Which is bigger mule deer or whitetail

Their large rump, though, is much lighter in color than the rest of their body. On the other hand, whitetails have a darker rump than muleys except for when their tail is up. Both tails can have black tips, so the primary characteristic that differentiates the species is tail shape.

Fawns Whitetail and muley fawns are almost identical for the first few months of their life. At that point, their tails should be more defined, as well as how they run.

Despite this giant disparity in the age of each species, these two deer are closely linked to one another. Whitetail deer were a creature of warmer climates. They expanded their range from their original habitat in what is now the southeastern United States, across the southern portion of the country below the ice sheet towards California.

Here, they mingled with blacktail deer whose ancestors migrated from southeast Alaska, south down the Pacific coast during the ice age. Over a period of hundreds, possibly thousands of years and generation after generation of hybridization, mule deer emerged as a new deer species. As the ice age ended and the glaciers receded northwards, mule deer took advantage of new available habitat, habitat for which they were specially adapted. Freed from severe competition and predation, the two opportunists species multiplied, radiated, and hybridized.

This book is a fascinating, in-depth read for anyone interested in deer found around the globe. Meanwhile, the overall range of mule deer is smaller and their numbers significantly lower. Whitetails are now found in nearly all of the continental United States.

California and Nevada are the exceptions for the time being, but whitetails are constantly expanding their range into new areas. Southward, whitetails extend into Mexico and the tropical jungles of Central and South America. In the U. We have more whitetails now, by far, than at the time of European contact.

The largest concentration of mule deer populations tend to fall along either side of the Continental Divide, with smaller numbers extending into the central plains. Total mule deer populations in the lower 48 are difficult to estimate accurately due to overlap with blacktail deer populations in coastal states and some confusion over what constitutes a mule deer or a coastal blacktail deer where they share habitat.

Colorado has the largest population of mule deer with over , animals. Whitetails can get by just about anywhere. They are generalists capable of surviving in a variety of habitats from swamps to forests, and plains to mountains. Agriculture and forest thinning have been a boon to whitetails. Riparian corridors and young forests adjacent to crop fields such as corn, wheat, and soybeans are some of the most productive whitetail habitat. Unlike whitetails that have thrived because of increased human alteration of the landscape, mule deer do best where humans have had the least amount of impact on their habitat.

A whitetail can easily live its entire life in a single square mile. Mule deer often summer in high elevation alpine habitat above the treeline where the richest food sources are found, but because snow levels are unmanageable during winter, mule deer migrate downhill to river valleys and low elevation sagebrush habitat where food is accessible.

The distance between those two points may be well over one hundred miles. In fact, it was recently discovered mule deer migrate farther than any other land animal in the lower Mule deer and whitetails are both primarily browsers as opposed to grazers, like elk.

Both species will eat hundreds of different types of plants. In the fall and winter, whitetails feed on waste grain, man-made food plots, acorns and young saplings, while mule deer prefer mountain mahogany, aspen shoots, and sagebrush. Like a lot of big game animals, mule deer and whitetails are crepuscular , meaning they most actively feed and travel near dawn and dusk.

In the middle of the day they bed down to rest and chew their cud. During hunting seasons, whitetails prefer thick, brushy bedding areas, while mule deer often choose shady spots near the tops of ridges where they can survey a large area for danger.

Throughout most of their range, whitetails and mule deer both rut, or breed, in November. The peak of the whitetail rut tends to fall during the first week or two of November. Mule deer breeding activity is highest in the second half of November. Mule deer densities are much lower so the bucks travel long distances to find does.

They are also much more nomadic than whitetails, and the mule deer rut often coincides with their winter migration. Mule deer and whitetail both have highly advanced sensory capabilities when it comes to predator and hunter avoidance. Both species have good eyesight when it comes to picking up movement. Personally, I believe mule deer rely on their eyesight more than whitetails and that they see a bit better at long range.

