Mule deer vs whitetail

[Gr8bawana]

I'm wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to eat both species of deer when they are eating the same thing, such as alfalfa or corn. Is there a difference?

 

[Hunting Wife]

Nope. A muley feeding in stubble tastes like a whitetail feeding in stubble to me. Have hunted several places over the years where the two live and feed side by side and the meat is indistinguishable to me.

 

[brymoore]

Idaho whitetails taste better than mule deer.

 

[Ben Long]

Generally you have to pack mule deer farther than you have to pack a whitetail, and everyone knows the further you pack meat the better it tastes.

 

[Doublecluck]

I have eaten both from the same grain fields and could not tell the difference. At the same time last year I arrowhead a mule deer at 7000 ft in the pines that tastes better than a 2 y/o whitetail my daughter shot in a grain field. In general I think that any deer that is eating grain is going to taste better than one eating sage, but there are exceptions it seems.

 

[noharleyyet]

Generally you have to pack mule deer farther than you have to pack a whitetail, and everyone knows the further you pack meat the better it tastes.

Chicken dinner.

 

[Joe Hulburt]

Idaho whitetails taste better than mule deer.

I've never had the opportunity to know what the deer I kill have eaten their whole life but I agree that Idaho whitetails eat better than mule deer. I've eaten about the same amount of each so it's a pretty scientific study......or maybe I just think whitetails look tastier? It's all real good!

 

[michsteelguy]

Well, I think a little different from what has been posted so far. For me, maybe I was just plain hungry at the time, but I found mule deer to be ALOT better than whitetail. I live/hunt in farm country of Michigan and can testify that the whitetails Ive had, ate well. I noticed from previous posts that the consensus preferred WT, but from where the members reside, I would assume that mulies dominate the deer population in thir state. Here in Mich. its nothing but whitetails, so its almost as if everyone kinda prefers the species that is less abundant and may be "new"or not so frequent to their taste buds. No matter, both are better than store bought beef!!!

 

[sbhooper]

I have shot and eaten a lot of both. Living in the southwest for over 20 years, I ate only mulies and we really liked them. They were eating nothing but natural food.

Since living in Nebraska, I have eaten both. The white-tails, to me, don't smell as bad as the mulies when field dressing. The does, however, taste the same to me, as they are both crop-fed. Some of the mulie bucks, in my opinion, taste a bit stronger than white-tailed bucks. Even that, however, is not a game changer. We will take either one.

 

[dcopas78]

The mulie I killed last year in the Montana mountains was one of the best deer I have ever eaten. I know he wasn't feeding on anything other than what he found on the mountains, but he was just as good, and better than most of the Ohio whitetails I've killed. I was actually really surprised. I just had a preconceived notion that he was going to be bad. Not much help with the original question though.

 

[Bambistew]

My experience is that any deer from alfalfa is pretty darn good. Muley bucks can taste like crap when in rut. I've yet to have a bad whitetail buck in the rut, and have eaten probably 40 of them.

Early season mule deer from the mountains pre-rut are fantastic.

Ive eaten on a bunch of whitetail deer when I lived back east for a time. Didn't really care for the taste of corn or acorns later in the fall. It was ok, but not nearly as sweet as alfalfa fed deer.

I've had a couple rutted up mule deer that would gag a dog, and a couple that were strong but still edible. Would say it was 50/50 on strong vs very palatable.

 

[sbhooper]

My experience is that any deer from alfalfa is pretty darn good. Muley bucks can taste like crap when in rut. I've yet to have a bad whitetail buck in the rut, and have eaten probably 40 of them.

Early season mule deer from the mountains pre-rut are fantastic.

Ive eaten on a bunch of whitetail deer when I lived back east for a time. Didn't really care for the taste of corn or acorns later in the fall. It was ok, but not nearly as sweet as alfalfa fed deer.

I've had a couple rutted up mule deer that would gag a dog, and a couple that were strong but still edible. Would say it was 50/50 on strong vs very palatable.

Exactly what I have experienced.

 

[Gerald Martin]

My experience mirrors Bambistew. The last mule deer I shot was so bad that I won't shoot a "meat buck" mule deer just to fill a tag. Never had a bad whitetail, and I've had some excellent mule deer but that one buck was just about unedible.

 

[Reata]

I have a mule deer from New Mexico and a whitetail from Texas in the freezer and honestly can't tell the difference, both are good.