Mule Deer vs Whitetail Deer

How are they the same? and what are the differences?

Years ago, I saw my first mule deer in Colorado. Prior to this, my only experience with mule deer was in hunting magazines. As it stood there before me, I had no doubt about what I was seeing.

It’s kinda like meeting a person for the first time and then later on seeing them again. Somehow, you know that you know this person. However, describing features of their face to someone would be difficult, other than generalized observations, such as short, tall, fat , skinny, etc.

If your’re gonna be hunting in a location where the two species overlap, it would be a good idea to educate yourself, so a mistake in identity doesn’t happen. There are a lot similarities and differences between these two deer.

Hopefully, by the end of this post, observing the difference will become second nature. And even adept at identifying at a distance.

FACE

I’ll start with one of the easier characteristics that I always look for. When I see a mule deer’s face, the first thing that jumps out at me is three black dots. The face is a light gray, making the eyes and nose stand out. Also, the top portion of the head is darker.

When viewing a whitetail, the first thing I see is three black dots with white rings around them. Notice the white around eyes and nose. It’s also worth noting, that the bridge of the nose tends to be darker, making the white areas prominent. For similar traits, both have white under the chin in the upper neck region.

Antlers

This trait might be a little harder to tell. I have seen antlers from both animals look similar to each other. The biggest difference for mule deer is the bifurcated antlers. This gives it the appearance of a tree branch. They typically grow upward and stand tall. Concerning the brow tines, they are usually short, or none at all. Over the past 6 months I have studied dozens of mule deer antlers. What I have observed is most have small brow tines.

Whitetail antlers have a main beam with tines growing vertical. The main beam tends to grow forward instead of up. This gives it a spherical appearance. It makes me think it could carry a big ball inside the rack.

Body

This is another tough one, and not recommended to use for determining the species. Mule deer are generally bigger bodied. Too me, they look stronger, whereas whitetails have a wiry appearance. With that being said, I have seen some whitetail bucks built like a Mexican fighting bull. The coat of a mule deer tends to be grey. There again, I have seen grey whitetails.

Ears

There’s no doubt how the mule deer got it’s name. Why the big ears? My guess, is the big ears help catch sound at a distance, considering it lives in open areas. That would be a good question for a biologist to answer. I’m not going into the shape of the ears and how they are different. I think looking at the above illustration clarifies any questions on that.

Rump

This trait is probably the biggest difference in the two. Unfortunately for the hunter, seeing the rump is not a welcome sight. The mule deer has a white rear end. The tail is rope like with a black tip on the end.

Whitetail rumps appear to be the same color as the rest of the body , that is until frightened. At that point, they will raise their triangle shaped tails, exposing the snow white underside. And warning other deer, plus every creature in the forest of your presence.

Gait

Whitetail and mule deer are considered diagonal walkers. If you don’t know what diagonal walking is, watch a baby crawl on the floor. This changes when the deer are frightened. The mule deer will go from walking to what is called in the tracking world as a “Bounder”. The result is a series of hops similar to a pogo stick, also called “Stotting”. To me this seems bizarre, but I can definitely see the advantage to this, going up the side of a rocky canyon or hillside. It looks like a great way to elude chasing predators.

Whitetails break into a gallop when running fast. The best way to describe a gallop, is to think about the gaits of a horse…….walk, trot, and gallop. Throw in a few hops, leaps, and there you have a whitetail in motion.

Confidence in what you see

Hopefully, this helps you in the field identifying the differences. Still not sure of your self? I would recommend looking at reference photos just like I did. I think videos would be another great option as well. Spend some time comparing the two. I believe the above illustration is a pretty accurate depiction, but there’s always an exception to the rule. On rare occasions, the two can crossbreed, causing further complications in identifying. Luckily, it doesn’t happen very often.

Thanks for reading

Bryan Bramblett