Last Monday in Michigan 11-year-old, Gavin Dingman shot and killed a rare albino buck while being supervised by his father during a hunting outing.

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The young boy is being congratulated by many of his neighbors, and fellow hunters, who have seen the deer around the neighborhood for the past couple of years.  While, animal lovers/activists and scientists are chastising Gavin’s father, Mike, for allowing the young boy to kill the deer.  It is acknowledged that there are only about 1 albino deer for every 20,000 deer.  And, it is even claimed that there may be only 1 albino deer in every 100,000 deer.

Mike was quoted saying that Gavin, “…feels like a rockstar right now.”  And, has released to the press that many hunting magazines and shows are calling to set up interviews with his son.  Mike also says that his son is a superb hunter who has shot a deer right through the heart. It was almost like the albino deer didn’t have a chance against the kid.

That’s when the skeptics come out to play.  Albino deer, like many other albino animals, are born with red eyes which make them slightly blind or hard for the animal to see.  This would make hunting and killing the deer easier than killing a brown deer.  On top of this, the albino deer, because of its whit coat, would have a hard time blending in with its surroundings.  Because of this rarity in the species, Mike has told Gavin that he will have the whole deer mounted.

Up until 2008, it was illegal to kill albino deer in Michigan, but it is still illegal in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and parts of Montana.