Rare white deer spotted in Wisconsin; can it be hunted?

A rare white deer was photographed in Wisconsin days before Saturday’s start of the gun deer-hunting season, which caused some (...)

A rare white deer was photographed in northern Wisconsin just days before Saturday’s start of hunting season, which caused some to become concerned about the animal’s welfare.

Tracy Weese captured the image and it was shared to Facebook last Tuesday by the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office.

“An incredible sight to see here in Vilas County, a beautiful albino buck!” the agency wrote. “This majestic creature was spotted in the greater Boulder Junction area.”

One of the top comments reads, “It is truly magnificent to see. I would hope any hunter seeing this would NOT shoot it. It is so much more beautiful alive than on your wall.”

The gun hunting season for whitetail deer opened Saturday and runs through Nov. 29. Several comments on the Sheriff’s Office post were in reference to hunting and whether this buck is fair game.

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While Wisconsin does not allow the harvesting of true albino or leucistic deer (all white but without pink eyes), a few comments pertained to brown markings on a hind leg and the head of the buck in the photo.

Despite those markings, the deer in the photo is protected, Sarah Hoye, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, told FTW Outdoors.

Hoye provided the state regulation: “Albino and white deer which have a coat of all white hair except that the hair on the tarsal glands, head or parts of the head may be a color other than white . “White hair that has been discolored or stained by blood, soil or similar materials shall continue to be considered white hair.”

Tarsal glands are located on the inside of a deer’s hind legs and the coloration on the deer in the photo is likely caused by staining from those glands. The faint brown markings on the buck’s head might have been dirt or dried blood from the deer rubbing velvet off its antlers.

In any case, the deer is off-limits, but that does not necessarily mean it is safe.

Last year in Wisconsin, a hunter shot and killed an albino deer and subsequently turned himself in, claiming that he had fired after seeing only the brown of the deer’s head, before realizing the rest of the animal was white.

The hunting website, Wide Open Spaces, found fault with the hunter’s reasoning and added: “The remains of this deer were sent to a local taxidermist to be put on display to help other local hunters understand the difference between and albino and typical whitetail deer.”

–Image courtesy of Tracy Weese