Piebald Deer: To Shoot or Not to Shoot
These photos force the question: where legal, would you shoot a white deer?
As a young reader of Outdoor Life, I recall dozens of stories that somehow impacted my formulative years as a hunter and fisherman. How-to and where-to go hunting and fishing, or course, topped the chart, but there were also many other outdoor oddity sorts of pieces that intrigued me for hours on end. Using chickens—feathers and all—to catch sharks was pretty cool as was another touchstone narrative entitled: “Boys and Bullheads.” Since I was a boy who loved to catch bullhead all summer, I guess it seemed a natural extentsion. Another piece that I found particularly fascinating centered around New York’s Seneca Army Depot which, at the time, was home to the world’s largest herd of white deer. “The story begins in 1941 at an army depot in Seneca County, NY when some soldiers noticed a couple white deer roaming inside their 24-square-mile fenced-off base,” explains blogger Dylan Thuras. “Realizing that something strange (and wonderful) was afoot, the General ordered the soldiers to protect the white deer. While the soldiers continued to hunt brown deer inside the confines of the reserve, the white ones were allowed to breed. With predators were kept at bay by a giant fence, and pressure put on the brown deer by hunting, the white deer population was able to explode. (These blanched deer are not albinos, as you might assume, but rather possess two copies of another rare recessive gene for whiteness.) There are now 200 of them roaming the grounds, the largest herd of white deer anywhere in the world.” I’ve been fascinated by white deer, albinos and piebalds ever since although I’d only ever seen one in the wild. Then, last summer, I spotted a piebald fawn feeding in one of my food plots in early July. AdvertisementRelated PhotosSUBMIT YOUR PHOTOSADVERTISEMENTAdvertisement |
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Comments (21)
David Castle, that's my plan if I ever shoot one. I would love to have a tanned piebald hide hanging on my wall!
Not only would I shoot one, I have shot two of them. One twenty three years ago and one two years ago. I have spotted two this year and will take them as well it i have the chance. The hides look great tanned.
From a genetic standpoint, there is no advantage for selecting for a trait that does not increase the fitness of the population. However, in states that prevent the killing of piebald/albino deer it is advantageous to have those traits. I'm assuming that there is no sexual selection among the species in which does or bucks prefer to mate with a piebald/albino deer. Due to the fact that native predators are fewer today than in the past, more of these genetic anomalies are seen in nature. In an area where more predators are present, most of these anomalies are selected against. In Missouri, where I'm from, the MDC has implemented an APR (Antler Point Restriction) in many counties. A legal buck must have at least four points on one side to be legally harvested. What I'm saying is that natural selection is limited in heavily hunting game, such as deer. We have adjusted regulations, and that doesn't necessarily equate to the most fit individuals of a population surviving to pass their alleles into the next generation.
My theory on the piebald deer coloration is it is a throwback to the time of glaciers ... being brown was bad then ... you stood out from the background and were easy prey. There is also a population with significant piebalds on the grounds of the NBS in Gaithersburg MD. With no hunting there for decades, the deer are relatively unafraid of humans. You can't touch them, but you can walk right up to them.
Thwack!!! Non-issue where legal!
I never shot a piebald but I have trail cam photos of a piebald buck for the last three years. I even past him up, the last two hunting seasons. This year he has a nice eight point rack of antlers. I posted him many times on the Outdoor Life Bragging Board photos and the editors posted him in their photo selections a couple times. He been missing for seven weeks and the archery season started on September 3rd. I hope he is not in piebald heaven.
Like the saying goes "snooze you loose".
Have seen only one with no shot opportunity. Would I have taken the shot a resounding “YES”.
Good shooting young lady …… truly a trophy of a life time.
Have seen only one with no shot opportunity. Would I have taken the shot a resounding “YES”.
Good shooting young lady …… truly a trophy of a life time.
I am a licensed deer breeder/farmer in TX. I am of the opinion that the piebald genetic will increase the value of my livestock. So much so, that I am AIing(artificially inseminating)several does with semen from a piebald buck. I will in turn keep the pie bald genetics separate from the rest of the herd, as to limit the occurrence of the mutation.
Darn right I would shoot it. You can't eat the hide.
Played hide-n-seek with a 4 pt piebald, way back when that was legal in PA. A legal buck is a legal buck nomatter what color.
I would shoot a piebald but not an albino. I've seen several in Wisconsin and I don't see anything wrong with leaving them alone.
I'd shoot a piebald without hesitation. There's no good reason not to, and it would make the trophy of a lifetime.
I would shoot any legal deer in whatever state I was hunting. I am a true "Deer Hunter"!! Not a Horn or Trophy hunter!
Hi...
Hey...a deer is a deer. I see no reason not to take one. Hide color would also be considered a bonus.
