Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire muley / whitetail cross

Yes they can cross,but it doesn't happen too often.In the western part of South Texas it's really desert type country.The whitetail deer are among the largest of the state.There are no mule deer in that area.The farther north and west of the South Texas brush country,you start getting into a mix of whitetail and mule deer.One thing I've notice about the deer in the western part of South Texas is they carry an unusually trait.They commonly have a darker or black tipped tail like the one pictured in the article below.Maybe they have cross genetics that make them carry that trait,or maybe they are just one of the many recognized sub-species.Whatever it is,it happened many years ago and the percentage of mule deer genes would be nearly none existent.Most people will find this hard to believe,but South Texas wasn't always the vast brush country it is today.When cattle were brought in from Mexico in the 1800's they brought the brush seeds with them in their bellies.This now brush country really didn't have many deer back then because it was once a vast grassland and desert.There may have been mule deer then in the western part of South Texas and maybe they could have crossed with the few whitetail that were around.As the brush thrived and grew taller it created great habitat for whitetail,not so much for mule deer.I do know the last known pronghorn antelope was killed on the King Ranch in the late 1950's or very early 1960's.It was the last one,so no chance to reproduce,so it was killed.Just shows how habitats can change over the years.

https://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/...-unique-tail-of-whitetails-and-mule-deer

Here is a picture of a buck's tail from far west South Texas near Eagle Pass.Notice the black tipped tail

Where mule deer and white-tailed deer coexist, interbreeding does occur. The long-term effects are unknown, and for most areas, the extent of hybridization is not known. The highest incidence of hybridization in the Trans-Pecos occurs in the eastern part of the region where high populations of mule deer and white-tailed deer coexist. Using a technique called “polyacrylamidel electrophoresis,” Stubblefield et al. (1986) estimated that up to 14 percent of deer may be hybrids where both species occupy the same range, although the average occurrence of hybrids was only about 5%. Many ranches where the 2 species overlapped showed no evidence of hybridization. Using a more accurate technique (DNA sequencing), Cathey et al. (1998) found that 7.7% of 26 deer sampled were hybrids in the West Texas zone of contact (Terrell, Pecos, and Brewster counties). DNA sequencing was also used to determine the extent of hybridization in the Panhandle (Donley County) where the ranges of both species overlap. The results of a small sample of deer (n= 40) indicated a hybridization frequency of 8% (F. Bryant, pers. comm.). Observations by Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists during the hunting season indicate that true hybrids are extremely rare. Out of several hundred deer that are checked each year, it is rare to find a single hybrid.

Antler characteristics, tail coloration, and ear length are not reliable in recognizing hybrids. First generation hybrids often can be identified by the length of the metatarsal gland that is located on the outside of the rear leg between the hock and the hoof. It typically will measure about ¾-inch long in whitetails and about 4 inches long in mule deer. The metatarsal gland of hybrids is intermediate in length, measuring about 2 inches long. Second generation hybrids can not be identified by their appearance. The predominant successful breeding among hybrids is between white-tailed bucks and mule deer does (Carr and Hughes 1993, Cathey et al. 1998), but interbreeding also can occur between mule deer bucks and white-tailed does. Hybrids appear to have at least a limited degree of fertility (Whitehead 1972, Derr et al. 1991, Cathey et al. 1998).