Mulie vs Whitetail vs Blacktail

[Faw]

Ok here's another one. Deer only this time.

What is your preference to hunt and why? As in, does one taste better than the other to you? Is one easier to hunt than the other for you? Maybe one species is more dominant in your hunting area?

I'm in Region 8-9, and I will have a tag for mulie and whitetail. Whitetail seems like the bigger trophy/harder hunt at this point.

[Sylus]

There were some good opinions posted on this thread that I started a while back.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?111584-Mule-vs-Whitetail-Deer

For me I prefer and target MD. I don't know why but I just like them better than WT. However I am taking a real shine to blacktails as of late.

[Mulehahn]

On looks alone, I will always prefer mule deer. But never pass on a WT either. It depends on why a person hunts. Based on taste, I think WT taste better. But if it comes down to antler size, to me a 180 MD is a way tougher trophy than a 200 WT. People always say that WT are smarter, I disagree. No matter how much you hunt the odds of finding a true trophy MD always boils down to a certain degree of luck, right place right time. That buck may never step foot in that draw or ridge for the rest of his life. A White Tail on the other hand will stay with in a few miles his whole life. Granted he can disappear in that mile to the point you doubt even his existence he is there. Just have to find him.

Both are great to hunt, but for me whenever I see a WT tail where I only used to see MD a piece of me dies. But if I have a tag so does he so it is a wash.

[xtrail]

I prefer to hunt whichever species I bump into and have a tag for. :D

[835]

Blacktails...... untill you have hunted them you will never understand what they are all about...
Taste... Blacktail, Whitetail, mulie..
Hunt Blacktail, Mulie, Whitetail

[ruger#1]

Blacktails...... untill you have hunted them you will never understand what they are all about...
Taste... Blacktail, Whitetail, mulie..
Hunt Blacktail, Mulie, Whitetail

Thats the way I see it.Blacktails are the hardest one to hunt, And taste best next to whitetails. Try hunting blacktails on a mountain. They are a smart deer.

[Blacktail 270]

Blacktails, hands down for the hunt and they taste pretty damn good too.

[604ksmith]

I prefer to hunt Mulies and eat Blacktails.

[OutWest]

Mulies for me. I enjoy hiking/glassing/packing in camp to a remote area much more than posting up in a blind and staring at the same picture for hours on end. Killing a true trophy whitetail is tough to do no doubt. The whitetail hunt is more of an end of the season, get everyone together at the cabin and have some fun sort of thing for our group. Don't take it too serious as it's pretty easy to kill a so-so buck. They are running around everywhere despite what some people will try and tell you.

[Sofa King]

muley hands down.
their racks are the coolest, I still think a huge symmetrical 4X4 is the best looking rack out there.
they are the biggest of the three.
probably the least tasty of the three, but the taste isn't what makes the hunt fun for me.
they aren't as nervous and skittish as a whitey.
many say the whitey are smarter, I call bullshit. they are more predictable, will come to calling and rattling way easier, and they run for the next county when spooked.
best of all with the mules, I love how they bounce.
it's so cool and also can help one know they are near even if you didn't see them. thump-thump-thump.
probably my favourite thing in the world is getting on a fresh muley track in the snow and trying to catch up to him.

[dougan]

Black tail are the hardest to hunt

[rides bike to work]

I like hunting black tails the best but if I want a mature deer I can have a good chance on a 4 day trip for mulies but even in ten days chances of getting a mature black tail are slim. So I base most of my trips on mulies but hunt out my backdoor for black tails every other chance I get.
Hunting White tails are frustrating if its not november good luck getting yours eyes on a buck

[Buckmeister]

As far as taste goes, I believe correct handling of the kill makes all the difference in the taste regardless of temperature, rut, location, time of year, etc.. I have had excellent meat from both WT and Mulie.

I am blessed to be in an area that has record animals in both species. For me, it depends on the time of year which species I concentrate on hunting. For example, September sees me out for WT mostly, in October a mix of both, last week of Oct and first week of Nov I concentrate heavily on Mulies. Once they close in Reg 8 after Nov 10th, its back to WT. Now that I have a bow, I hunt both species in the late season.

As for style, with Mulie I incorporate a spot and stalk method. WT, mostly sitting in one spot in a blind or concealed location.

To sum it up, I just plain love hunting deer!!!

