Hybrid?

[publichunter1]

Looks like a muley to me. A picture of the tail could have helped.

Just for reference, here is a hybrid I killed a few years ago in Idaho.

 

[perma]

Looks like a muley to me. A picture of the tail could have helped.

Just for reference, here is a hybrid I killed a few years ago in Idaho.
View attachment 349831View attachment 349832View attachment 349833

That's a good one. I wonder how you explain that to a warden if the tag was specific to a species of mule deer.

Not implying anything towards you, just a thought that I had.

 

[publichunter1]

That's a good one. I wonder how you explain that to a warden if the tag was specific to a species of mule deer.

Not implying anything towards you, just a thought that I had.

Yeah thankfully it was in an area where you could kill either with the tag so no issues there.

The local warden did come take some pics and samples. Pretty cool to walk up on when I shot him for a muley.

 

[perma]

Yeah thankfully it was in an area where you could kill either with the tag so no issues there.

The local warden did come take some pics and samples. Pretty cool to walk up on when I shot him for a muley.

Did you ever follow-up with him, or did they give you an idea of if they classified it as a whitetail or mule?

 

[Flatbrimmer]

I’d say that’s a whitetail rack on a muley body for sure.

 

[Walkathon]

What's your opinion could this deer be a hybrid whitetail/mule deer? Or is it just a muley with a whitetail style rack?

Face and ears look like a 3 pt mule deer to me. I don't think it is a hybrid at all.

 

[Sytes]

From the head alone, ignoring the black top and grey body that I would typically consider a muley - that rack would sure stand out as a whitetail! I've seen some older whittails get a little grey-ish though not to that extent - least from a NW MT average joe hunter.

If I saw that one half out of a tree stump or bush with that rack? In whitetail only, with its head smelling opposite my direction - I would have sent a round and apparently, according to some of the sage hunters chiming in here, I would be calling the warden and pleading my case. That rack looks pure whitetail.
Maybe long ears would have caught my attention though still, that rack...

 

[Hunting Wife]

It’s almost always 3pt mule deer that people confuse with hybrids. The tine configuration throws people. The OP deer looks all mule deer to me.

@Schaaf that one looks like most hybrids I’ve ever seen. Whitetail in the back, mule deer in the front. Cool find.

 

[antlerradar]

One of the best ways to tell if the antlers are from a mule deer or a whitetail is by the beading near the base and browtine. The beading on a whitetail will run in long lines up the antler and browtine, On a mule deer the beading is more hap hazard and if there are any lines at all the lines are short and run parallel to the burr. The buck the OP posted has mule deer beading all the way.