• WHO WE ARE
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Purpose/Goal
  • Contact Us
• THE MEDIA STORY
  • On Video
  • In Print
• WHITE DEER IN LELAND
  • The Setting
  • The History
  • Stories/Sightings
  • Pictures
• WHITE DEER OVERVIEW
  • Other White Deer
  • The White Deer Experience
  • White Deer Comments
  • Culture and History
  • White Deer Books
• ISSUES AND ANSWERS
  • White Deer Q&A
  • Addressing the Issues
  • CWD and the White Deer
  • A Look at the Law
  • Why Save the White Deer?
• TAKING ACTION
  • Preservation Efforts
  • What You Can Do
  • Contact Your Representative
  • Thank You
• SOCIAL MEDIA
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Charlie Elk on White Deer

If I kill this deer, I deny another the same experience.

Hunter “charlie elk” posted this thoughtful comment on outdoorlife.com about a white deer encounter and a hunting opportunity passed:

Once upon a time I was an opportunist hunter.  If I came across fowl or beast during an open season, I did my best to kill it. Then somewhere along the way it came to me I do not have to kill everything. Perhaps it was during my first white deer encounter, but I can’t be sure. While watching the particular small white doe, her pink eye shining back at me, a feeling of peace and contentment descended around me. With the thought; if I kill this deer, I deny another the same experience.

Like many hunters I have numerous mounts which I have always viewed as my feeble attempt at possession of their beauty and wildness, as all hunters come to realize eventually. The mount will trigger pleasant memories of the hunt (making it well worth the effort to get a mount).

But there is a certain sadness in the back reaches of your mind – your possession is never really complete.

Later,
Charlie