How Rare Are White Deer?

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Skip to content Previous Next How Rare Are White Deer? admin2020-06-10T09:19:51-04:00February 9th, 2015|BigDeer, Deer Science|6 Comments

Last deer season 2 hunters shot 2 rare and incredibly beautiful white whitetails.

MI kid white buck One day in October 2014 11-year-old Gavin Dingman shot a 12-point buck with a crossbow. Another day fellow Virginia hunter Daniel Blaha shot this 8-pointer, which is without question the most stunning piebald buck I have ever seen.

Just how rare are white deer like this? According to Wisconsin naturalist John Bates, co-author of “White Deer: Ghosts of the Forest,” a true albino occurs in about one in 20,000 fawn births. Other biologists say they are much rarer, with only one in 100,000 deer born totally white. VA piebald

As for the genetic variation that causes the brown-and-white piebald, biologists say that less than 1% of all whitetails born will show piebald traits.

Every time that some lucky hunter shoots a prized white buck like Gavin’s or John’s, it creates some controversy. Anti-hunters come out of the woodwork to rear their ugly head and hide behind their computers and post online, How could you kill such a beautiful animal?

But even some hunters seem to have pause, wondering, I don’t know if I could shoot a white deer…

Could you, would you?

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6 Comments

northeasthunter February 12, 2015 at 7:52 am
I don’t see any problem with shooting either one, if a hunter wants it take it. I have shot a piebald in N-Maine but have never seen a true albino. For me it would be hard to pull the trigger on an albino and would probably pass. Something majestic/spiritual about them and so rare but that’s just me.
KCLAP IN VA February 10, 2015 at 6:49 am
They are legal here in Virginia. I would shoot a doe, a fawn or a buck, be it albino or piebald. The meat doesnt taste any different…. My feeling is that they are genetically inferior and should be removed from the herd. Let the tree huggers & anti hunters complain, they dont understand real conservation or understand that real hunters are the true conservationist…
Dr. Bones February 9, 2015 at 5:15 pm
I have seen probably a dozen piebald deer but only 1 was a decent buck and another hunter I was hunting with bagged him. As far as a white deer, I have never seen one. Wouldn’t shoot one anyway because it is illegal in Indiana to shoot any albino animal. I have seen albino squirrels and albino coons and they are amazing sights. If it were legal to shoot a albino deer would I………..That is a toss-up. They are incredibly rare so they would be a great trophy, but dead is forever and you would never have a chance to see one in the wild again probably so that one will probably never be answered in my lifetime. No right answer here but a great conversation topic none the less.
dan - n.e. kansas February 9, 2015 at 3:53 pm
I’d shoot one and treat it with the same respect I would any other deer. I might just take more pictures and tell a few more people!
Maverick February 9, 2015 at 1:11 pm
If I ever see a legal albino or piebald the only feeling I’ll have is that of recoil. I’m so obsessed with regular whitetails that I would love to do a full body mount on one, but if I ever shot a pie bald or albino I would 100% get a full body done on it no questions asked! I don’t understand how people think that we shouldn’t shoot albino deer, I agree they are beautiful, however they are an endangered species.
Curt in Va. February 9, 2015 at 12:03 pm
First things first…all deer are beautiful. So, you wipe wipe you behind with that logic. I would shoot one in a heartbeat. My daughter, who is a bit of a tree hugger, wants me to shoot one and full mount it for the house. I saw a piebald in 2013 that was a 6 point. This fall he will be big enough to shoot. God help him if he is within range! Congrats to those two.