Upon spotting this guy, I became a bit enamored with him and worked hard to get a good shot of him. He is quite unique – seemingly neither mule deer or white-tail deer – rather, he appears to be a hybrid of the two.
His body clearly takes the form of a mule deer but notice those antlers. Rather than forking antlers like a mule deer, he has single, main beams with points coming off of it. In doing some research, I learned that hybrids can occur where mule deer and white tail deer territories overlap, as is the case in the location where this guy was. I do know antlers are not a reliable gauge but it sure seems possible. If it is a hybrid, they are quite rare so to have apparently photographed one, I am pretty happy.
