White Deer, Big 10-point Taken in Back-To-Back Hunts

Simon Hart with his white deer and a big 10 he killed on consecutive hunts in Sumter County over Thanksgiving.

Ten-year-old Simon Hart had an incredible pair of hunts in Sumter County over Thanksgiving week. On an afternoon hunt, he killed a white deer and followed it up with a beautiful 10-point the very next morning.

The two hunts took place at his family’s farm. Simon, an avid reader of GON and lover of the outdoors, was hunting by himself with his grandfather’s 7mm-08 rifle. At dusk, he spotted a white deer through the pines, and after a careful aim, Simon squeezed the trigger like he knew how to do. The 250-yard shot, combined with the low light and recoil of the gun, made it difficult for Simon to see the result of the shot. After waiting on his dad and grandfather to track the deer, Simon climbed down from the stand and went to the spot he thought the deer had been. Their search for blood was unrewarding, and no sign of a hit was found. After a long, hard search, the boy left the woods in disappointment.

The following morning, Simon decided to sit on the same stand. As the dawn sky began to brighten, Simon noticed something white on the ground at the far end of the pines. Looking through his scope, he could see that it was his white deer! He had dropped it in its tracks but had underestimated how far the deer had been when the search commenced after dark. Too excited to sit still, Simon told his dad through the walkie-talkie that he could see his white deer on the ground. All he could think about was climbing down and getting his hands on his once-in-a-lifetime harvest. After much persuading from his dad, Simon stayed in the stand. Lo and behold, a beautiful 10-point buck stepped out to an unbelieving 10-year-old boy. The 7mm-08 bullet found its mark, and the buck went down!

So, now this boy had a rare prize in a white deer and a perfect 10-point to go on his wall.

Simon’s dad and grandfather knew that this white deer was special, but upon further research, they discovered that the deer was not like any piebald they’d ever seen, nor was it a true albino deer.

In a story of a recent Worth County albino buck, WRD’s head deer biologist Charlie Killmaster said, “A true albino deer is really rare. We may see one every two or three years.”

It’s believed that Simon’s deer is leucistic, which means it has a partial loss of pigmentation. Leucistic deer will have darker pigmentation on the nose, and the fur will be more yellow than a true white. When you have an albino deer, there is a complete loss of pigmentation, which will include pink eyes, a pink nose and clear hooves. Simon’s white deer had black eyes and a black nose, although it does have clear hooves.