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Mule Deer Species Profile, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

The terrain where hunters find mule deer ranges from dry, high-desert foothills to rugged, mountainous alpine zones, all of which take serious effort to cover, so make sure your fitness level matches the challenge. Like most of the best mule deer hunting states covered so far, Nevada operates on a point system for its best tags, but what the Silver State has going for it, in addition to a number four spot for record typical mule deer in the US taken since , is the chance of drawing one of the many mid-tier regions for big muleys in a matter of a few short years of applying.

The new world record with a bow for a mule deer was set in this state in , so maybe now is the time to make sure your bow is sighted in. As for licensing and seasons, Arizona is generous with both, even to non-residents.

Archery tags are available over-the-counter, and there are at least three seasons for mule deer per year in most units that cover multiple biological patterns think hunting summer range and rut. Arizona is a hot, dry place, and recent droughts have had their impacts on the overall mule deer population, which hovers between 85, and , animals. They mean the same thing. Non-typical antler sets can be freakishly abnormal looking, have an uneven number of points, and those points can be in all shapes, sizes, and directions.

What should be kept in mind about typical vs. It may have been an injury during a fight, low levels of testosterone due to malnutrition or food scarcity, or even disease. In fact, when experts are considering areas with the best quality management indicators present, they are looking at how many typical bucks are present. Access Initiatives. Elite Membership. Find travel ideas, outdoor recreation stories, photos and things to do in Wisconsin. More in the Outdoors section.

Show off that trophy buck, turkey or muskie — or just you and your buddies goofing off at camp. Submit your hunting and fishing photos and we’ll post them here.

Trail cam photos submitted by readers. View gallery Submit photo. A mule deer grazes near Bloomington, Idaho. A mule deer recently was killed in Wisconsin, far from its usual habitat. Credit: Associated Press. Paul A. Smith Outdoors Editor Nov. Related Coverage. About Paul A. Smith Paul A. Smith covers outdoors and conservation issues.

Wisconsin Trails Find travel ideas, outdoor recreation stories, photos and things to do in Wisconsin. More from Wisconsin Trails. Your Photos. Submit a photo View the gallery. Weekly Features. A study by the South Carolina department of natural resources estimated the white-tailed deer population in the state to be about , After many years of stability, the state reports deer population trended downwards between and Deer harvests began to increase again in , possibly due to coyote densities declining.

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources: deer hunting resources. South Dakota is home to both the white-tailed and mule deer. White-tailed deer can be found throughout the state while mule deer are mainly found around and to the west of the Missouri River breaks. The most credible white-tailed estimate I could find came from the South Dakota white-tailed and mule deer management plan , which listed the preseason population estimate at , The more recent mule deer survey linked at bottom of article lists about 80, mule deer.

They also said that a significant portion of that population was found in east Tennessee. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency: deer hunting guide. White-tailed deer dominate Texas, being found in out of counties across the state with an estimated population of 5. However Texas is also home to mule deer, who live in the Trans-Pecos and Panhandle regions. The mule deer survey put their population within the state at , Texas Hunting Information. The main deer population in Utah is mule deer, with a estimate of , There is also a population of white-tailed deer in Utah, however I could not find any credible estimates other than 1, back in It may be that monitoring of this species separate from overall deer in the state has not yet been established.

There is some concern that in the long run, they may outcompete the native mule deer. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources: hunting in Utah. In Vermont they also prefer the valley areas that have a mix of forest and fields. Population estimates for recent years put the white-tailed deer numbers around , — 1 million.

The lowest estimate in the state came around , when Virginia was down to just 25, deer after over years of hunting and habitat loss. Clearly restocking, management efforts, and the shift away from clearing land for agriculture have worked, to the point where many counties are now trying to lower the number of deer to a more sustainable number.

While statewide estimates are gained mainly through harvest data, in a thermal imaging drone was flown over Arlington in efforts to gain more accurate data. Virginia DWR: deer hunting regulations and seasons.

Washington state is home four subspecies of deer. Three of those are abundant enough to hunt, the white-tailed deer, mule deer and black-tailed deer. The Columbian white-tailed deer is an endangered species so is protected rather than hunted. In general, black-tailed deer occur in the western half of the state, while white-tailed and mule deer occur in the eastern half.

The total deer estimate for the state in recent years is about , — , It was hard to find a species break-down, but in general it appears each of the three main species make up a fairly equal portion of that total, about , each. The endangered Columbian white-tailed deer are only found in the far southwestern corner of Washington along the lower Columbia River.

A spring estimate put their population at about 1, That is a far cry from nearly zero in Importing of white-tailed deer from Michigan began in to strategic habitats.

West Virginia Department of Natural Resources: big game hunting information. Sounds good for hunters, but populations this high can be problematic. Wyoming is home to both mule deer and white-tailed deer. The mule deer working group estimates the mule deer population at , Deer friendly reports a white-tailed deer population of 72, in based on hunting data. The white-tailed deer has a reddish-brown coat in the spring which fades to a grayish-brown coat during the fall and winter.

