The White Guys

Those are very cool! I’ve only seen one albino, it was a buck that was captured by the MI DNR and placed in the Presque Isle Zoo in Marquette MI. I did see a Piebald doe many years ago and that was pretty cool.
Here in MI albinos are protected but piebalds are legal to harvest.
We saw this piebald at the meat locker last year.

JD338
 

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Very cool to see 3!
I have seen an albino cow moose, and several piebald deer over the years.
I have also seen a couple of bears where one was a light cream colour with cinnamon paws and the other one that was more of a piebald in colouration, while travelling throughout my assigned work areas. Very cool!
 
Interesting genetic pool in that area. I've only seen one albino deer in the wild, though I have witnessed a few piebald deer in the past.
Down by my brother they have them by the herds. There was talk on opening them up to regular hunting season , the events of last week will put that idea to rest.
 
That’s exactly why they are protected in MI.

JD338
yea , and I assume that will be a problem . they are enjoyable to see here and there , and I can see why the animal lovers would get upset over shooting one . I'm no biologist , but I don't think we want them in an area breeding for years . this would certainly play havoc with the genetics .

I don't think I've ever seen , either one , in the wild
 
Indigenous cultures placed sacred value on the albino animals, believing that they carried powerful medicine.
Some cultures protected them, while others hunted them purely for ceremonial purposes.
So it seems that it a question of perspective when it comes to determining hunting regulations from state to state, or province to province.
Here in BC, they are protected. (And now the glacier colour phase of the black bear has become protected too, where it was once huntable.)
Is this correct or or just another tactic of the uneducated anti-hunter groups holding sway over legislative groups?

I do not have the answer. All I know is that in our culture, we could hunt them for ceremonial purposes, but I do not know of anyone in recent generations who has gotten one in our family...I will have to ask my great uncle if he knows. My late grandfather used to perform various ceremonies on animals collected by family members for ceremonial purposes, but the specifics of that knowledge is only passed down to certain members through the generations, so I do not possess it. (I would love to have a white buffalo robe!)

Yet in South Africa, it has become part of the business of breeding and offering melanistic variations of different species after many years for hunting, on the various large concessions and ranches. Today we see 4 different colour variation of springbok for the Slam (common, white, black, and copper) and now a 5th; the King's, while in blesbok we see a different variation (common, white, and yellow), and we have golden in other species such as gemsbok and wildebeest (which also now has a King's variant).
 
I have only seen one total albino and couple of piebald deer but not while hunting. A guy I worked with claimed he saw an albino buck one season bury itself in leaves when it heard another hunter approaching. He had been watching the deer for some time he said. Interesting story but he did have a way of embellishing:unsure:
 
I have only seen one total albino and couple of piebald deer but not while hunting. A guy I worked with claimed he saw an albino buck one season bury itself in leaves when it heard another hunter approaching. He had been watching the deer for some time he said. Interesting story but he did have a way of embellishing:unsure:
Interesting how a wiley old deer can pick up habits to evade hunters, and prolong survival!

Have read, and witnessed, where a buck will move behind cover, and then stay behind it as they move away so as to not be seen by hunters.
Have also read accounts where hunters and farmers have witnessed old bucks lay down in the grass or shrubbery to hide from the people as they passed by, and have even laid there head down so their antlers would not stick above the grass or shrubs, and then snuck off afterwards. One farmer watched a buck do this, which then belly crawled out of the field via the low spot in the field to escape cover before regaining its feet to keep moving away. That would have been very cool to see!

So, I could definitely believe that a buck could learn to hide in the leaves to mask its bright coat that won't camouflage itself from predators or hunters, where flight to escape may not be the best option, ass movement draws attention.
Who says animals other than octopus and apes, can't think and problem solve? Not me!
 
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yea , and I assume that will be a problem . they are enjoyable to see here and there , and I can see why the animal lovers would get upset over shooting one . I'm no biologist , but I don't think we want them in an area breeding for years . this would certainly play havoc with the genetics .

I don't think I've ever seen , either one , in the wild
There is one running around Martin St extension. A handful of people have seen her now. Funny thing is two years around an 8 point was in the same area.. now she shows up. I seen the 8 point, haven't seen the doe.
 
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