Coues or Muley

[Coach]

I've seen coues doe running with herds of muleys. In one instance the older mule deer does were aggressive toward the coues doe, but she kept following them.

[Red Sparky]

 

unrelated, but ive seen this pic a few times and never noticed its a big ol coues buck with muley does

Must be TX. Look at that high fence.

[naturegirl]

There is an article on CWT about the metatarsal gland on the rear lower leg. It's a good identifier for Coues, Mule deer, or hybrids if you can see it.

[nighthawk]

^ would smash like the hammer of thor. wait wut

Lmao I'm dead haha

[muley224]

Well just like the title says, is this a Coues or a Muley?

 

 

 

 

I will just answer the first question for you Pixman. Would have to say Coues. Ears give it away for me. Have chased Mulies for a long time and strikes me as a Coues. Just my 2 cents.

[Str8Shot]

So obviously this pic is of 4 Muleys and a Coues deer correct?

 

I see 5 Muleys ... The one has a discolored tail but same structure... ears and coloring in faces all look Muley to me may be 4 and a hybrid.

[Coues Stew]

I chased a nice whitetail buck last december a couple of days and he had him a nice little harem of muley does.I thought I was going crazy.

[Str8Shot]

I chased a nice whitetail buck last december a couple of days and he had him a nice little harem of muley does.I thought I was going crazy.

looks like the liberals are even getting the wildlife to be more progressive ...

 

 

Years back, for 3 seasons straight we seen a very nice Muley Buck hanging with one of the cattle herds in 36c

[Tines]

Pixman,

 

Great pics, as always! Here's your first problem: you hopped on cwt to "ask the experts".

 

The first picture has some interesting traits, but I'd lean more towards whitetail. But you really never know until you know, right??

 

Like you, I've posted CONFIRMED hybrids, only to hear the "experts" ramble on about my incompetence in differentiating the species. It's okay, I still sleep at night.

 

Here's the truth: they're more common than they used to be (for obvious reasons). But thankfully we have a pretty simple method in determining species if we're presented with the shot- the obvious white tail or obvious "rope-like tail with a black tip". Regardless of ANYTHING else.

 

I've shot quite a few whitetail without identifying the tail first. Most WT hunters do the same. We don't need to. I'll accept responsibility for shooting the wrong species if it comes down to it. And in that EXTREMELY rare case where a tail doesn't exist and things just don't look right, I'll have to pass, I guess. But I'll tell you right now, if I had a WT tag, I'd have ZERO issues shooting a 170" 4x4 with a white tail pushing 6 Muley does. Same goes the opposite if I had a Muley tag.

[AZkiller]

Could I see a picture of a confirmed hybrid?

[Pixman]

Tines- I posted the pic in hopes of learning, sometimes I think I know something and then I talk to other individuals and see a different side or opinion. I enjoy CWT because there is a lot of knowledgeable people and I learn a lot of info. I have learned you have to be thick skinned though you never know what will be thrown at you!

 

AZkiller- The pic I posted with the 4 Muleys is a hybrid not a Coues hanging out with Muleys. I don't know how to confirm it but I watched them for a couple of years and saw 3 different hybrid off-spring from a Coues father. I will attach a couple of pics for you.

 

 

[AZkiller]

Thanks. I don't know either. To me they just look like whitetail. Not sayin it doesn't happen. The ears are a little dark and a little bigger. I know its not a mule deer for sure. Hybrid? Maybe

[Str8Shot]

Tines- I posted the pic in hopes of learning, sometimes I think I know something and then I talk to other individuals and see a different side or opinion. I enjoy CWT because there is a lot of knowledgeable people and I learn a lot of info. I have learned you have to be thick skinned though you never know what will be thrown at you!

 

AZkiller- The pic I posted with the 4 Muleys is a hybrid not a Coues hanging out with Muleys. I don't know how to confirm it but I watched them for a couple of years and saw 3 different hybrid off-spring from a Coues father. I will attach a couple of pics for you.

 

 

Those poor Hybrids can't pogo like the Mules

[creed_az_88]

Pixman, those pictures are impressive. There's not too many people with hybrid pictures as clear as those. It's also good proof that hybrid does can reproduce, which has been a topic of discussion by many. Have you been able to see them run? Do they carry a mule deer's gait or a whitetail's gait. I used to occasionally watch a hybrid doe that lived with a group of mule deer does and she looked exactly like that. The rancher in the area, who is an avid hunter, knew of the doe and we exchanged info about her everytime we saw her. I never spooked her so I never saw her run but she walked just like the rest of the mule deer she was with.

[Pixman]

creed- I have watched them run and they have a muley gait and I never saw them flag like a whitetail does when it runs. I had pics of a hybrid stotting mid-air just like a muley but I cant find it anymore. I thought to myself the hybrids doesn't know how to flag because it has never been taught.