Mike, I have seen some beautiful brown and white bucks on your blog over the years and was wondering: what causes the white in their coats? How rare are they? Gary, Virginia Experts say a genetic defect causes the “piebald” condition in white-tailed deer, when a deer’s hide—doe or buck—will be colored white and brown, similar to a pinto pony. Sometimes a piebald’s hide will appear almost entirely white, or in other cases, mostly brown. Regardless of coat color, a piebald has brown eyes and a black nose and hooves, just like any normal whitetail. In addition to a pinto coat, a mature piebald might have short legs and a Roman (bowed) nose, the latter evident in the amazing cam [...]

My favorite science blog, Deer Forest Study, posted on the ideal habitat for whitetails, and from that post here are important things you need to know about deer food and cover. BEST DEER FOOD: Early successional forest (regenerating stands of woods less than 6-8 years old) provides 1,000-2,000 pounds per acre of woody browse, forbs and soft mast.  This type woods habitat can support about 60 deer/square mile during the winter, far surpassing other forest age classes. Do you hunt a woods like that? Is that where you find deer feeding? Biologist Jeannine Fleegle points out that the list of food for deer is long and varied and includes browse, forbs, grasses, mast, fungi, algae and even mosses. It is no [...]