The Payson Roundup / Rare white elk taken on Christopher Mountain

November 25, 2008

Suzanne Jacobson/Roundup

Mike Hernandez of Laveen stands with the white elk he shot on Christopher Mountain.

The white elk Mike Hernandez of Laveen shot Thursday evening on Christopher Mountain is thought to be exceedingly rare.

Marianne Buehring, who runs a game processing business with her husband, said she’d never seen an elk of that ilk.

“We’ve done hundreds of elk,” she said.

Although Buehring initially thought the elk an albino, she later clarified that the animal had dark eyes, not red, which made the animal white.

Hernandez, 37, shot the 3- or 4-year-old cow elk with a bow and arrow. “I’ve seen albino deer before, but not elk,” he said.

“We’ve been hunting for like five years. This is the first year I ever shot something,” Hernandez added.

He said he plans to mount the animal’s head on a wall inside his living room, eat the meat, and likely make a rug out of the hide.

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