Deer discussion

[rides bike to work]

I had a great season hunting in different parts of our beautiful province this past season and there was a reoccurring theme to my hunts.
"there's a deer it's a white tail"
My dad of 60 years old was blown away by where we were finding white tails
I did a little googling and found some interesting facts
I know I am a bit of a troll for bringing it up but this is a discussion we should be have with out low blows and name calling. Also let's keep regulations out of it.

So here's some info I have found on the net

I would like to hear what you have noticed seen in your back yard or hunting grounds


The whitetail is a much older species being around for over 4 million years, where the muley has only been around for about 15,000. Throughout this time the whitetail has become a much more resilient species and are very resistant to parasites and diseases, in fact whitetail carry many diseases that mule deer are very susceptible to. The whitetail also has a very high reproductive rate with nearly equal buck to doe ratios and doe fawns able to breed their first fall, where mule deer have a very low buck to doe ratio and their doe fawns take much longer to mature. In the same environment the whitetail outcompete the muley’s for food and the hybridization greatly favors the whitetail with whitetail hybrids (white tail buck, mule deer doe) being strong and muley hybrids generally dying at birth (mule deer buck, white tail doe).
For these reasons and more the whitetail are rapidly closing in on the mule deer ranges. In fact the whitetail are starting to displace mule deer in Idaho, Montana, and Canada and the Mule deer ranges are significantly smaller than their historic ranges. And with an estimated population of 200 animals here in Utah (expected to double yearly) the whitetails are looking to displace our beloved muley here in Utah as well.

[mark]

I spend a great deal of time deer hunting every year, I travel to different areas, and regions, and see tons of deer where I go. While I do admit to seeing the odd whitey here and there in places where I havnt in the past, I will say their numbers are very minor.
Some here will say that their population will explode and take over muleys....Im certainly not seeing that.
In fact I think whiteys are a little more scarce than they were just a few years ago? (just my observations) I can only attribute this to the whitey doe season.
I still see about 95% mule deer in all my hunting travels around BC!

[Spy]

I have an old freind 86 he used to farm up in the fort St john area 20 years back ! He told me that the whitetails pushed the mulies around big time & back then had nearly taken over & every year he was seeing less & less mulies on his farm!

[The Dude]

Mule deer are themselves a hybrid of WTs and BTs.
WTs have shown in almost all cases that they wil out-adapt MD. I'm seeing WTs in sagebrush cactus country now in Region 8,, high up in classic MD range, and in areas in region 3 where no-one's seen them before.
I also suspect that the spread of the WT mirrors the proliferation of wolves...looking for studies now, so if anyone has anything, send me a link.
So yeah..........Eat Em and Smile.

[Glassman]

I hunted the west side of Kelowna, Beaverdell area and Barrierre area and I saw around 50 Mules and maybe 10 Whites. No Whitetail bucks.

[Sofa King]

i always find muleys and find whiteys way more difficult to locate.
i find small pockets of them everywhere, but even then, they are like ghosts almost.
love me my mules.

[coach]

I hunted the west side of Kelowna, Beaverdell area and Barrierre area and I saw around 50 Mules and maybe 10 Whites. No Whitetail bucks.

I gotta agree with you. The region 8 whitetail population is in big trouble. We'll be lucky to even have a season when the 2014/15 regs come out. Hopefully we will at least get an LEH wt buck opportunity. Regardless - I'm going to to start heading to region 4 next season..

[Stillhunting]

I'm seeing more whities every year in region 3, but I'm also focusing more on finding them. They taste better and there is a doe season so it is worth the time and effort to locate their pockets. They are more challenging to still hunt but way easier to call. They offer a nice alternative to muley hunting, but if you're concerned about them taking over from muleys, go whack some white-tail does.

[HarryToolips]

I don't think the WT population is necessarily in trouble here on the west side of Okanagan lake, although I'm definitely seeing less since the antlerless season was first introduced in 2010, maybe that's mainly because they're smart and have learned to not hang anymore around where people can see them..Mule deer it seems have also decreased since the supposed "peak" of 2008/09, now would this be because of wolves moving in, or partly because of the longer "any buck" season?

[rides bike to work]

I hunted white swan lake for a week in the east kootneys and saw approxamitly 35-45 white tails only 2 spike bucks
we only saw 4 mule deer the whole time my dad was suprised as hes taken many mules from the area
i hunted loon lake \chasm for 5 days and saw 15-20 mule deer then we dialed in a white tail pocket and saw 9 white tails in one evening

in both these areas when we found a pocket we came back to it and saw mulpitiple white tails

in the kootneys the doe season opened on my last 2 days my dad took one but i passed as there was so many it almost wasnt sporting and i wanted to save a tag
but i did take one up loon lake

now i have to buy a ground blind trail cams salt licks rattle bags grunt calls differnt sents and put on asouthern acsent so i can chootem

[BearStump]

I have to drive the truck at a different speed to find the whiteys. If drive slow I dont see any, but a quicker pace puts me right on them before they can run away. With the mulies, it doesnt matter what speed you're going cuz they always stop for one more look at ya before they hit the treeline. But the whitetails are easier to shoot from the fsr when they're on a full run because that big white flag keeps them in view. The mulies are hard to hit when they're bouncing like they do, sometimes have to dump a whole mag on them and keep missing. :)

[coach]

Trolling speed is everything, BearStump!

[Wullfen]

Been seeing whitetails in region 5 the last few years, shocking the first time we saw 2 does standing together and they weren't Mulies!

[pickle88]

I have to drive the truck at a different speed to find the whiteys. If drive slow I dont see any, but a quicker pace puts me right on them before they can run away. With the mulies, it doesnt matter what speed you're going cuz they always stop for one more look at ya before they hit the treeline. But the whitetails are easier to shoot from the fsr when they're on a full run because that big white flag keeps them in view. The mulies are hard to hit when they're bouncing like they do, sometimes have to dump a whole mag on them and keep missing. :)

haha .......:?