Wyoming
Rare Whitetail-Mule Deer Fight Highlights Conflict Between Wyoming Species
A video recently shot in South Dakota of a mule deer and whitetail buck that fought until they fell over in complete exhaustion encapsulates a region-wide conflict between the species.
In the bigger picture, whitetail seem to be winning the war, but at least in northeast Wyoming, mule deer won a battle.
That’s thanks to disease, Wyoming state Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, told Cowboy State Daily.
“I have maybe 50 whitetails left on my property, and the mule deer are coming back. They’re a welcome sight. They do way less crop damage,” said Driskill, whose family’s ranch is right next to Devils Tower National Monument.
A recent outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease, commonly called blue tongue, hammered whitetail in the region, but didn’t badly affect mule deer, he said.
That could mean that the muley victory will be short lived, Driskill said, because whitetail breed like rabbits.
“Whitetail are like a weed,” he said. “Once they take hold, they have twins and triplets, and they’ll just take over an area.”
Bucks Duke It Out
Driskill has run the family ranch for 50 years, and said he’s watched whitetails and mule deer clash from time to time.
But for bucks of the two species to get into an all-out battle to the finish is rare, he said.
As to why the bucks in South Dakota brawled, it might have been because of a severe shortage of does during the rut or deer mating season, he said.
Generally speaking, mule deer and whitetail stick to their own kind when it comes to mating – and to bucks clashing over who gets access to does.
However, the two species do occasionally cross-breed, producing rare hybrid offspring.
The video, posted online by Buckstorm outdoors media, shows the whitetail and mule deer bucksflopped over on their sides with their antlers locked together. The bucks are completely exhausted from what must have been a prolonged battle.
The bucks were separated, and both limped away, but it’s not known if either of them lived, according to Buckstorm.
In a text message to Cowboy State Daily, a Buckstorm representative said that the video was shot on private property in South Dakota, and the landowners didn’t want to be named.
‘Whitetail Are More Aggressive’
Driskill said that on his property and across the Black Hills in Wyoming and South Dakota, “mule deer and whitetails are in direct competition.”
And overall, whitetail have the edge, he said. Even though whitetails are the smaller of the two species, they’re scrappier.
“Whitetail are more aggressive than mule deer and they tend to habituate toward people a lot better,” he said.
That’s why he worried that the mule deer victory he’s seen in the wake of the blue tongue outbreak won’t last.
Split The Tags?
Northeast Wyoming has some prime mule deer habitat. And rich nutrients in the soil there could produce some monster bucks, Driskill said.
But he thinks the Wyoming Game and Fish’s approach to deer management there isn’t working.
In much of the region, hunters can get a general (over-the-counter) deer tag and kill whichever species they like, he said. And out-of-state hunters in particular like to kill mule deer.
“There’s whitetail hunting opportunity all over the country, but this is one of the few places with mule deer hunting opportunity,” Driskill said, so non-resident hunters relish the chance to get a muley.
Driskill has advocated for splitting the hunting tags for mule deer and whitetails and managing the species separately.
“The whitetail tag should be over-the-counter, and the mule deer tags ought to be draw tags,” he said.
General, or over-the-counter deer tags may be purchased at any time. For limited quota draw tags, hunters must apply months in advance, and not all hunters who put in for tags will draw them.
Driskill backed legislation to split mule deer and whitetail tags during the Legislature’s 2024 session, but that bill failed.
He said he doesn’t plan to introduce a similar bill during the upcoming 2025 session.
But Game and Fish should still consider separate management for the two species, at least in northeast Wyoming, he said.
“If Game and Fish worked on it, northeast Wyoming would really be known for mule deer,” he said. “The mule deer are surging on my ranch. And they’ll only surge as long as whitetail deer are scarce.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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