While I see your point (no pun intended), I certainly can’t say that isn’t a mule deer. I have seen eye guards on mulies that age. Hybridization is uncommon but does occur, almost always as a result of a whitetail buck breeding a mule deer doe. The offspring are fertile but have a poor survival rate, so the net population impact is usually negative for mule deer. I have–rarely–seen deer in Montana that I thought were hybrids, an opinion based mostly upon an inordinate amount of black in the tail. Genetic analysis from a sample of skin off your skull plate could answer the question. Perhaps a nearby university wildlife biology department would be interested in running the test. Don

Good general discussion of hybrids here: Tails With A Dark Side: The truth about whitetail – mule deer hybrids

In the lower transition zones where Mulies and Coues are intermixed I have spotted Bucks that are large bodied, smalled tailed(dark patched) with white-tail antler forms(basket-racked with eye-grards). I dont spend alot of time in these lower areas, so I’m going on others reports as to their numbers, but a friend has been Bowhunting a hybred, mulie body, white-tail antler form(high and wide 12pointer/eastern count)for the past couple of years…

While he is open and sharing with hunt info normaly, this buck is one he never has photos of and is secretive on location…