I once saw a nice piebald buck chasing a doe on the Sunday before deer season opened in Pennsylvania. I would have shot him in a heartbeat if I had seen him the next day, but no such luck. Would have made a neat mount to hang on my wall.
I do not judge deer based on their skin color. That is plain wrong. They are all equally delicious on the inside!!!
I talked to a vet friend of mine and usually when this happens it is a sign of a heard that has to much interbreeding. This would lead eventually to albino or what we are starting to see here in Texas a totally black deer (opposite of albino). I don't know if this is true, but we have been trying to manage our herd better.
If it were in season and a mature Buck or even nice young doe or button buck... I'd wack one in heartbeat!
I saw a 6 point piebald once about 10 years ago on our farm. Only saw him for 1 season..and that was it. I would have taken him if he was a little larger.
I wouldn't treat a piebald deer any differently than I would treat a normally colored deer.
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I wouldn't treat a piebald deer any differently than I would treat a normally colored deer.
From a genetic standpoint, there is no advantage for selecting for a trait that does not increase the fitness of the population. However, in states that prevent the killing of piebald/albino deer it is advantageous to have those traits. I'm assuming that there is no sexual selection among the species in which does or bucks prefer to mate with a piebald/albino deer. Due to the fact that native predators are fewer today than in the past, more of these genetic anomalies are seen in nature. In an area where more predators are present, most of these anomalies are selected against. In Missouri, where I'm from, the MDC has implemented an APR (Antler Point Restriction) in many counties. A legal buck must have at least four points on one side to be legally harvested. What I'm saying is that natural selection is limited in heavily hunting game, such as deer. We have adjusted regulations, and that doesn't necessarily equate to the most fit individuals of a population surviving to pass their alleles into the next generation.
If it were in season and a mature Buck or even nice young doe or button buck... I'd wack one in heartbeat!
I do not judge deer based on their skin color. That is plain wrong. They are all equally delicious on the inside!!!
Hi...
Hey...a deer is a deer. I see no reason not to take one. Hide color would also be considered a bonus.
I would shoot any legal deer in whatever state I was hunting. I am a true "Deer Hunter"!! Not a Horn or Trophy hunter!
Played hide-n-seek with a 4 pt piebald, way back when that was legal in PA. A legal buck is a legal buck nomatter what color.
Have seen only one with no shot opportunity. Would I have taken the shot a resounding “YES”.
Good shooting young lady …… truly a trophy of a life time.
My theory on the piebald deer coloration is it is a throwback to the time of glaciers ... being brown was bad then ... you stood out from the background and were easy prey. There is also a population with significant piebalds on the grounds of the NBS in Gaithersburg MD. With no hunting there for decades, the deer are relatively unafraid of humans. You can't touch them, but you can walk right up to them.
I talked to a vet friend of mine and usually when this happens it is a sign of a heard that has to much interbreeding. This would lead eventually to albino or what we are starting to see here in Texas a totally black deer (opposite of albino). I don't know if this is true, but we have been trying to manage our herd better.
I'd shoot a piebald without hesitation. There's no good reason not to, and it would make the trophy of a lifetime.
I would shoot a piebald but not an albino. I've seen several in Wisconsin and I don't see anything wrong with leaving them alone.
I am a licensed deer breeder/farmer in TX. I am of the opinion that the piebald genetic will increase the value of my livestock. So much so, that I am AIing(artificially inseminating)several does with semen from a piebald buck. I will in turn keep the pie bald genetics separate from the rest of the herd, as to limit the occurrence of the mutation.
Have seen only one with no shot opportunity. Would I have taken the shot a resounding “YES”.
Good shooting young lady …… truly a trophy of a life time.
I never shot a piebald but I have trail cam photos of a piebald buck for the last three years. I even past him up, the last two hunting seasons. This year he has a nice eight point rack of antlers. I posted him many times on the Outdoor Life Bragging Board photos and the editors posted him in their photo selections a couple times. He been missing for seven weeks and the archery season started on September 3rd. I hope he is not in piebald heaven.
Like the saying goes "snooze you loose".
Thwack!!! Non-issue where legal!
Not only would I shoot one, I have shot two of them. One twenty three years ago and one two years ago. I have spotted two this year and will take them as well it i have the chance. The hides look great tanned.
David Castle, that's my plan if I ever shoot one. I would love to have a tanned piebald hide hanging on my wall!
I saw a 6 point piebald once about 10 years ago on our farm. Only saw him for 1 season..and that was it. I would have taken him if he was a little larger.
I once saw a nice piebald buck chasing a doe on the Sunday before deer season opened in Pennsylvania. I would have shot him in a heartbeat if I had seen him the next day, but no such luck. Would have made a neat mount to hang on my wall.
Darn right I would shoot it. You can't eat the hide.
Post a Comment (200 characters or less)