Once upon a time, Texas had herds of buffalo and elk that wandered the great plains and the western mountains.

Elk like to spend their summers in the forested mountains and migrate to the plains during the winters.

Current land use practices prohibit this kind of behavior, and as a result, limit the presence of large numbers of elk in Texas. In modern times, buffalo and elk are found only in public or private sanctuaries within the state. In my little part of Texas, there are buffalo in Caprock Canyons State Park, and not far from there is a ranch that has a small herd of elk.

The smaller size of the mule deer and white-tailed deer and their ability to exploit the local range land year round makes them able to inhabit smaller, more patchy environments than the elk.

Elk ranching is an expensive proposition because these animals require a lot of space and very tall fences. Elk are the second largest member of the deer species found in North America and they can jump fences up to 7 feet tall. Elk have a four chambered stomach that helps them process the grass, forbs, leaves and bark they consume daily. Male elk can weigh over 700 pounds while females average near 500. The size of these animals requires 9 to 15 pounds of forage per day.

Elk in Texas occur mainly on private ranches in the Hill country and in West Texas where they encompass enough acreage to provide the habitat needed by these animals. Free range herds exist on ranches in Pecos and Brewster counties where hunting privileges are sold to help support these operations. Elk in these parts are considered a competitor for resources for the Bighorn Sheep and are an unwanted species in local wildlife management areas. Read more about this issue in Texas Monthly.

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In the first image, you can see an 8 point whitetail buck grazing. Notice how the points on each antler branch off of the main beam of the antler.

In the second image, you see a yearling male with his “spike set” of antlers. After this point, telling the age of a deer by his antlers is uncertain. Tooth number and wear is a more reliable estimate of age.

In the third image is an older male with a 10 point set of antlers. This image demonstrates the Whitetail arrangement of points on the antlers.

In the final image, a ten point muledeer buck is pictured. Notice the bifurcation of the antlers wherever a branch or a tine is produced. This character, the length of the ears, and the tail markings are the distinguishing characters between whitetail deer and muledeer.

The post How Whitetail Deer Antlers Differ From Muledeer Antlers appeared first on GJM Nature Media.

In the picture above is a whitetail doe, Odocoileus virginianus, in a woodland clearing. This picture was taken in mid-September and shows the light brown pelage of spring and summer.

In the second picture, you see another whitetail doe whose pelage has transitioned to the greyish winter coloration. This picture was taken in early November of the same year and same locality. The deer, however, were different individuals.

Aside from the beauty of the scenes and the subjects, what can be learned here is that color transition in whitetails seems to happen within a fairly short time.

The post Do Whitetails Turn Gray by November? appeared first on GJM Nature Media.

This nice specimen was seen near Flomot in Motley Co. Texas. Mule deer are so named because of the length and size of their ears. Odocoileus hemionus is different from the White-tailed deer in terms of their ears, their antlers, and their tail markings.

As the mule deer antlers form they split in to y shapes as they grow. Each branch of the Y can subdivide to produce more branches. This deer has had 2 subdivisions before reaching the terminal tines. On White-tailed deer, their tines branch as offshoots of the main branch of the antler and lack the splitting and resplitting of branches seen in mule deer.

The tip of the tail in the mule deer is black and is held down when fleeing. White-tailed deer lack this mark, and raise their white-flag when they flee.

Finally, well fed mule deer tend to be larger than white-tailed deer. The ranges of both species overlap in this part of Texas, and you can see both kinds of deer. Without antlers, ear size and tail color and tail display are the way to tell them apart.

Beware of approaching either kind of deer in the fall when the rut is occurring, males can and will attack people.

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