Last Updated on May 13, 2023 by Dwayne Easton
A common mistake Colorado hunters make is to confuse a mule and a whitetail deer. These two species are very different.
Mule deer antlers and whitetail deer antlers are quite different. This is the key difference between these two species. Whitetail deer antlers have a main beam with one point coming off the main beam. Mule deer antlers have a fork that means the points coming off their main beam are split into two points.
Mule deer ears are larger than whitetail deer ears. Mule deer’s ears are similar to mule’s, which is why they are called “mule deer”. The ears of whitetail deer are larger than those of mule deer, but they are not as big as those of mule deer.
Their tails are the most noticeable difference between these two species. These deer’s tails are the most obvious way to distinguish between them. Mule deer have a white tail and a rump with a black tip. Whitetail deer have brown rumps and only the tail is white. The tail’s white part can only be seen when the deer flags or holds its tail high to signal other deer. The whitetail deer’s name is actually the tail’s underside.
