Whitetails in Utah?

Are they welcome in Utah? Would you like to see them in Utah?
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TheGreatwhitehunter
If you see one and its legal season and you have a tag kill it.

They are very agressive breeders and super adaptable animals.

If left unchecked they tend to take over.
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AntlersOutWest
They are here already..
Few years ago the dwr shot a few in the river bottoms. They dont know where they came from and didnt want them to start taking over.. That subject was kept very hush hush. I found out from a dwr officer.
Also a few years earlier I was coon hunting in the same area and jumped a few deer. I noticed one was very odd looking compared to the others. I took a better look just as it jumped away and there was no doubt it was a whitetail..
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kinzysdad
I have seen them up Center canyon, only two does, but your rite, there heeeere.
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sneekeepete
This is just my humble opinion but I don't think we need them here. Our Mule deer already have a lot to compete with and the last thing they need is another agressive adaptable cousin. So I vote no for sure.
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kinzysdad
Sneeke, I agree with ya, but I'm afraid its to late. They are here no matter what anyone says. They have been for several years yet not many people have seen them so I have to wonder how "bad" it could get.
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Andymansavage
I see no problem with it. Look at states out west that have healthy whitetail populations; Colorado, Montana, Wyoming. Notice anything else they have in common? Awesome mule deer herds. They will fill in the geographical gaps where mule deer don't thrive, and although whitetail bucks will breed muley does, they can also overlap territory without much issue.

I say let them come (more then they already are), it just adds to our hunting opportunity. Over development of winter range will kill off our deer long before some little whitetail can.
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Default Avatar
Living in Southern Utah I doubt I'd ever see them, in this habitat. But I would rather not see them anywhere in the state.
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Wasatch Wonder
I sure hope the whitetails don't get a good hold in Utah. If they do have to come, I hope they stay out of the mountains and stick to the farmland and valleys in order to leave my mulies alone. I lived on the east coast for several years and always felt like it was a second class hunt going after the whitetails, or as I called them, overgrown rodents.
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kinzysdad
"Wasatch Wonder" wrote:I sure hope the whitetails don't get a good hold in Utah. If they do have to come, I hope they stay out of the mountains and stick to the farmland and valleys in order to leave my mulies alone. I live on the east coast for several years and always felt like it was a second class hunt going after the whitetails, or as I called them, overgrown rodents.
 The two that I have seen are in your back yard. Maybe three miles East of Heber. Also I have killed one in Idaho. Small antlered 4 point. He was maybe 2 1/2, anyways, he was 150 lbs dressed. Big bodies on them in the west.

My 2 cents, I hate to see them here.
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Default Avatar
I say let them in,just like andyman said ,all the other states with whitetails do just fine with the muleys also, I think it would just bring more hunting opportunity to the state and I think the whitetails would stick to there usual habitat , riverbottoms, lowlands etc, for the most part the muleys and the whitetails stay in there own groups so I dont think they would be a problem as long as they are managed properly :thumb
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sneekeepete
I agree that they would usually stay in their own areas and away from one another for the most part. There is one thing though. Where I am from the deer get pushed off the mountain in the winter by the snow. They come into the valley and farmlands/river bottoms for feed and to rut. So if whitetails made it to where I am from they would be competing with our muleys during the most critical time of year for them. That is why I am completely against any around my parts. I am sure there are other areas in the state that could support the two much better though too so I guess I am just setting on the fence and can't decide which side I want to be on.
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Buckmaster
I had a picture(then hard drive crashed no backup) of a 145 class white tail that was hanging out in the mouth of Ogden canyon and in the river bottoms.... called the dwr and asked if they were open season with a Utah deer tag, they said Absolutely!! Archery Hunted four days for him, just could not close the deal. ](*,)
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AntlersOutWest
kinzysdad- Where abouts did you see the whitetail near Heber?
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kinzysdad
"AntlersOutWest" wrote:kinzysdad- Where abouts did you see the whitetail near Heber?
 just about the top of center canyon, they were still on the private property. I'm not sure but I think the Mrs Fields cookie lady owns it.
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AntlersOutWest
Are you from Heber? They claim there is some down in Woodland too. Almost where Mrs Fields owned a ranch.. Maybe she's to blame :)
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kinzysdad
From Am Fork but live ib Worst Valley now. I have heard the same thing about Woodland. Does she not won the property anymore? I know for a while there she was buying all the property she could and did everything she could to keep the hunters out.

