The white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ), also known as the Virginia deer , or simply as the whitetail , is a medium-sized deer native to the United States (all but five of the states), Canada, Mexico, Central America, and in South America as far south as Peru. It has also been introduced to New Zealand and some countries in Europe, such as Finland and the Czech Republic.
The species is most common east of the Rocky Mountains, and is absent from much of the western United States, including Nevada, Utah, California, Hawaii, and Alaska (though its close relatives, the mule deer and black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus , can be found there). It does, however, survive in aspen parklands and deciduous river bottomlands within the central and northern Great Plains, and in mixed deciduous riparian corridors, river valley bottomlands, and lower foothills of the northern Rocky Mountain regions from Wyoming to southeastern British Columbia. The conversion of land adjacent to the northern Rockies into agriculture use and partial clear-cutting of coniferous trees (resulting in widespread deciduous vegetation) has been favorable to the white-tailed deer and has pushed its distribution to as far north as Prince George, British Columbia. Populations of deer around the Great Lakes have also expanded their range northwards, due to conversion of land to agricultural uses favoring more deciduous vegetation, and local caribou and moose populations. The westernmost population of the species, known as the Columbian white-tailed deer, once was widespread in the mixed forests along the Willamette and Cowlitz River valleys of western Oregon and southwestern Washington, but today its numbers have been considerably reduced, and it is classified as near-threatened. The white-tailed deer is well-suited for its environment. Fossil records indicate that its basic structure has not changed in four million years.
Taxonomy
Until recently, some taxonomists have attempted to separate white-tailed deer into a host of subspecies, based largely in morphological differences. Genetic studies, however, suggest that there are fewer subspecies within the animal's range as compared to the 30 to 40 subspecies that some scientists described in the last century. The Florida Key deer, O. virginianus clavium , and the Columbian white-tailed deer, O. virginianus leucurus , are both listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act . The dominant subspecies across the deers' range is the Virginia white-tail, O. virginianus virginianus which is also the type species for the Odocoileus genus. The White-tailed deer species has tremendous genetic variation and is adaptable to several environments. Several local deer populations, especially in the Southern States, are descended from white-tailed deer transplanted from various localities east of the Continental Divide. Some of these deer may have been from as far north as the Great Lakes region to as far west as Texas, yet are also quite at home in the Appalachian and Piedmont regions of the south. These deer over time have intermixed with the local indigenous deer ( virginianus and/or macrourus ) populations.
Central and South America have a complex number of white-tailed deer subspecies that range from southern Mexico as far south as Peru. This list of subspecies of deer is more exhaustive than the list of North American subspecies and the number of subspecies is also questionable. However, the white-tailed deer populations in these areas are difficult to study due to over-hunting many parts and lack of protection. Some areas no longer carry deer, so it is difficult to assess the genetic difference of these animals. Central American white-tailed deer prefer tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, seasonal mixed deciduous forests, savanna, and adjacent wetland habitats over dense tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. South American subspecies of white-tailed deer live in two types of environments. The first type, similar to the Central American deer, consists of savannas, dry deciduous forests, and riparian corridors that cover much of Venezuela and eastern Colombia. The other type is the higher elevation mountain grassland/mixed forest ecozones in the Andes Mountains, from Venezuela to Peru. The Andean white-tailed deer seem to retain gray coats due to the colder weather at high altitudes, whereas the lowland savanna forms retain the reddish brown coats. South American white-tailed deer, like those in Central America, also generally avoid dense moist broadleaf forests.
