doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Piebald/Calico Deer herd

I shot a piebald deer in Ga back in the 70s and have seen several over the years. Bobby

I do not believe piebald deer are protected in Georgia. They're not common, but I've only seen one in the woods in many years of deer hunting. It was a fork-horn and I passed it up in hopes it would grow to be a real trophy for someone.

Truth is I would not have killed it if it had been a ten point. I'm not sure I can explain why?...Geo

I've only seen a few piebald whitetail deer here in N ID. About 70-80 miles south of where I currently live. Heading down blueback fishing and there were 3-4 standing out in a meadow.

While in Saskatchewan last week goose hunting, we stopped by a rancher friends place. His son, who guides in the NW territories and for mule deer in Alberta, showed us a photo of what he said was the only confirmed case of a piebald mule deer. Not sure of the veracity of that claim, but interesting if true.

When my son was 14, he and I deer hunted every chance we got; while Matt, his best friend, stayed at home because his dad had zero interest in hunting. We had a bit of hunting land leased in Oglethorpe County, GA at the time; and my son convinced me that it was my responsibility to become Matt's hunting mentor and that I should include him on our already planned Sunday afternoon hunt. It was our custom in those days to hunt from an elevated tree stand, but Matt had never been deer hunting prior to this trip, so hadn't a clue as to the concept of deer stands; but as soon as he saw my stand-up/sit-down climbing contraption, it was immediately obvious that the boy was terrified at the very thought; and no amount of salesmanship would ever convince him otherwise. So I had no choice except to place Matt on my permanent ladder stand, the very stand I'd planned to use that afternoon; and when Matt was safely secured therein, I trekked back to the climbing stand I'd initially reserved for Matt. As I climbed the tree, I heard a shot; and as you would expect by now, that shot came from Matt. Concerned for the safety of this novice hunter, I climbed back down the tree and retraced my steps to insure Matt was OK; but one can only imagine my surprise as I arrived on the scene to find Matt standing over a very dead 6-pt. piebald buck! In all my years of deer hunting I've never seen a piebald deer in the wild to this very day; and believe me when I tell you it was very difficult to make those obligatory congratulations sound sincere and genuine. So after all the that-a-boys and pats on the back, it eventually became time to get down to business and field dress Matt's buck. So I sez to Brother Matt; "Well son, I guess if you're old enough to kill a deer; then you're certainly old enough to handle the field dressing". Matt's face turned ashen, as he had certainly not prepared himself in advance; or even considered the possibility of such a chore. But I insisted that it was his obligation as a responsible hunter to make sure this fine game animal was properly cared for; and further explained, in terms I knew a teen could understand, that unless he wanted to walk home he'd be wise to get his deer gutted! Don't know that I've ever seen a kid so squeamish about a little gore; but this little guy started heaving before he'd even made the first cut. But forever the cheerleader, I continued to "encourage" the kid; and, if I'm honest, may have taken a slight sinister pleasure in watching him heave and gag for the next 20 minutes. As darkness begin to overtake us, and the chore still not finished; I finally directed that he step aside and let a "real" man do the surgery. Matt was thrilled that he was being let off the hook; but being his mentor and knowing the importance of the education he was receiving, I insisted that he "look real close" so that he'd learn the process and need no help the next time. Well, I guess perhaps/somehow it was at that point that a demon suddenly grabbed hold of my well-intentioned spirit so that, for some inexplicable reason, I was suddenly possessed to scoop up a double handful of that warm deer blood from inside that chest cavity; and then splashed that steaming liquid all over the front side of that unsuspecting boy's shirt. That young man, caught completely by surprise, starting screaming and gagging and heaving and thrashing around in the leaves; and I was afraid he'd choke to death before I finally got him settled down. Afterwards, when things got halfway back to normal, we loaded up Matt's buck and proudly took him; and his trophy home to show off to what I assumed would be a very thrilled mom and dad. It was waaay past dark by the time we arrived home in Watkinsville; and when Matt's mom opened the door and saw Matt covered with blood, she fainted. As Matt's mom regained her senses, and while still under the spell of the devil, I calmly explained that, although Matt had fallen from his stand and got a little bruised and bloodied in the process; he'd suffered no broken bones, and I was absolutely positive he'd be just fine in a couple of days. When Matt explained to his mom what had actually happened; and to put it mildly, can you believe this lady failed to find my twisted attempt at humor the least bit funny? And although I couldn't understand, 'cause I found the whole thing hilarious myself; how was it that Matt had the only parents in the entire county with zero sense of humor? Looking back it's difficult to believe this event occurred almost 27 years ago and will be one of those hunting trips I'll remember into senility; but it was indeed a special time. And although maybe not so funny to Matt at the time, even he'll laugh about that Sunday afternoon now; although, for some unknown reason, he's never asked me to take him deer hunting since.

The old Seneca Army depot in the finger lakes region of NY has a whole population of white deer. They are not albino but are pure white. Not sure why they show up but I believe it was in the 50's when they first started to appear. Might have to do with the nukes they had there!!! The depot has been closed for years and is now used for slot of different uses. A huge chunk of it just recently sold. It was a hot topic for a long time what to do to preserve the white deer herd. I know a lot of guys that hunted on the depot and shot them. It's neat to drive around it with the kids to see them. Boy do they stand out in the summer!!!!

I remember how hard my youngest son, Jonathan, fought to keep me from bloodying his face after cleaning his first deer kill. It took two grown men to hold that 11 yr. old so that I could paint him with it.

Worst trick we ever pulled was to gut a guy's first deer, take the paunch and split it open, then hold him while one of us actually inserted his head into the half full paunch, like a sack over his head. He ran hollering and jumped into Smith Lake, in the Savannah River swamp, and tried to wash the smell off ............ to no avail. I don't remember him coming back to hunt with us anymore.

SRH

I remember reading years ago that they are genetically inferior, and should really be eliminated, pretty as they are.

SRH

Now now Stan, this is the 21st century. Nothing is genetically inferior anymore; it is just diverse. Diversity is good...Geo