Newborn deer, or fawns, have white spots on their coats that help camouflage them in the forest. They will lose these spots after a few months. The top of their tail is brown, but the underside is very fluffy and white. When alarmed, white-tailed deer will raise their tail straight up, flashing the white. If you ever see a deer in the woods and they spot you, you might catch them flagging as they run away. The male white-tailed deer will grow a new set of antlers every year. The overall size, length, and branches on antlers depends on how well-fed the deer is, how old it is, and some is just genetics.

The antlers grow in late spring, and are covered with tissue called velvet during this growth period. The antlers are used during the breeding season to compete for breeding females. After the breeding season is over males will shed their antlers during the winter. Their size can vary greatly dependent on their location. On average in North America, males weigh pounds and females weigh 88 — pounds. The largest deer are often found along the northern portions of their range, while the tiny Key Deer of Florida barely make it to pounds.

One of the things that makes white-tailed deer so widespread is their ability to adapt to many environments. Many white-tailed deer live in forests and prefer habitat with young growth and forest edge. However in parts of their range, populations have adapted to prairie and savanna land such as Texas, Arizona and Mexico , tropical or subtropical forests in Central America, and mountain grassland in the Andes of South America. These deer are ruminants , which means they have a four-chambered stomach.

This not only allows them to digest a wide variety of foods, but they can eat and wait until later to digest. A useful trick if they are grazing and need to quickly flee from a predator.

White-tailed deer are mainly herbivores and will eat what they can find during each season. This includes plant shoots, legumes, cacti, leaves, grasses, fruit , corn, acorns and mushrooms. Deer eat a lot, about 2, pounds of plant matter each year. When too many deer are in one environment, they can be a detriment by not allowing plants to grow to maturity or even completely wiping out a species of plant from an ecosystem.

The majority of the North American population lives east of the Rocky Mountains. White-tailed deer are classified as the species Odocoileus virginianus , the Virginia white-tailed deer. However world-wide there are 26 known subspecies, with 17 of those occurring in the U.

The main noticeable difference between the mule deer and the white-tailed deer are ear size, tails, and antlers. Their tail is thinner than the white-tailed deer, with a distinctive black tip at the bottom. This means they fork as they grow. Like other deer species they grow new antlers each spring and shed them during the winter. The rut, which is their mating season, occurs in the fall and the fawns are born in the spring. On average in North America, males weigh — pounds and females weigh 95 — pounds.

Unlike white-tailed deer, some mule deer are migratory. They will spend the summer in higher elevations, then travel down to lower elevations during the winter. This helps them avoid the harsher high elevation winter conditions such as deeper snow that covers up food. The longest known mule deer migration occurs in Wyoming where deer travel miles from the Red Desert to the mountain slopes around the Hoback Basin. The mule deer is a generalist and will forage on whatever is available.

Studies of mule deer populations have shown that they have been recorded as eating nearly different plant species. This includes flowers, grass, tree and shrub fruits, nuts, acorns, berries and lichen. While the white-tailed deer more or less stop east of the Rocky Mountains, the mule deer take over west of the Rockies. They are most populous on the western Great Plains, in the Rocky Mountains, the southwestern states, and on the west coast of North America. Mule deer are classified as the species Odocoileus hemionus , the Rocky-Mountain mule deer.

There are eight accepted subspecies in the U. Even though black-tailed deer are considered subspecies of mule deer, there is still some debate on their origins and they are often counted separately.

Coat color tends to be more reddish-brown in the spring and grayish-brown during winter. Sitka overall have a darker coat than the Columbian. Black-tailed deer have a white patch on rump, which their tail mostly covers. The tail is straight and black on top with white underneath. Sitka are the smaller subspecies weighing between 80 — pounds. Columbian weigh between 88 — pounds. For both species females are smaller than the males.

Black-tailed deer in their native Pacific northwest range live in dense coastal rainforest and semi-open habitats including riparian forest along river banks and areas of tangled shrubs and thicket. It is important they have access to both the cover provided by the forest and the grazing in open areas and along the forest edge. Like most deer, black-tail browse on what vegetation is available in each season.

This includes during the winter and early spring, they feed on Douglas fir, western red cedar, red huckleberry, salal, deer fern, and lichens growing on trees. Late spring to fall, they consume grasses, blackberries, apples, fireweed, pearly everlasting, forbs, salmonberry, salal, and maple. While their historic range expanded further east, today you can find them in western Oregon, northern California, Washington, the Alaskan panhandle and areas of British Columbia.

A small population has also been introduced on the island of Kaui, Hawaii. Which came first, the black-tailed deer or the mule deer? I have seen some debate on this but at the time of writing this article the consensus is that black-tailed deer are a subspecies of the mule deer.

When Europeans first came to America, they found deer a plentiful resource in most states. During this time anyone could hunt deer and they were often a life line, providing meat and skin to the early settlers. As the population grew, the demand for market hunting increased and deer were hunted in greater and greater numbers.

What states are mule deer found in

 
49 rows · There are six subspecies of mule deer found across California. California mule deer. Nov 04,  · It was a mule deer, a species found in the western U.S. and parts of Canada and Mexico. The closest established population of wild mule deer to Wisconsin is found in central . Jun 09,  · Colorado is a top state for mule deer, in large part, because of the size of the deer population there. An estimated , to , mule deer inhabit the state. Colorado .