Subspecies
(ordered alphabetically except first entry)
- O. v. virginianus – Virginia white-tailed deer or Southern white-tailed deer
- O. v. acapulcensis – Acapulco white-tailed deer (southern Mexico)
- O. v. borealis – Northern (woodland) white-tailed deer (the largest and darkest white-tailed deer)
- O. v. cariacou – (French Guiana and north Brazil)
- O. v. carminis – Carmen Mountains white-tailed deer
- O. v. chiriquensis – Chiriqui white-tailed deer (Panama)
- O. v. clavium – Key Deer or Florida Keys white-tailed deer found (Florida Keys)
- O. v. couesi – Coues white-tailed deer, Arizona white-tailed deer, or Fantail deer
- O. v. curassavicus – (Curacao)
- O. v. dacotensis – Dakota white-tailed deer or Northern plains white-tailed deer (most northerly distribution, rivals the Northern white-tailed deer in size)
- O. v. goudotii – (Columbia (Andes) and west Venezuela)
- O. v. gymnotis – South American lowland white-tailed deer (northern half of Venezuela, including Venezuela's Llanos Region)
- O. v. hiltonensis – Hilton Head Island white-tailed deer
- O. v. leucurus – Columbian white-tailed deer (Oregon and western coastal area)
- O. v. macrourus – Kansas white-tailed deer
- O. v. margaritae – (Margarita Island)
- O. v. mcilhennyi – Avery Island white-tailed deer
- O. v. mexicanus – Mexican white-tailed deer (central Mexico)
- O. v. miquihuanensis – Miquihuan white-tailed deer (central Mexico)
- O. v. nelsoni – Chiapas white-tailed deer (southern Mexico and Guatemala)
- O. v. nemoralis – (Central America, round the Gulf of Mexico to Surinam further restricted to from Honduras to Panama)
- O. v. nigribarbis – Blackbeard Island white-tailed deer
- O. v. oaxacensis – Oaxaca white-tailed deer (southern Mexico)
- O. v. ochrourus – (Tawny) Northwest white-tailed deer or Northern Rocky Mountains white-tailed deer
- O. v. osceola – Florida coastal white-tailed deer
- O. v. peruvianus – South American white-tailed deer or Andean white-tailed deer (most southerly distribution in Peru and possibly, Bolivia)
- O. v. rothschildi – Coiba Island white-tailed deer
- O. v. seminolus – Florida white-tailed deer
- O. v. sinaloae – Sinaloa white-tailed deer (mid-western Mexico)
- O. v. taurinsulae – Bulls Island white-tailed deer
- O. v. texanus – Texas white-tailed deer
- O. v. truei – Central American white-tailed deer (Costa Rica, Nicaragua and adjacent states)
- O. v. thomasi – Mexican Lowland white-tailed deer
- O. v. toltecus – Rain Forest white-tailed deer (southern Mexico)
- O. v. tropicalis – (western Columbia)
- O. v. ustus – (Ecuador)
- O. v. venatorius – Hunting Island white-tailed deer
- O. v. veraecrucis – Northern Vera Cruz white-tailed deer
- O. v. yucatanensis – Yucatan white-tailed deer
Description
The deer's coat is a reddish-brown in the spring and summer and turns to a grey-brown throughout the fall and winter. The deer can be recognized by the characteristic white underside to its tail, which it shows as a signal of alarm by raising the tail during escape.
The North American male deer (also known as a buck ) usually weighs from 130 to 300 pounds (60 to 130 kg) but, in rare cases, bucks in excess of 375 pounds (159 kg) have been recorded. The record-sized White-tailed Deer weighed just over 500 pounds and was found in Minnesota. The female ( doe ) usually weighs from 90 to 200 pounds (40 to 90 kg). Length ranges from 62 to 87 inches (160 to 220 cm), including the tail, and the shoulder height is 32 to 40 inches (80 to 100 cm). White-tailed deer from the tropics tend to be much smaller than temperate populations, averaging 77–110 pounds (35–50 kg).
Males re-grow their antlers every ye
Ohio Whitetail Deer Hunting with World Class Whitetails ...
World Class Whitetails of Ohio will help you get the biggest deer in Ohio with the best prices in the country! A WOW site!
Timber Hollow Whitetail Ranch
Welcome to Timber Hollow Whitetails "Putting People in Touch with World Record Whitetails"
Tecomate Online Storefront: WORLD RECORD WHITETAILS
Tecomate - Hunting Land for Sale from the Big Buck Professionals
BOOK TRAIL - World Record Whitetails
Book Trail PO Box 2490 Indian Trail NC, 28079 (800) 653-7890
Amazon.com: World Record Whitetails: A Complete History ...
Amazon.com: World Record Whitetails: A Complete History of the Number One Bucks of All Time (9781571571137): Gordon Whittington: Books
Related Hunting Links Categories
Whitetail Deer Hunting. Several bucks that are in the State of Iowa record books have been shot within a few mile radius of my farm. We have set the lodge up to be like your own home ...
Iowa Hunting Lodge - The Dunn Deal Hunting Lodge - Iowa ...
Hunting Lodge - Hunting at The Dunn Deal Hunting Lodge - White Tail Deer hunting Turkey hunting Birds Hunting
YouTube - Weird, Amazing, and World Record ...
Weird, Amazing, and World Record Whitetails ... World Record Archery Elk: www.nsvpro.com
YouTube - World record whitetail deer!!!
Weird, Amazing, and World Record Whitetails ... WORLD RECORD WHITETAIL DEAD DEER FIELD DRESSING...
Minnesota Official Measurers worldrecordwhitetails
This page displays the Current World Record Whitetail Deer by Ranking as follows: WHITETAIL WORLD RECORDS 1. World Record Typical - Firearm - Milo Hanson - 1993