Hunter harvests piebald deer
By Holly Neumann
Dan Bestul has been hunting for more than 40 years, but he won’t forget this year’s gun deer season.
The Iola resident harvested a 10-point piebald buck on his father-in-law’s property in Clark County during opening weekend.
Piebald deer have a naturally occurring, very rare coloration known as piebald. Bestul’s deer was mostly white in color, had brown eyes, white hooves and a brown spot on its shoulder.
“We knew there was a deer over there like that,” Bestul said. “My son had seen it last year, but I had never seen it.”
He said he couldn’t believe it when he first saw the deer.
“I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, there it is,” he said. “The deer that is known as the ghost is really standing in front of me.”
Bestul studied the deer through binoculars for 10 minutes in disbelief.
“I had been told there was a brown spot of fur on the front left shoulder,” he said. “When I could confirm that, I picked up my gun and shot it.”
The deer ran about 40 yards before falling.
“It certainly wasn’t hard to track,” Bestul said. “The color really stood out. You couldn’t miss it.”
He then sent a text to his in-laws, letting them know that he shot the deer.
“They came out and got me,” he said. “Everyone was in amazement.”
Word traveled fast and more than 40 people, including state Department of Natural Resources staff, came to view the deer.
The DNR confirmed the deer is a piebald, which are legal to shoot during hunting seasons in Wisconsin. Albino deer, however, are protected.
The chances of shooting a piebald are approximately 1 in 35,000 and Bestul plans to get a full-body mount of the deer.
“This is not the biggest deer I have ever shot,” he said. “It is certainly the most unique.”