Took a few minutes midday to check my mineral site cam and was pleasantly surprised to see this guy. I thought he'd been killed. He was a regular in 2021 as a 1.5yr old then disappeared around Christmas that year and didn't show up on any of my cameras in 2022. No idea if he'll hang around or not but it's nice to see him stop in for a visit.
4th of July Piebald Surprise!
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ImThere
Well-Known Member
Cool deer
Acorn Goat
Well-Known Member
Nice buck being a piebald is a bonus.
Great pics! My wife said she saw a buck laying in one of our meadows today...I asked her how she knew it was a buck...she said she saw 4 ears when he popped his head up to see what she was doing. I didn't believe her until seeing your pics. He didn't run away from her.
Hopefully, you'll see your piebald a few more times and can share more pics!
Hopefully, you'll see your piebald a few more times and can share more pics!
Here he is as a button fawn.
BSK
Well-Known Member
What a great series of pics!
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Very cool you have some history on that deer. He would make a beautiful mount.
Yessir he's the second biggest so far on camera this summer, and he's young. The piebald gene often causes stunted growth but all its doing with this deer is neat coloration.
Indeed it would, and if so then he makes a good case for full body mount. However, there was a time I'd be tripping over myself to shoot that deer but oddly shooting him was the last thing I thought of when I saw the pic. I was just happy to see him still alive. Kinda like rooting for the underdog.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Being able to track a deer from fawn to adulthood is very rare. Cool pics!
Beautiful deer.
Sure is. Being piebald certainly makes it easier. I even have pics of his momma. The pic below is of her just before catching the pic of him as a button. She's been around for several years. I'm really surprised nobody's killed her yet. Probably same reason I haven't, because it's a treat to see her while hunting. I know piebaldism is a genetic defect and some folks feel it's a good idea to kill them whenever possible. I can't argue the logic but I haven't been able to bring myself to it. I like seeing them. And so far I've not seen any of the health issues common with being piebald like dwarfism, clubbed hooves, or severe overbite. If I saw one that was struggling I'd kill it. But these ones so far seem fine, albeit a little extra white. I'm kind of surprised she hasn't had any other piebald fawns besides the buck, but she hasn't that I'm aware.
BSK
Well-Known Member
I see no reason to shoot a piebald just because it's a piebald. If that particular deer has any of the negative genetic traits often associated with piebaldism, Nature will take care of it.
Winegar
Member
Beautiful buck
Very cool. I've got one close to the house I've been watching for 3 years. Last year he was a regular on my cameras and I saw him a few times while hunting, probably 115". Anxious to see what he looks like this year, if he's close to that 130" mark I will pursue him.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
Cool buck. Neat history.
Good luck! Let us know if you get on him.
Will do, cameras are soaking, haven't checked them yet.
In past twenty one years we've had two piebalds, 1 buck & 1 doe. Also had 1 white doe with brown eyes. None of three made it past 2 yrs before disappearing... None of us killed them & didn't hear any reports of neighbors either but that doesn't mean much. Been a while since having one.
Last one 8 years ago.
Last one 8 years ago.
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Very pretty!
