Black Faced Buck

[Cchez]

Has anyone else come across a buck with a black face while hunting? Last fall i had a nice 8pt at 5 yards that had a face that was black except for around his eyes and the white ring by his nose. I'm hoping he survived the year so i can see how he grew from last year, if he did he should be a nice buck. Identifying him should be simple by his black face. Does anyone know if thats a color phase that lasts? Or maybe his fur changed this year if he survived?

Unfortunately i don't have a picture to share anymore, my phone took a dump and i lost all my pictures.

[Dewey]

I have seen this a number of times. Don’t have an answer why they have black faces but just seems to be another unique color variation.

I caught this slightly darker faced buck on cam a few weeks ago.

[austin1990]

I've seen a couple with dark faces. One of my favorites though was a deer my grandfather killed years ago that had really red colored hair on top of his head and face. He wanted to get it mounted so bad because of the coloring but couldn't afford it. Hes got the horns hanging in a shed outback, I keep hoping to see another someday with that red hair and can kill it for a Cape for them horns and mount it for him. Hes the one that taught me a lot about hunting mobile and moving with the sign and was a great woodsman.

[jmaas07]

Could be some sort of melanistic deer

[Bio1]

I killed an old south GA swamp buck years ago that had an extremely dark face - haven’t killed one like that since. He was a cool deer.

[Cchez]

Does anyone knows if its a permanent coloring, or if it eventually changes?

[tim]

I’ve had lots of early season deer look this way but change with winter coat. Last year though I shot a big doe with only a couple specs of whit around the mouth none around eyes. Really dark really strange. And her head was the size of a cinder block lol

[moondoondude]

Absolutely.

Deer have subtle differences in their faces which all help recognizing them, especially when they make big antler jumps, or right after they shed their antlers. Black faces, the black hair line reaching their nose, just being a ring around their nose, white around the eyes, an overbite, gray face, white face, tan face, tags in ears, space between burrs, Roman noses, throat patches, white hair patterns on their legs, etc., etc.

All can help identify a buck from year to year and year round. For whatever reason, i have seen a lot of deer with the facial markings you are describing in the swamps of Louisiana, Georgia, amd Mississippi.

[Ryan549]

I had a doe with a really dark face on my property a few years ago.
There have been quite a few deer here though with a double throat patch.

[PK_]

Absolutely.

Deer have subtle differences in their faces which all help recognizing them, especially when they make big antler jumps, or right after they shed their antlers. Black faces, the black hair line reaching their nose, just being a ring around their nose, white around the eyes, an overbite, gray face, white face, tan face, tags in ears, space between burrs, Roman noses, throat patches, white hair patterns on their legs, etc., etc.

All can help identify a buck from year to year and year round. For whatever reason, i have seen a lot of deer with the facial markings you are describing in the swamps of Louisiana, Georgia, amd Mississippi.

Yupp, Nortern FL bucks get those dark faces too. Look like Bama deer.

[austin1990]

Absolutely.

Deer have subtle differences in their faces which all help recognizing them, especially when they make big antler jumps, or right after they shed their antlers. Black faces, the black hair line reaching their nose, just being a ring around their nose, white around the eyes, an overbite, gray face, white face, tan face, tags in ears, space between burrs, Roman noses, throat patches, white hair patterns on their legs, etc., etc.

All can help identify a buck from year to year and year round. For whatever reason, i have seen a lot of deer with the facial markings you are describing in the swamps of Louisiana, Georgia, amd Mississippi.

Swamp deer do seem to have those characteristics. I forgot but I killed a doe when I was 15 or so with a muzzleloader that had no white on her head or throat. Was just brown, that was before camera phones so no pics lol. Also I'll get a doe or 2 on camera every year and see a couple with double throat patches but I've not seen or killed a buck in my area with one, but 30 miles east double throat patches are common, especially on the bucks that go 150"+. For some reason the big swamp bucks will have it, and be darker gray than the deer in my area.

[EasyEd]

Just had a couple deer with black faces on camera. I've seen it a lot more around water as opposed to other places and it seems to also be a summer coat thing.

[Dewey]

Might just be the darker pigment in the skin showing since the summer coat is so thin this time of the year. Later in fall I don’t see that nearly as much.

[austin1990]

Both of these I killed about a mile apart, same gun, same orange vest, 7 years apart. The 8 point in november chasing a doe, the 9 point in a funnel just off some buck buck bedding during a rain. They're the darkest ones I've killed, both of the mounts are as dark too

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[Marshbuster89]

I saw one a few years ago that looked like it was wearing a mask! Had to double take thru the binocs to make sure it wasn’t swamp muck. Never got close enough to get a good pic of him, but he was pretty unique.