Originally Posted by las
I've been hearing reports of this for at least 30 years. Strays at first no doubt , but maybe the numbers are coming up due to climate change and habitat becoming more favorable further north into Alaska.

Sightings in fact go back to the 70's.. (Google it) Dead Mule deer and photos of live ones in Fairbanks area.

Wolves may be hampering their deployment, and the ticks deer carry may not be a bargain for moose hunters either.

IIRC blacktail are immune to the tick-borne disease, or maybe the ticks themselves. Long time since I read about this. . Dunno about muleys.



When I was stationed at Ft. Wainwright back in the day (close to 30 years ago) a friend of mine who was a civilian employee and I were talking about rumoured deer sightings in the Salcha River area. Our guess was they were most likely Sitka Blacktails wandering up from the Prince William Sound area. I would never have guessed that they were another species from a place I would never have considered. Yukon Territory? That's Alaska's twin with way less coastline.

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Z