Mulie deer or White Tail

Executive Chef Randy King has a conundrum. "A few years back I had a conversation with a fellow. He was adamant that whitetail were better than mule deer. I am a desert guy myself so I really felt that mule deer would one-up or at least be no discernible difference because venison is venison. So to prove this I grabbed a young white tail and got the back straps and then a young mule deer and got the back straps, and I got a group of friends including another chef, a pretty seasoned hunter, a food critic and a novice. I cooked both of the back straps the same, salt-and-pepper, 115°, sliced them and let them try them side-by-side and rank them. It was really kind of a fun experiment and believe it or not the white tailed deer got a higher score. Myself, I prefer mule deer, mostly because I prefer what I have. This is going to sound bad to hunters but I have only shot mule deer and one black tail. I intend to change that since I am going to Alaska next summer hunting for Whitetail.