Uncle_Jesse Report post Posted August 5, 2003 I'm new to the forum, so my apologies if this has already been discussed. I was out doing a little scouting this past weekend and came across two bucks that made me curious. Both were coues, however, one was slighly larger in body than the other and sported a white rump - however it still had the tail of a coues whitetail - in other words, it didn't have that skinny white tail that had been dipped in black paint. The smaller buck was brown in color, while the larger was the typical grey that I have grown to love. This area holds both Mule and Coues deer. Question, I often hear of rumors about a cross between the two, but I have never seen it - until now, maybe What have the rest of you seen? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted August 6, 2003 Welcome to the forum! I don't think I have ever seen a WT with a white rump the way a MD has it. Of course WT can flare the white hairs under their tail so it's looks like a large white patch, but I assume you are talking about something that truly looked like a MD rump patch. I have seen WT with very dark tails and MD with antlers that I could have sworn were WTs. So there is a great variety of tail colors and antler configs in both species and they don't necessarily indicate that one is a cross of the two species. AGFD has done some research on hybrids and you can read more about it by checking out an article by Jim Heffelfinger that is posted on this site. Click below to view the article. Hybrid article Generally a true hybrid is not going to survive because they get mixed up survival skills. Coues deer and Mule deer have different predator avoidance/escape strategies and a hybrid mixes up the two and gets nowhere. Last year during javelina season I saw a good-size WT buck running with a herd of MD. And their were some medium sized MD in the herd with them. I am sure the WT was rutting and would have been harassing the MD does, so it amazed me the MD bucks let him stay with them. Amanda Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bullwidgeon Report post Posted August 8, 2003 I thought I saw one one time but I am pretty sure now that it was just a giant dark gray coues buck rutted out of his head. My buddies found the buck chasing mule deer does for a few hours one day, and it actually chased off a little coues buck that was trailing both the does and the toad. They told me about finding a "half-breed" so I told them I would help them try to find it on their hunt. 2 weeks later I was in there helping them hunt and I found and we watched the same buck running and chasing whitetail does with what they say was the same weener buck just across the drainage from where they had first seen it. It was almost twice as big as the does it was with and almost 50 percent bigger body sized than the little 2 or 3 pointer it was with. The rack was perfect Texas looking 4 point rack with eyegaurds and long hooking beams. I figured it would gross 120 easy and net 115-120 after ground shrinkage. We tried to kill it, but as per the usual with toads, it got away. I wish we would have gotten that one or at least had the video camera or digital cameras and taken pictures so we could have pictures of him. This was in an area with alot of mulies and a few coues deer in the northern part of the state. It seems like anytime I see a deer that I think is over 100 I have to stare at it for awhile to make sure my eyes are not fooling me and it is not a carp I have seen a Polaroid picture from a deer camp in Mexico with 2 bucks hanging on a skinning pole both with whitetail racks, one is definately a coues deer and the other looks as much like a half breed as I can imagine, body size is almost the same and the guide who showed me the picture thought it was an actual half breed deer. I think it was taken at one of the Campillo ranches in the 90's Bret M. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
