade and Coastal range.  They
    are a much different breed of deer.  I've hunted them and I would be
    able to tell the difference.
    
    God I hope I don't start seeing a bunch of tree stands in the woods. 
    "There goes the neighborhood".  
    
    
    Ken
    

    In reference to color, here in Georgia at one time of the year, I have
    seen red, brown, and gray whitetail.  They do change color, but I don't
    know if it is because of season, diet, or whatever, but I have seen
    different colored whitetail at the same time of year.  Unfortunately,
    I have seen WHITETAIL if youknow what I mean.  Next weekend is doe day
    weekend, can't wait.  This weekend is shot putting up chain link fence.
    
    damn!
    bob
    

    
    	I don't know what you call brow tines, but, I've got a muley
    	rack in my garage with 'em.
    
    	I've seen whitetails in eastern Colorado where I duck/goose
    	hunt and they were all grey.
    
    	Clay

 Mebbe you got the offspring of a whitetail buck and muley doe...

    
    
    I'm around.  I just don't have time to hunt..... &*&*(&(*#@@^&
    
    I'm just an Easterner that moved West.  My first experience with mulies 
    was a shock at how stupid they appeared to be in contrast to whitetail.  
    For instance I have walked right in between does that were eating along
    with their skippers.  They stand there and watch you but they don't
    run.  I *never* did that with whitetails.
    
    Having said how dumb they are, I have to admit that you'll find no
    mulie trophies at my house.....so take it fwiw  :-)
    
    I agree with .2.  I've seen very grey whitetails that were shot in
    swampy areas.  I've been told all my life that whitetails from cedar
    swamps are grey.  Don't go by color.
    
    Last year I hunted in the Yaak Valley, MT.  This was the most
    interesting thing I've seen because whitetails were mixed with mulies.  
    I mean you could hunt in one area and all you saw were mulies (does of
    course) and then you could hump a logging road for half a mile and go
    into the woods and see nothing but whitetails (does again :-).  
    
    Then, we hunted this one area where all the herds we saw were mixed
    mulies and whitetails!!  Let me point out that we were seeing about 20
    deer (does) per day on this trip.  
    
    Here's how I classify a deer that I see moving in the woods:
    
    1) Running
    
    	Mulies run like a dog.  Whitetails hop like kangaroos (like soemone
   				 else said)
    
    2) Tails
    
    	Whitetails run with their white flags waving in the air.  It's all
    	you see.  Unfortunately, it's usually too late for a shot by then.
    
    4) Face
    
    	If you can get a goo look at a face, mulies are of curse obvious by
    	their huge ears (easterner's view).  Whitetails have little tiny
    	undersized ears (westerner's view).  Also, I find that after you
    	see enough mulies in a given day, the white insides of a whitetail
        ear are a dead give away.
    
    3) Intelligence
    
    	If you hear a deer get up and bolt and you don't see it; it was a
    	whitetail.
    
    	Also, if you see a buck sneaking through the woods with his head
    	down so you can't see his rack, it's a whitetail.
    	
    
    4)	Socialization
    
    	If you see more than one buck standing around and they're not
    	fighting, they're mulies.
    
    5)
    
    	If you see a deer in my rig, it's a mulie :-)
    
    
    
    /brett
    

    
    Doctah,
    
    	Could be.  But, I've seen alot of muley racks with brow
    	tines.  
    
    	I saw a whitetail doe Saturday while pheasant hunting in
    	eastern Colorado.  We jumped her out of some tall reeds.
    	She was just as grey as she could be :^)
    
    Clay

    Mulies fight but not like whitetails.
    
    I watch two evenly matched mule deer bucks fight last year, behind the
    house. They would go in short, hot battles, then back off wait a
    few minutes and go at it again. I think whitetails have one major battle
    and settle it right then and there.
    
    The two I watched get into it had short ~1 minute battles about
    5 times. It was something to watch. The biggest of the two, but not
    by much, would stay down hill from the other. The buck on top would
    start it. Once after a short pushing match the bigger one whipped his
    head around towards the down hill and just thru that other buck off
    his feet down the hill. There's some power there.
    
    mark
    

    Hmmm...sounds like football.