Albino Deer Kill: Death Threats For Gavin Dingman, 11-Year-Old Who Killed Rare Animal With Arrow

An 11-year-old boy who shot and killed a rare albino deer with a crossbow has been hit with a barrage of disgusted responses on social media outlets — some even threatening the child with death, according the father of Gavin Dingman.

A photograph of Gavin posing with the carcass of his kill went widely viral on internet news sites and social media outlets earlier this week, after the host of a local Michigan TV show posted it online.

As The Inquistr reported on Tuesday, the pre-teen shot the rare animal with a crossbow from about 30 yards away, killing the deer instantly. Scientists say that only about one in 100,000 deer are born with the genetic condition that causes their fur and bodies to lack any pigmentation, giving them a mystical appearance that causes them to be treated as sacred in Native American cultures.

But shooting and killing the animal with an arrow made Gavin feel “like a rock star,” according to his father, Mick Dingman, who led his son on the hunting expedition in Michigan that led to the boy’s albino deer kill.

Not everyone has seen 11-year-old Gavin as a “rock star” for killing the animal. Mick Dingman says that what was originally a happy moment for his son and whole family quickly became a disturbing experience, complete with “death threats and everything else you can imagine.”

“There was one comment that someone should shoot that kid with an arrow, and others along those lines,” said Jordan Browne, the local TV host who originally posted the photo of Gavin Dingman on line, after the story was reported in a local newspaper. “There were a lot of ignorant people blaming and scolding the parents for letting their child hunt, or as they put it, ‘murder’ things.”

Browne said he was shocked by the vehemence of the personal attacks on a sixth grader, who from his pictures “looks like the sweetest kid.”

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources confirmed on Thursday that the albino deer “harvest” by the crossbow-wielding boy was fully within state law. Michigan banned hunting albino deer until 2008, but since then the state no longer has any regulation preventing hunters from killing the rare creatures.

Five other states still ban the killing of albino deer.

“There is no biological reason to protect the genetic trait that causes a deer to be all-white or albino,” said Michigan DNR deer specialist Brent Rudolph. “In fact, the trait is certainly a disadvantage for avoiding predators.”