Sitka vs. Whitetail Deer

[Mario]

Greetings,

  I have a puzzling question.  Are you aware if the Hill Country around the Junction area could possibly have Sitkas running with the Whitetails?  I have read that the Sitkas are brown in summer and turn dark like the Whitetails during the winter.  I know that these deer are from Alaska and Canada, but am curious if maybe they have been brought into the area and as usual escape the high fenced areas like most exotics do.  I recently hunted in Junction and bagged a deer that looks like a Whitetail, but the G1's have a fork like a mule deer (which the Sitkas are related to.)  Another trait is that there are two white patches under the throat and the brow tines are rather small.  On previous Whitetail deer I have hunted these traits weren't present.  Could this be so, or is it just a different type of Whitetail genetic mutation?  I am not confusing this deer with the Japanese Sika deer.  Thank you for your time and response.

[drdougrx]

Hi Mario,

Any chance of posting a pic???

[Graybeard]

Sitka is one of two subspecies of black tail deer. Current thinking is the mule deer maybe the off spring of the black tail rather than vice versa. But either way it has the classic blacktail/mule deer look.

There should not be any in TX but who knows. Those ranches seem to have a lot of things you'd not expect there.

[markc]

I thought initially that you misspelled it and meant Sika, until I read the description of the deer you were inquiring about.  Not very familiar with the deer you are talking about, but see that GB answered your question..