By DON DUBUC

Jaye Diecidue could hardly believe his eyes. What he first thought to be a white squirrel then a dog, through his riflescope clearly became a strange deer.

The six-point, 145-pound buck he bagged opening weekend in the Kisatchie National Forest near the town of Winnfield, turned out to be one of the rarest deer ever taken there.

“The forest rangers were amazed and commented that, to their knowledge, this was the first white deer taken from the area. Every hunter visiting the check station, whether checking in an animal or just sight-seeing enjoyed the awesome sight of the white deer,” Jaye said.

The unusual deer was not a true albino but a color phase known as a “piebald.” Piebalds vary in the amount of white coloration from a few spots or splashes to the 80 percent like Diecidue’s or even more.

Fishing titles handed out

Some pretty impressive fish were weighed last weekend during the Busy B/Tite’s Place Fishing Rodeo in Slidell.

Chas Champagne’s 8.10 pounder captured the Lunker Speckled Trout award while Tony Giammolva Jr. won Adult Kingfisherman honors and Andy Googins practically swept the children’s division to claim Kingfisherman title for that category.

Here are the final results:

ADULT DIV. – Speckled Trout – Chas Champagne, 8.10; Marcus Bateman, 6.40; Bateman, 6.15. Flounder – Tony Giammolva Jr. 6.40, Giammolva, 4.20; John Brakel, 3.90. Redfish – Jack Pertuit, 4.30; Pertuit, 2.80; Eddie Hodges, 2.50. Croaker – Ray Alford, 1.15; Steve Brakel, .40; Steve Brakel, .35. Sheepshead – Tony Giammolva Jr., 8.95, Corey Becnel, 6.95, Dennis Anderson, 3.45.

CHILDREN’S DIV. – Speckled Trout – Andy Googins, 3.85; Googins, 3.85; Googins, 3.55. Redfish – Evan Joffrion, 2.45; Googins, 2.20; Googins, 2.10. Flounder – Googins, 1.90; Roy Ritter, 1.85; Evan Joffrion, 1.45. Croaker – Blaine McCormick, 1.65; Roy Ritter, .15.

Hunter shoots horse

“Lady you can have the horse just let me get my saddle off!”

That is the punch line from an old joke that has been around for years about a first-time female hunter who mistakenly shoots a horse with a rider for a deer.

In Brown’s Valley, Minnesota last week, the story became a reality.

An 89-year-old hunter, Clinton Hurlbut pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless use of a gun after accidentally shooting a horse ridden by a 12-year-old girl.

He fired a shotgun slug from his property on the opening day of deer-hunting season at what he thought was a deer. The slug struck a white horse in the shoulder as Lindsey Duffield was riding it about 200 yards away.

The girl’s family told the judge that Hurlbut had apologized and offered to pay the horse’s medical expenses and the family did not want him to go to jail.

Hurlbut was fined $700, ordered to pay restitution, denied the use of a gun for one year and placed on supervised probation for a year.

The horse is recovering but may not be able to be ridden again.

DON DUBUC is the outdoors reporter for L’Observateur.