'Like Seeing A Unicorn': IL Hunter Takes Video Of Rare White Deer

ILLINOIS — It's not every day a hunter sees a "unicorn" walking toward him through the woods. At least, that's what it felt like to Jamie Lambert, who recently spotted a rare white deer as he was hunting on private acreage in west central Illinois.

"It was the first day of shotgun season," Lambert told Patch. "I hunt a little patch that's only like 10 acres of timber, and as soon as the sun came up, the first deer [I saw] was a big 8-pointer. I thought, 'I've only got one buck tag left, there's probably a bigger one out here, I'm going to wait for a bigger one.'"

About half an hour after he let the first deer go, Lambert spotted something white coming out of the bushes. He had seen the white buck before during last year's bow season, so he recognized it immediately.

It's a misdemeanor to kill a completely white deer in Illinois, but if there is any brown on the deer, it's not protected. Lambert's deer did have a spot of brown on its head, but he said he wasn't going to take any chances.

"I had called the game warden last year to ask her if he was legal to shoot or not, and the way she talked, you'd have to go to court and battle over it. I wasn't going to do that. So, I just laid my gun down and picked up my phone and started recording."

(Video by Jamie Lambert)

White deer are very rare, about 1 in 20,000, according to Wisconsin naturalist John Bates, author of "White Deer: Ghosts of the Forest." Some white deer are albinos, lacking all color pigment, even in their eyes. Others, called leucistic deer, just have white coats. Lambert's deer was probably one of those.

Lambert said he's been hounded by friends who say he should have taken the deer as a trophy, but he thinks he made the right call, legality aside.

"Not everybody's going to see that," he said. "It's like seeing a unicorn and shooting it. I'd rather have other people see it. I mean, yeah, it would be neat to have, but it would also be neat to see how big he gets, you know? I'd rather just see him grow old rather than shoot him."

Lambert estimated the deer was 2.5 years old and a 7-to-8-point buck, though he said it's hard to be sure. The deer's antlers are often broken from fighting.

Fall is typically mating — and fighting — season for white-tailed deer.

"There was a hot doe in the area, that's why all the bucks were around," Lambert explained. "That's why he came through with his nose to the ground, didn't even care about me, and walked right on by."

The first time he spotted the deer, Lambert thought a nearby farmer's goat had gotten loose.

"It had its head down by some bushes, and I thought, 'What in the hell is that, is that a goat?'" he said. "And then it stuck its head up, and I'm like, 'Holy crap, it's a buck.'"

Lambert caught some photos of the buck on his trail camera last year, but they only showed the animal's hindquarters.

"The picture I got on my trail camera — all you could see were his back legs and his butt," he said. "My buddies were like, 'Yeah, right. That's a goat, that's not a deer.' Well, this year I finally got real proof."