Mule deer are found in and around Estes Park and weigh between pounds on average. Also — their bounding run has a fun name: stotting. Elk are the mid-sized family members, compared to deer and moose, averaging between pounds. Deer tend to look petite compared to them and moose often dwarf them.
Elk attract a lot of attention in Estes Park in the fall, during their rutting season. Large harems can be found throughout town with alpha and challenging males bugling, and sometimes, fighting. Also, if you witness this behavior… keep your distance and practice safe wildlife viewing practices. Additionally, while deer range over a square mile or two, elk inhabit vast areas that can cover square miles or more.
Elk also tend to travel in vast herds, sometimes comprised of several hundred individuals, while deer rarely form such large aggregations. The bottom line?
While you can scoot up a tree and wait for a deer to come to you, especially whitetails, elk hunting usually entails trekking miles over rough terrain in search of your prey. Hunting deer can provide a solid basis for the scouting skills required to track down a herd of elk.
The scat of both animals is similar in shape, but elk pellets are roughly twice the size of deer pellets. At six months old, an elk calf is the same size as an adult white-tail doe. In the United States, whitetail deer are far more widespread than elk. Elk are only found in some pockets of the country. Whitetail deer are located across the country and are the most common deer species. In fact, there are millions of whitetails nationwide.
Finally, elk live longer than whitetail deer, achieving a top age of 15 years compared to 10 years for deer. Compared to an elk, this species stands at a maximum of 2. Due to the drastic size difference between Elk and Roe Deer, there should be no reason to mistake these two animals.
Mule Deer are easily recognizable because of their enormous mule-like ears. This characteristic makes them one of the most visually distinct of all deer species.
They are common in desert regions and are about the same size as the white-tail deer. That is, mule deer are usually 3. Mule deer do share some of their habitats with whitetail deer; however, mule deer and elk will never cross paths.
Deer vs Elk Comparison. A herd of elk, with a bull elk pictured at the center. Widespread worldwide and found in forests, savannahs, grasslands, deserts, and even urban areas. Size 5 feet in height, over 9 feet in length, and weighs up to pounds. Height of 3. Color Blacker legs with thick, brown coat. Capreolinae are telemetacarpel deer, retaining certain metacarpals which Cervinae deer, known as plesiometacarpal deer, do not.
Deer in this group include:. While these two deer groups differ slightly in bone structure, it is their similarities which mean they are both still types of deer. As ruminant animals, deer of all types have stomach divided into four compartments. These compartments allow the food to be first fermented before being digested and metabolized. Another key characteristic all deer share is the fact that they are ungulates. This means they are mammals with hooves.
There are many different type of ungulate animals. Having hooves does not make an animal a deer, but an animal won't be a deer without them. Although all male deer grow antlers, only some female possess this ability. There is one exception which is the water deer.
This deer is still a true deer , but instead of antlers , they have tusks which grow out of their mouth where canine teeth would be on some other mammals. Although a true deer, the water deer looks very similar to the musk deer.
Despite their name, the musk deer is not a true deer and has other differences such lacking certain glands. With such similarities between true deer and other similar animals, it is understandable why we might be confused about the differences between deer, elk, moose and reindeer. This is why we explain further below. There are several genera of deer, including Axis chital , Cervus which include elk , Dama fallow deer , Elaphodus tufted deer and Muntiacus Muntjac.
As we state above, we cannot say that elk, moose and reindeer are different from deer because they are all deer species. A large part of the confusion when comparing elk to deer or moose compared to deer us because the names are often misleading.
For example, a moose is a type of deer, but a musk deer isn't. Different types of deer can be found all over the world, except for Oceania and Antarctica. The smallest of the four is the deer, of which you can find two different native species: the mule deer Odocoileus hemionus and the white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus. Learn more in our article about the differences between mule deer and white-tailed deer.
In general, white-tailed deer are smaller, reaching a mature weight of anywhere between and lb 45 to kg.
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