[kennyj]

Living on VI I hunt Blacktails the most, so they are my # 1 choice. I take a trip to the interior every year to hunt mule deer, # 2 choice. If and when I meet my Mule deer goal, I'm looking forward to going after White tail, #3.
kenny

[Paulyman]

Whitetails generally taste better,however the corn fed mule deer I got this year was off the chart awesome.

[Wild Images]

Mulies for size of antlers
Whitetails for taste
Blacktails for the challenge

[OutWest]

muley hands down.
many say the whitey are smarter, I call bullshit. they run for the next county when spooked.


Hmmmmmmmmmm

[rides bike to work]

Mulies are like salmon fishing they are big easy to catch and lots of them

Black tail are like steel head elusive require a lot of hard work to get one and is a real prize when you do.

white tail are like bass invasive and finicky as hell when the barometric pressure isn't just right.

[Sofa King]

Hmmmmmmmmmm
i knew that would be pointed out.
that doesnt mean they are smart, they will do that if a rabbitt farted i swear.
they react the way they do because they are a bundle of nerves, and many peopleclaim that shows they are smarter, when really they are just fidgety.
a muley will get to where he feels safe and then stop to see what spooked him, before running away all willy-nilly in a complete panic.
muley will even loop back and flank to watch and see what is following them.

[IronNoggin]

... many say the whitey are smarter, I call bullshit.

LOL! While everyone is of course entitled to their own opinion, there are many instances when that same opinion somewhat defines one's level of hunting experience (in terms of time committed to each species and areas hunted). While this is generally unintentional, it is at the same time quite "enlightening". :wink:

Having hunted and guided (no, not in BC) for mulies and whitetails in excess of 40 years, it is my humble opinion that whitetails on average are MUCH more canny ("intelligent" if you were...) than mulies. Especially so in the cases of mature bucks that have survived several hunting seasons, and in areas where hunting pressure is high. Whitetails adapt much better to these conditions, and soon learn how to avoid hunters while living right under their feet. Mulies... not so much. Mulies are somewhat famous for their tendency to put a little ground between themselves and a perceived threat, then turn to study what that threat may consist of. I've personally taken many Good bucks, and witnessed many more, that fell simply due to this unfortunate behavior. You will but extremely rarely ever see any mature whitetail buck do that!! There are many many more reasons that express the difference between the two species, but methinks you likely get the drift...

Of the bunch, I've found successfully hunting mature mulies "easier" than the same for whitetails. That said, neither hold a candle to the intelligence of a mature Blacktail. I've seen many a well experienced mulie / whitetail hunter frustrated to the point of giving up when switching over to hunting blacktails. For many reasons, the foremost amongst those being the blacktail simply out surpasses either in terms of "Smarts". Taking a Big Mature Blcktail is by FAR the most Challenging deer hunt a hunter can engage in.

All of that aside, taste is generally a matter of personal preference. For me, I rate them as whitetail being the "best" tablefare, followed by blacktails, then mulies. Yes, there are exceptions, but I do find this general pattern to hold true - at least for my own (and my Lady's) palate.

Time spent hunting them? I put in two months (plus) solid on blacktails every season. They are close, and I enjoy the Challenge of hunting for a Big Boy (with the bow of course) to the point of bordering on Obsession. Mulies and whitetails in BC I generally offer a week to ten days of pursuit - most often with the bow again. The latter two in Alberta usually eat a little more time than here (when I can get there) for the simple reason when hunting there, I assume the role of the Dreaded Trophy Hunter! :twisted:

Cheers,
Nog

[Wild one]

Each deer acts different offering a different style of hunt. They even have slightly different tasting meat.

In my opinion neither species is truly harder than the other just different styles of hunting are more effective for each species. The habitat they proffer also changes the challenges involved.

Most deer hunters in BC target all 3 species the same way even though the habits of each species is different. Because Mule deer is the most common this is the species BC hunters have the most experience with so most say they are the easiest.

