Rumors on the net fly and right now many of our email boxes are being filled with a “Rare Black Buck from Michigan.” This buck is not from Michigan but rather Texas hill country in January 2004. Gordon Gouldin was the hunter who took this rare deer and this famous photo is Gordon’s wife with the black buck. NA Whitetail has the story so check it out.
Some other Black Buck stories I’ve seen are;
Andrew Hargrove shot this rare melanistic buck in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 2002. The only white on the deer is the underside of the tail.
Bobbie Fain took this “black” buck in Dimmit County, Texas. Most melanistic deer live in Texas, with the highest number being around 150 miles northeast of this ranch. Photo by Gordon Whittington.
Brendan Pearson poses with the black whitetail deer he shot in Idaho state hunting Unit 8A, in potlatch, Idaho, in October 2007. The whitetail buck is exceptionally dark with a black head, black tongue and dark underbelly. Its legs also are dark and, aside from the white tip, its tail is all black. The first recorded report of a black deer came from New York in 1929.
Bert Buegeler III black buck he took in Texas Hill Country
Donnie Rodriguez took this Texas Buck in 2005
Well these are the photos I often see and I suspect some of you do as well. I think there is little doubt that Texas is about your best chance to bag one of these rare deer. So next time you get a black buck photo maybe you’ll know the real story.
