Piebald Doe

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Stykbow

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This is one of four piebalds that are within a couple miles of my house. Besides this girl there is another piebald doe I see in my yard that is a dwarf and a pair of 1.5 year olds (one buck and one doe) that are strawberry roan colored in big patches.
 

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Beautiful. My first deer years ago was piebald spike buck. White with brown patches and spots. Funny thing is I had been setting for several hours and hadn't seen anything. And was in woods on a cattle farm. Started to leave and saw movement to my left. That little buck came trotting by and I put the wammy on him as he trotted by at less than twenty yards. He fell behind a small hill out of sight. As I waited and gave him a few minutes I reflected on what had happened. Then I realized; white with brown spots. "Oh s---), I just shot a calf)... That 15-20 yards may have been the longest walk of my life.
 
That's awesome. I wouldn't shoot one like that and besides I'm not one for genetic engineering because a deer is a piebald or has an unusual rack. They're wild animals not livestock.
 
I was told down south it’s considered bad luck to shoot one. Is that true Olskool?

I mounted one for a guy and I’ve mounted quite a few animals for him since. It didn’t seem to affect his luck.

By the way, I don’t believe in luck.

Often but certainly not always, piebalds will have something anatomically off such as short legs or something.
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I saw one out of my tree stand one time. That was my first thought. “Is that a goat?” I’ve seen half a dozen in my life. Always a treat.

Saw a doe two years in a row that was all white with just her ears and top of her head brown. I couldn’t believe she made it two years without getting blasted.
 
@Robin101 its a genetic mutation so it is something that should be weeded out. As @Jim K pointed out it can bring on other defects like dwarfism. In fact the one I see here in my yard has little short legs. Full sized body, just short legs.
You are correct! These deer need to be taken out of the population if you want a healthy herd of deer. If allowed to breed you may get deer with all sorts of problems. I suggest reading up on deer mutations and then you will understand how bad piebald/white deer can be for hunters.
 
I've been watching a young buck this summer that has 3 or 4 inch white socks on all four feet and his inner leg white hair wraps outside onto his thighs. Nice looking deer all around. I've had at least one a year show a little extra but not excessive white, usually doe.
 
I'd love to see an animal biologist weigh in here. I suspect (can't prove) that much of the above would be in the category of "I heard" or "someone told me" etc. Just like "once a spike, always a spike," or "don't shoot does, you'll destroy your herd" type statements.

Piebald, like albino, is a recessive gene, but I've never heard that it's a negative attached to other things in the herd. Could be just a lack of knowledge on my part though.

Only ever seen 1 in the wild, and also thought it was a goat, till it got close enough to know it was a deer. No short legs, no other abnormalities, just a young spike piebald. I let him walk, and another guy shot him.
 
I'd love to see an animal biologist weigh in here. I suspect (can't prove) that much of the above would be in the category of "I heard" or "someone told me" etc. Just like "once a spike, always a spike," or "don't shoot does, you'll destroy your herd" type statements.

Piebald, like albino, is a recessive gene, but I've never heard that it's a negative attached to other things in the herd. Could be just a lack of knowledge on my part though.

Only ever seen 1 in the wild, and also thought it was a goat, till it got close enough to know it was a deer. No short legs, no other abnormalities, just a young spike piebald. I let him walk, and another guy shot him.
I had heard that piebald deer are genetically inferior and should be taken out of the herd? I wasn't sure if it wee true or not so I went to the''N.J. Fish and Wildlife'' site. It said that Piebald deer have many other problems other than just being piebald. It also said albino deer have no problems other than being white.
 
I had heard that piebald deer are genetically inferior and should be taken out of the herd? I wasn't sure if it wee true or not so I went to the''N.J. Fish and Wildlife'' site. It said that Piebald deer have many other problems other than just being piebald. It also said albino deer have no problems other than being white.
Isn't piebald just a variation of albinism? Sort of albino light.
 
My first buck hunt , 12 yrs. old , was in an area closed to all hunting since 1920's. The area was closed as it was an airplane engine development site. Deer were more than plentiful , going in in the morning at 4 AM to sign in and get a hunting area , there were so many deer , we had to idle the car in because the herds were so numerous in the road. I got my permit , and went back in to the designated area , and found a 4 ft. diameter hollow stump to hunker down in on top of a low hill with 360 Deg. visibility. After daylight , I saw a herd of deer coming toward me , and the lead deer had too short of spikes to be legal. He was in front of a herd of near 20 + head . The last animal I could see in the string of deer , coming out about 250 yds. was white. I thought , that a dog was chasing this group of deer , so I might be able to shoot it , and give the deer a break. The white critter finally passed me at about 20 yds. , and I was dumb struck. I didn't know there were white deer. Over the yrs. , I've seen two others , piebald though , and not all white. There were a lot of deer in that reserve , but few bucks with legal antlers.
 

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