If you stop going out to just hunt deer and go out to target a species of deer with there habits in mind all species of deer become easier to hunt

For those who think WT are the toughest deer to hunt remember this they can be the most predictable deer with there patterns and are the most aggressive during the rut. They have major flaws that can be used against them if you adapt your hunting style

[Sofa King]

i get that also.
we all percieve that muleys are stupid because they take several bounces and stop and turn to be shot.
but that is just our interpretation of their action.
they are stopping to see just what spooked them.
whitey get credit for being super smart mainly due to their elusiveness which is really just them hiding at all costs.
ive watched whitetail get down on their bellys and crawl away from me as i was trying to find them in scrubbrush after spooking a group and following them. they knew i could see them at standing height so they scurried along to get out of there. i had heard of that before but would have never truly believed it til i witnessed it.
so yeah, its easy to label that as superior intelligence, but i think it could also be attributed to their hide at all costs nervousness.
i always placed them on that supersmart pedestal until i started spending more time hunting them and seeing them run from anything no matter what. even the does, theyll run at a pindrop even when there is no season for them. whereas muley seem to know when the season is more, and theyll stand right out in the open, knowing we arent a danger yet.
being that whitey are a far more resilient and adaptable deer could definitely be viewed as being because they are wiser.
i think i mainly changed my view of their intelligence because i see them react the same way to everything, they just run.
that could be viewed as intelligence because it leads to higher survival, or their nervous personality just happens to have many beneficial results.
they seem to be much more predictable, as in patterning them, which i wouldnt view as being supersmart.
at the end of the day they will outlast the muley so that could be be either survival of the fittest or survival of the smartest or maybe party both.

[untilthelastbeat]

Personal I have never hunted white tails and being relatively young, I only have about 8 yrs of hunting experience on my own. Growing up on the island all I knew was blacktail hunting and I enjoyed it alot until I got a taste of muley country...

Blacktails are much harder to kill than mule deer. I do enjoy hunting them still but ask me any day between the two and il pick a muley hunt. I just love the sage brush hills and pine forests. And I find a big muley buck one of the most majestic animals in nature. Right up there with a big bull elk. They just stand so proud and strong. And personaly I enjoy eating mule deer far more than BT. I think it has alot to do with what they eat where I hunt them but they are delicious.
I do hope I get to experience whitetail hunting soon though

[OutWest]

muley will even loop back and flank to watch and see what is following them.

Many animals do that, including whitetails who do it much more regularly than mulies. Mule deer aren't special in that regard.

[M.Dean]

Recently, I had the very rare opportunity to talk to a Mule Deer Elder, I believe this is the very first time there side of the story has ever being heard! He told me this: A long time ago, long before the White Tail arrived, this land was ours, we could roam where ever and when ever we liked, our only threat was the odd Wolf pack, or from the mountain lion, but we over came there threats, and we lived free, too do as we pleased! Life was good, our fawns grew up healthy, they learned how to avoid any danger lurking in the forest, and how to get along with "All" other creatures of the forest! We taught them the when and why we traveled each fall to our winter ranges, what, and what not to eat,and how to live through all the seasons. I can remember my Father, a massive dark horned buck with antlers thick as tree branches, teaching me the same way as I taught all my fawns as they grew into mature mule deer bucks! But, then, all that ended! Life as we once knew it was gone for ever! First, only a few White Tails came wandering through our meadows, we did nothing because we had being taught to get along with all creatures of the forest. Then, more and more showed up, and us, still believing these White Tail came in peace, we showed them how to live and survive in our land, falsely believing we could all live in peace! Then, in time, all we could see in our fields eating were White Tail deer, there was no room for us Mule Deer! Then, it happened, one morning we awoke to sounds of our children screaming and clashing horns!! The White Tail deer were rounding us up and forcing us to live in the rocky canyons and swamp lands where life was near impossible! Our numbers dwindled, we were hunted and killed easily by all our enemy's,life as we knew it was over, gone like our lush green meadows, gone were the side hills covered in blue berry's, soon we starved to death or died from sickness, which came with the White Tail deer, and, me friend, as I tell you this story, I can feel my life slowly slipping away, but, maybe it's better this way, now I can spend my time dreaming of how good life was, before the "White Tail Deer" arrived! I haven't talked to any "Black Tail" elders in quite some time, but when I do, I'll post it, with pictures!

[NNS]

I am looking forward to Black Tail tales..



and the pictures..

[M.Dean]

I am looking forward to Black Tail tales..



and the pictures.. Story I heard as a child was the White Tail deer went to VI Island years ago, in really big sailing ships and brought back the Black Tails and used them for slaves??? I'm check'in into that story, soon as I hear more, and get all the facts straight I'll post it!