Thread: What species is this deer?

Originally Posted by Mararoa

Looks red to me. There’s a continuum in the features between reds, through a hybrid to a wapiti. A couple of the more easily seen features are the shape of the ears. Wapiti very round and furry, reds sharp points and smooth. Rump patches are another. Waps are very light to white and more importantly the tail is the same color as the patch. Reds tails are reddish brown in the light colored patch.Hybrids also tend to be browner in color though not always. I work on a deer farm and in the shed or the paddock you do get used to telling them apart if you have a mix up but it’s no always obvious, in a hybrid they can go down the middle or throw either way. Especially hard to tell when they are young gets easier when they get older. Plus when they get older the hybrids want to kill you, makes it easier then.

That's possible the best discription of the different things to look for I have ever read. Thankyou