Mule deer are creatures of the American West, and Kansas sits right at the eastern edge of where they turn up, mixing with the white-tailed deer that dominate the rest of the state. The two overlap enough here that a big-eared deer bounding away in the stiff-legged gait called stotting is often the easiest way to tell a mule deer apart from its cousin.
Kansas has logged 80 iNaturalist observations against 54 GBIF records, a lean toward photographed sightings that fits a large, visible animal people notice and snap a picture of rather than one mostly caught in survey data. Records rank in the middle of the state’s mammal list, and the sightings that exist come mostly from Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, and nearby reservoirs and prairie preserves, open country with the sightlines mule deer favor. Records peak in April and May and again in August, though that’s more about when people are out watching than when deer are most active.
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