For the first time in years, I filled my buck tag and wouldn't you know it on the last week of early bow season , I came across this Piebald while on my way back from a hike on state land. He had at least an 18"+ spread, good mass and looked like a mature deer. I'm not sure if he made it through gun season, haven't heard anything about anyone getting a Piebald locally. Would you try to focus on hunting this buck next year in this same spot or do you think that would be a waste of my time? Sorry for the bad pic, it's a screenshot of the video I took.
If you can pattern him, I would try hunting him. You just have to be realistic, he may not be hunt able, don't put in to much time if pictures are all night or few and far between. Do some recon
Thanks Daryl, probably gonna shed hunt that area in February ,march but he probably fled the area after the orange army was there. But you never know. i don't feel comfortable leaving a trail cam on public land, so that's probably not an option.
Hunting public land can make the trail cam options pretty tough. There are a couple of things I have done in the past to keep from getting my cameras stolen, however. - The most obvious is to buy the lock boxes for them - Another option is to just brush them in pretty good, you can even glue leafy material to the top. Anything to help camouflage it - Another good option is to buy the no glow cameras and hang them high in a tree and angle them down. The no glow will keep people from seeing them at night. All of those options still have the opportunity to be stolen, but it all comes down to how much risk you want to take. Good luck!
I wouldn't shoot anything white. neighbors and other hunters get very upset when guys in my area shoot white deer.
Quite honestly, I don't care what "neighbors and other hunters" think as far as my hunting is concerned. I won't allow others to dictate what I kill. If a piebald is a legal deer in my area (which it is), I'm killing it. In fact, the one and only piebald that I've seen while hunting is hanging on my wall. A piebald is a rare trophy.
well when you hunt their property you better respect their thoughts or you'll be out of there for good. I get along with my neighbors and want to keep it that way. we have a high concentration of pure albinos in my area. this year on a nearby property a guy shot a 180# 10 pt albino. I couldn't believe an albino could get that big. usually they are just runts. I know of 4-5 piebalds or albinos within 15 minutes from my house. not very rare here but fun to watch.
i would respect the wishes of the land owner and neighbors if it was private land and i respect your opinion. That's great you live in area with a plethora of piebald/albino deer. A trophy is in the eye of the beholder. Take away the fact hes a piebald would you try to hunt this deer at the same area and phase of the rut next year. Do you think the odds are good if he is still kicking that he will be cruising the same trail.
Deer are animals of habit. If you look at radio collared deer tracking, most of them live in a very small area and only during the rut or because of some outside pressure do they ever leave.
Singling out a single animal is a challenge. Since he is a piebald he should be easier to identify sine their are not so many of them. If you are up for a challenge go for it. I would however have a plan b just in case he goes missing or be willing to eat tag soup. Good luck no matter what decision you make.
