Size varies greatly; a small to medium sized deer. Tan or reddish brown above in summer; grayish brown in winter. Belly, throat, nose band, eye ring, and inside of ears are white. Tail brown, edged with white above, often with dark stripe center; white below. Black spot on sides of chin. Buck's antlers have main beam forward. several unbranched tines behind, and small brow tine; antler spread to 3'. Doe rarely has antlers. Fawn spotted. Ht 27-45"; L 6' 2"-7'; T 6-13"; HF 19-20"; Wt male 150-310lb, female 90-211 lb.

Mule Deer has antlers with both mail beams branching; tail tipped with black.

Reproductive season varies: first 2 weeks in November in north, January or February in south. 1-3 young born after gestation of about 6 1/2 months.

Raggedly browsed vegetation, ripped rather than neatly snipped due to lack of upper incisors. "Buck rubs": Polished scars or oblong section where bark has been removed from bushes, saplings, or small trees, usually close to ground; made when a buck lowers his head to mark territory trees chosen to fit antlers(e.g., a rub on a tree with a diameter of 4-5" would have been made by a very large buck). "Buck scrapes":Pawed depressions with broken branches about 3-6' above the ground. Bed: Shallow, oval, body-sized depression in leaves or snow. Scat: When browsing, almost always hard, dark, cylindrical pellets,about 3/4" long; sometimes round. When grazing on succulent vegetation, cylindrical and segmented, evenly massed. Tracks: Like narrow split hearts, pointed end forward, about 2-3" long; dewclaws may print as twin dots behind main prints in snow or soft mud. In shallow snow (1" deep), buck may drag its feet, leaving drag marks ahead of prints; in deeper snow, both bucks and doe drag feet. Straddle 5-6" wide. Stride, when walking, 1'; when running, 6' or more, and hindprints sometimes register ahead of forprints; when leaping, 20'. Well-used trails are very noticeable, with numerous prints and damaged vegetation.

Farmlands, brushy areas, woods, suburbs and gardens.