I agree, lets blame her.
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AntlersOutWest
She sold the big ranch to Wolf Creek. Im not sure what she owns around here anymore.
She owned property near the Provo river and would call the cops a ton on people fishing near her place. I have heard not too many people were fond of them.
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Default Avatar
here's my opinion so take it at that.

there are many states in the west/midwest who have populations of whiteys and muleys. have any of you heard of the whitetails in these states causing a the muley population to disappear? not me. the thing is these 2 species of deer live very different lives. their habitat, food, breeding, fawning,...................requirements are very different. these deer live very different lives. yes these lifestyles do have some overlap but for the most part they don't. they even occupy the same areas at times but what they are doing there and how they are using the area differ substantially. yes the potential for cross breeding is there but that is much more rare than it is common. and from the literature that i've read these hybrids usually succumb to predation because their wires get crossed and their fleeing strategy is stuck between the muley and the whitey so they neither bound like the muley nor run like the whitey. it is kind of an inbetween clumsy escape which usually don't work. i bet this same debate has been going on for decades and decades. i'd pay anyone to find scientific research that says whitetail deer moving in to occupy the same niche as the mule deer has lead to a mule deer population to decline.
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kinzysdad
It's conversations like these that make me enjoy this site so much. Thanks for your input

And ::wel to the madness
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Default Avatar
I think it would be better for some areas like my home area northeastern Utah.I think if there were whitetails here it just might improve the muley herd around here maby it would take some of the pressure off from this region and give the little bucks around here a chance to grow.If anybody has hunted around here then u have seen that u really don't see to many older deer harvested. Most of the deer harvested around here are spikes n two points. Just come around vernal during deer season and take a look. So i think it would help take some of the pressure off the younger bucks and give people more opportunity . Just my opinion really good topic though
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life2extreme
I live in Nebraska where the white's and the muleys co-exist in many places. Especially here in the western part. This is a buck that was taken in 2007 by an aquaintance that is the new typical state record. This buck was only taken about 4-5 miles(as the crow flies) from prime farm ground and whitetail country. This buck scored just over 204 with less than 2 inches of deductions. It's a crappy cell phone pic, but saw it there when I went to pick mine up. Almost made me want to leave mine there! I think this is proof there is nothing to compete with as soon as the tree cover and farm ground dissapear so do the whitey's.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h129/life2extreme/Hunting/111808_171500.jpg" alt="" />
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*ShedPredator*
Jeez let me tell you its a hard decision weather i would want them in Utah or not....NOT i can't even stand the way the Whitetail deer look. I say get them out of here even though i wont ever see them down here in Southern Utah where i live but i agree with JBird i say there's no point on having them, Mulies all the way look better.
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Default Avatar
I've never seen one myself. I guess I'd have to know more about them to make a good judgment on it. I'm a huge fan of muleys though so my first inclination would be to preserve the habitat for a mule deer. :)
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CodeRED
Voted no, I'd like to keep the Muleys here and not have them compete with Whitetails. Although, it may mean more tags available if there were more here, still dont want to see them over populate our current herds.
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waynedevore
In my opinion Utah hunters would benefit from having a population of White Tails. Would give you another hunting opportunity. In my 40 plus years of WY an MT deer hunting I have not seen where the WT compete or push out Mulies. In fact the WT populations have stayed pretty much steady but there are far more mule Deer in the areas I am familiar with. WT like the brushy bottoms near agriculture or tall CRP and cropland. Almost never see them in the badlands, sage. or dry areas. Most of the mountainous areas have few or no WT except for valleys and where there are plentiful Deciduous brush and trees. I have not seen a hybrid MD/WTin the wild, seen one dead. I think the cross is like a mule, sterile.
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