Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
fsmith

Mystery Deer

Recommended Posts

I received an email today with this photo attached. Has anyone else seen this photo are know what it is? Below I have copied and pasted the message that came with the email.

 

Thought you’d appreciate this.

 

A past student of Dick’s and mine who is now a freshman in high school, got this deer in the mountains above her family’s house outside of Salmon.

 

She got it last weekend, October 11th. She and her dad first spotted it last year and have been watching it since. Others living in the general area have also mentioned seeing it.

 

Any ideas on what type of deer it is? Fish and Game has identified it as a mule deer – of sorts. There are no game areas anywhere around us – near or far – that would have any exotic animals. Could it be a throw back???

 

Brynn was pretty excited to present this picture to Dick. He has a “wall of honor” in the back of his room, and now her picture is up there with a turkey, an elk, two deer, pheasants, and ducks!

post-1011-1224176182_thumb.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm usually pretty good at knowing what species a deer is, or if a deer has any abnormal genetic defects such as albinoism or melanistic characteristics, but this one has me stumped. I've never seen a deer quite like it. It has the coat of a spotted Fallow deer, and the face that carries the traits of both a mule deer and a Pierre David Deer. Weird!! Its gotta be some kind of genetic defect in a muley, but from the looks alone, it looks like a Hienzes 57 of deer!!

 

Ive never seen anything like it before. Thaks for sharing the pic with us. If you dont mind, I might email the pic to my old college professor. He would be interested in seeing this deer for sure!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I'm usually pretty good at knowing what species a deer is, or if a deer has any abnormal genetic defects such as albinoism or melanistic characteristics, but this one has me stumped. I've never seen a deer quite like it. It has the coat of a spotted Fallow deer, and the face that carries the traits of both a mule deer and a Pierre David Deer. Weird!! Its gotta be some kind of genetic defect in a muley, but from the looks alone, it looks like a Hienzes 57 of deer!!

 

Ive never seen anything like it before. Thaks for sharing the pic with us. If you dont mind, I might email the pic to my old college professor. He would be interested in seeing this deer for sure!

 

Thanks for your insight Scottyboy. Feel free to send it to your old college professor, maybe he can shed a little more light on it. Please let us know what he has to say.

 

Thanks again,

Fred

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The spot pattern is the same as a mule deer fawn. Looks like it has an abnormality where it is partial albinism and never lost it fawn spots.

 

post-1967-1224211524.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I received an email from the original poster so I have copied and pasted it below.

 

 

 

 

I am the poster of the original e-mail regarding Brynn’s deer.

 

We were advised through Anna, Dick’s cousin who works with Jan, that her deer is the focus of a thread on the discussion forum on CouesWhitetail.com and looked it up.

 

Idaho Fish and Game has taken samples from the deer for DNA testing.

 

We have a good friend, retired AZ Game and Fish, who is also using his resources in an attempt to identify the deer.

 

To be more specific, the deer was taken in the Lemhi Mountains just south of Salmon.

 

Hope the information helps.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×