11-year-old Boy Kills Rare Albino Deer With a Crossbow

An 11-year-old boy might enjoy playing video games or hanging out with other kids, but Gavin Dingman of Oceola Township proved that he's a different drummer -- and nailed it Katniss Everdeen style.

Last week, Gavin killed an albino deer on a hunting escapade with his father Mick Dingman. According to USA Today, the boy took the trophy buck with a crossbow in his hands. They spotted the same deer a couple of times in previous years. Reportedly, they also took photos of it.

Now Gavin has become an instant celebrity among the hunting community. Ming said about his son, "He kind of feels like a rock star right now. Everyone is calling, all of the hunting shows and hunting magazines."

Ming revealed that some guys in their neighborhood attempted to acquire the deer -- but obviously, nobody succeeded but his own boy.

Gavin was able to hit his target in a distance of 30 yards, wrote Examiner. A bolt of his crossbow pierced the fauna's lung in a single shot.

The young hunter was nervous prior to letting his crossbow fly. He said via Patch, "My dad was just like, 'Take a deep breath. Are you sure you can take the shot? If you're not 100 percent, we don't want to injure it.'"

Despite people telling Ming that he should have taken the shot instead, he had total confidence in his son's abilities.

"To me, in my opinion, it doesn't matter if it's a spike or a doe or a trophy deer. If you have confidence in them, it shouldn't matter what they are shooting at," the proud father said.

Negative comments spurred online after the sixth grader has claimed victory over the creature.  Although hunting albino deer is legal in Michigan, some people were put off by the killing, most specially that it was done "unnecessarily."  

Patch cited Nathan Hagen's comment, "Regardless of what color the buck is, the fact that people are carelessly killing these beautiful creatures for sport and not necessity is the problem here."

With blood splattered in modest amounts around the albino deer's body, Michigan Out-of-Doors TV posted Gavin's victory on Facebook. The page warned that negative comments will not be tolerated, and that it approves of the boy's triumph -- it's his kill, after all.

The albino deer is not Gavin's first kill. Also making use of a crossbow, he reportedly succeeded in shooting a buck last year "straight through the heart."

Gavin will be having a full-body mount of the deer done by a taxidermist to serve as a trophy.