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Ohthatguy

Hybrid questions. deer species identification

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So after seeing some of the latest big "Coues" deer in various threads and other places, I was wondering what GnF and the record books use for the definitive call on these.

If a nice 175lb buck clearly has a big forked Mule deer rack and a "white tail" tail, can you hang either tag on him? Even if you saw them both prior to shooting, which way does it go? Or do you just wait for archery season and not worry about it? (Doesn't help with the record books though)

I just searched the 2017 Main Regs and couldn't find anything about it.

Some of the F1 hybrids may be easy to spot but as time goes by, it's going to get harder and harder to distinguish the differences between the two. Makes you wonder how many F2's, F3's etc will end up in the books.

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The Game fish categorizes deer strictly on the tail. If it has a white tail, you can hang a coues tag on it . Mule tail, has to get a mule deer tag on it. No such thing as a deer you could hang either tag on. Like some people have mentioned recently, whatever the cause may be, i see a LOT of herds of deer that have both mule deer and whitetail herded up any more. After seeing that, a guy would have to believe that inter breeding does occur. One thing to realize though is hybrid deer are supposed to be sterile so the occurrence of F2/F3 hybrids SHOULD be non existent and the "hybrid gene" starts and stops with that particular animal.

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Just because the buck has a big rack or a mule deer looking rack doesnt mean its a hybrid

 

 

So what if it's a 175+ lb buck that looks to be a mule deer in every way with the exception of the tail? That is way over the recognized maximum size for a coues. And if it's just an old giant freak, one would think it's rack would reflect that somewhat but some seem to just look like an average 3 1/2 year old mule deer.

 

I certainly don't want this to be a popcorn worthy thread but there is a lot of conflicting information out there. Some referenced information even points back to this site but those threads are no longer available.

 

GreyGhost85 If GnF uses the tail for tagging purposes, that makes that issue pretty cut and dry. Thanks! Unless you wanted to shoot the buck I saw with no tail at all in a group of mule deer that had a small coues buck and doe with them. For what it's worth, I have seen them running together for several years and there has never been any problem telling them apart. The coues stood out like a sore thumb. Now I may have to go look at the rest, especially the tailless guy. (I figured he was a mule deer but now I'm wondering)

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