What’s up with how small your west Texas mule deer seem?

​What’s up with how small your west Texas mule deer seem?
 
Through the decades I have been asked that question by many people that are used to seeing the larger mule deer in central and western states.  The simple answer is genetics and the environment they live in.  I don’t mean bad genetics though that can play a part at times, I’ll save that discussion for a different day. 
 
What do I mean by genetics then?  The mule deer we have in west Texas is a subspecies, Odocoileus hemionus crooki.  The iconic mule deer that most people see in their mind's eye when they think of a mule deer is the Rocky Mountain Mule Deer or scientifically known as Odocoileus hemionus hemionus ( not a typo they double up on hemionus ).  There are several other subspecies found in the United States as well but I won’t attempt to name them all.
 
West Texas mule deer still look and act like other mule deer for the most part.  They do tend to be grayer in color.  Often they are referred to as desert muleys or gray ghosts. 
 
Hope that starts to answer the question.  Please be sure to check out all the mule deer artwork I have available for sale at www.rennyspencerphotography.com or my print-on-demand site https://renny-spencer.pixels.com/ .  
 
Thanks for visiting!!!!!
 
Renny Spencer