Outdoors notebook: Choctaw taxidermist's white deer impresses judges

Danny Keener, 56, did something different with the white deer brought to him by an Oklahoma hunter two years ago. He incorporated a Chickasaw Indian legend called “Ghost of the White Deer” as part of the mount.

According to the legend, a Chickasaw warrior named Blue Jay and a Chickasaw maiden named Bright Moon fell in love and wanted to get married. However, Bright Moon was the daughter of the chief. He would not allow them to marry until the brave killed a white deer, believed to be magical by the Chickasaws.

Keener mounted the white deer atop a base of Pacific redwood roots. Keener typed the Chickasaw legend on a burned piece of parchment paper and added it to the redwood roots.

On the back, Keener painted a blue jay and added a beaded-portrait of an Indian maiden gazing at the moon. He also placed arrows and an Indian-made quiver on the display.

WILDLIFE FOOD PLOT SEMINAR SET FOR AUG. 14

Scorching summers and freezing winters in Oklahoma are hard on the state's wildlife. Landowners can help wildlife survive Oklahoma's extreme weather by planting food plots.

The Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service Extension is holding a free seminar on wildlife food plots Aug. 14 in Oklahoma City.