Albino Deer... protect or not...

H

hogdogs

Staff In Memoriam
Due to the antler restriction thread I am posting on this...
Who thinks laws protecting the albino deer is fair to the herd?
We are talking about a genetically inferior deer with a recessive gene. Possibly deaf, likely suffering sun issues due to zero/minimal skin pigment.
I don't think it occurs often enuff to interfere with an entire herd but some locales protect them as a "special" deer.
Then there is a dog breed (dogo argentina) where breed confirmation requires culling out the "non-white" puppies to maintain a white breed. Thus they are prone to all the recessive gene tendencies. Not to mention how many superior hunting dogs are gone simply due to too much color...
Brent
 
I've never heard of protecting albino deer before. Since its a genetic trait that can manifest itself whenever, I'm not sure I agree with protecting them. They are rare, but certainly not in danger of going extinct.

Anyway, saw my first albino this past deer season. Didn't get to see her alive, but a hunter had shot a doe and was going to have the hide tanned. We were all trying to talk him into having it mounted. Very cool deer. The hunter who took it said he had seen a lot of piebald deer in the area, but this was his first albino.
 
I don't think they should be protected and they're not in NY state. There is actually a herd of almost entirely albino deer north of Syracuse. I think it's part of the military base up there. Besides those, we see very few albinos but I do hear of someone shooting one every so often.
 
Last edited:
I don't understand why there should be any urge to protect an inferior genetic code. If anyone has that desire they can high fence and domesticate a piebald herd. Then they can dye them pink fer Easter and green fer St. Patty's day and let the kiddos get their picture taken with them. Silly.
 
Albino deer are protected in Tennessee, but not piebald. I don't see any reason to not include them among the rest of the deer population, and have them governed by the exact same hunting regs.

There is nothing correct in protecting an animal, or making it "unshootable" simply because it has a lack of pigment, IMHO.
 
Great topic

I certinally agree I know theirs white bears, white elk, Now Im not talking polar bears but brown bears with an irregular genetic make up giving them the white coat. As for the elk? Im not sure if they are unshootable aswell. Either way its like Oh im aloud to shoot the black and brown ones..not the white eh? I guess they have become domesticated. Lol just playin here folks, but I certinaly agree coat/skin/hyde pigment should not bring just cause for the animal to be unshootable. I agree they are gorgeous and fun to look at..but they will be alot more fun to look at in my house as a rug thats for sure! I do live in B.C. Canada and its not often we here of an albino game let alone any one shooting one. Im not exactly sure what the regulations are cause when I think of it. The series I watched on albino brown bear was in alaska lol if my geography is right that makes it U.S.A lol so I beleive ill have to check in to this topic for Canadian b.c. hunting regulations.
 
Last edited:
The Military base that has the white deer is the old Samson site in Romulus, NY. I have a friend living there and get there a lot. The deer are NOT albino deer as they all have black noses and dark eyes as opposed to pink eyes as in true Albinos.
The area was always fenced as a Military Base therefore colored deer could not get in to breed with the white ones. There is a local effort and group trying to "preserve" the herd but I don't know how sucessful they will be.
A lot of the fence is down or gone so colored deer can easily get in the area and cross breed with the white deer. (this almost seems like a racial thread now :D)
There has been "rumors" that the Military stored a lot of radioactive stuff there and that is what caused the white deer to evolve. Who knows if it is true or not?
 
We had an albino deer on the lease. It was not completely blind, but I could get within 30 yards of it most any time from down wind. Saw no reason to kill it. Absolutely no challenge. There have been albino deer around as long as I can remember, and they don't fare very well. So, I doubt your shooting one is going to irradicate them. Wolves, lions, coyotes, bears, haven't been able to. But, I don't see much logic in protecting them either, other than the sentimental fact that they are so easy to kill.
 
There's a lot of white deer from further north in the state where I'm originally from but they're not albinos. We've got a lot of piebalds here. Got a piebald hide in the freezer now I'm planning on tanning.
 
Then there is a dog breed (dogo argentina) where breed confirmation requires culling out the "non-white" puppies to maintain a white breed. Thus they are prone to all the recessive gene tendencies.
Click to expand...

The Dogo Argentino or Argentinian Mastiff is not an albino breed. The color of the breed is white and spotted dogs do not conform to the standard. Even if they are culled out, the same happens with white boxers. Its the way to mantain a breed standard and the same happens in every single breed.
 
I always thought a true albino is sterile so there is no problems with it reproducing itself. The white phase or piebald occurs rarely and it will not necessarily reproduce white offspring. I watched a white doe for several years and she dropped twins two years in a row that were normal brown phase. Some youngster finally shot her in the 4th year. I was always taught that it was bad luck to shoot one, kind of like the "white buffalo". But to each his own.
 
Albino is not necessarily impotent... I knew a couple of both albino humans that married and bred and produced... WAIT FOR IT... Albino children... Full albino humans with nearly pink eyes and had to wear full cover clothing and dark glasses in the sun...
Brent
 
I consider them weak for the gene pool so I would shoot one in a heartbeat... deer that is not the aforementioned albino humans that get a pass...
Brent
 
They were protected in Michigan till about a year ago. You can shoot them now, I guess they finally figured out that it was just a defect, and why protect it.
 
Piebald

Several years ago I managed to get a shot at what turned out to be a piebald buck. Nice 8 point rack. It was opening morning and he snuck up behind me then made the mistake of being curious about what I was. He started stomping his front feet and bobbing his head. The season wasn't even an hour old for me and I was already done. Would I do it again? You're durn tootin I would. That was the tastiest whitetail I ever ate. And on top of it all, it gave me an additional month of birdhunting that I wouldn't normally have had.
 
The deer are NOT albino deer as they all have black noses and dark eyes as opposed to pink eyes as in true Albinos.
Click to expand...

This statement would be in error. Albinism can occur in part or in total.

Albino is not necessarily impotent...
Click to expand...
Right, albinism does not usually affect the ability to have an erection. If an albino deer is having trouble getting and maintaining erections for sexual reproduction, it is likely due to other causes.

With that said, albinism isn't associated with sterility either. If an albino animal is sterile, the sterility is due to other causes.

Albinism may have a negative affect on mating, however, as the visual clues used by some animals for mate selection may not be present and so the albino animal may have a more difficult time being accepted by a potential mate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top