We talk about black-tailed deer in this post here. Most mule deer have antlers that "fork"—that is, they divide in two, and then each of those forks divide in two. It doesn't always work like that—there's a lot of variation in nature, thank goodness—but that pattern is what you'll usually see on a mule deer. White-tail deer, however, have an entirely different growth pattern to their antlers. They have a single main beam, and tines grow out from that single beam.

The result is two very different-looking sets of antlers. Mule deer typically have more white and white tones on their faces than white-tails do, and it's usually a lighter color than the rest of their oat. They tend to have darker foreheads than white-tails, as well. White-tails usually have brown-ish tints on their faces, with white-ish rings around their nose and eyes.

There may be a little bit of white behind the white-tail's nose, but very little on the bridge to the eyes. There's a great degree of variance within the mule deer population and the white-tail deer population, but as a general rule of thumb Coat color is another tricky distinguisher, because there's some overlap in coat color, but also because white-tails' coats tend to get a little more grey during the winter.

As with all these characteristics, you need to take all the other characteristics into account. There are a LOT of factors that go into body size, and it's usually a combination of genetics, nutrition, age, and environmental factors among many others!

Both are usually anywhere from 36 inches to 42 inches at the shoulder. Deer of both varieties seem to follow Bergmann's Rule , which states that the animals in colder, more northern regions tend to be larger than the animals found in warmer, more southern regions. In North America, the further north you head, the larger you'll see both species. So now that you have a pretty good idea of the physical differences between white-tails and mules, let's take a look at some of the other differentiating factors between these two types of deer—and how they'll make a difference in your hunt.

If you're in any of the states that border the Atlantic Ocean, differentiating these two species just got a whole lot easier: there are no mule deer on the East Coast. If you're hunting anywhere from Florida to Maine, the deer you're looking at is almost certainly a white-tail. There are very few, if any, mule deer on the East Coast. Mule deer are usually located west of the Missouri River, with plenty of them around the Rocky Mountains and the West Coast, all the way from Mexico all the way up into Canada.

Here's where it gets tricky: white-tails expand pretty far west, as well, and if you're located west of the Missouri River, you'll need to be able to differentiate between the two. There are parts of Nevada and California that don't have any white-tails, but pretty much every other state has white-tails. There are slight variations in reproductive schedules between these two types of animals, and here's how it breaks down.

White-tails have a biological advantage here and a higher birth rate , because they're able to breed earlier in the life cycle, and the gestation period is around two weeks shorter.

Both species share a "usual suspects" list of predators, and that list includes wolves, coyotes, and cougars and, of course, humans. Most predators attack either old or young, and if a doe or buck has made it to maturity, their chances of survival from these predators is higher. The biggest difference is their composure. White-tail deer are a LOT more jittery than mule deer, and they spook very easily there's a classic "West-Coast-folks-are-more-laid-back" joke we could make here, but we'll skip it for now.

If you surprise a white-tail with noise or sudden movement, chances are very strong they'll shoot that tail up and bound away. Mule deer mating season takes place between mid to late November every year. Antlers Whitetail bucks have a primary beam the antler develops from, separating into different directions and forming different points.

Antlers shed in January or February. As they grow, they fork off in two different directions. They will later split once more to make a greater number of tines, or the points. A Mule Deer doe. Note the large ears angled up , and white rump with black-tipped tail. A pair of mature Mule Deer bucks. Note the bifurcated antlers.

White Tailed Deer doe. Note the brown face and smaller ears set at a lower angle. A young White Tailed Deer buck. Note how the antlers grow from one primary beam.

Notice the brown rump and tail. You May Also Enjoy:. Red Deer. Tufted Deer. Indian Hog Deer. Bawean Deer. Share this post. Share on facebook. Share on google. Share on twitter. Share on linkedin. Share on pinterest. Share on print. Share on email. Whitetail deer usually weigh between about 90 to pounds.