An 11-year-old boy has been painted as a hunting hero in the United States for shooting and killing an incredibly rare adult albino deer.

American media have taken an interesting stance on the incident, preferring to laud the boy for his impressive hunting prowess, rather than focussing on his young age or the fact that an animal was killed.

According to USA Today, “Gavin Dingman of Oceola Township took down the trophy buck last week while hunting with his father, Mick Dingman”.

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Gavin, who lives in Michigan, shot the unusual animal “straight through the heart” with a crossbow and reportedly plans to have it mounted by a taxidermist as a “large trophy to remind him of his hunting success”.

Gavin’s father, Mick Dingman, said he was proud of his son’s efforts.

“I’ve had people tell me, ‘You should have taken the shot. You don’t let an 11-year-old take a shot at a deer like that’,” he told USA Today.

“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 deer, which is one in tens of thousands, is unusual not only for its appearance but for its size – albino animals tend not to survive long in the wild.

Their poor eyesight and lack of camouflage means they are particularly vulnerable to predators.

For this deer to survive into adulthood is an impressive feat.

In some American states, it is actually illegal to kill an albino deer but it remains legal in Michigan.

Interesting way to headline this. RT @usatoday 11-year-old hunter bags rare albino deer http://t.co/pypAlMt0cE — Mark Taylor (@MarkTaylorCBS) October 21, 2014

American anti-hunting advocate Anja Heister from In Defence of Animals said her organisation was “appalled” by the act.

“It is irresponsible to teach children, like Gavin, that killing animals is something to be proud of,” Ms Heister told The New Daily.

“He, and his father and all his friends should be ashamed of themselves having no regard for the wellbeing and the lives of other animals. The fact that this deer was an albino and everyone in the neighborhood didn’t appreciate the beauty and rareness of this particular animal speaks volumes of the disregard that humans in general have for the lives of others.”

On social media, people have expressed sadness over the apparent celebration of slaughter at such a young age.

“Very sad to encourage a child to disrespect animal life,” one Twitter user wrote.

I’m for hunting.. but this is am amazing creature.. why kill it? I’m pretty sure one albino deer would not caused… http://t.co/AjEriQUoRj — JC (@Harvstrofsorrow) October 21, 2014

What do you think? Is this boy too young to hunt? Should such a rare animal be allowed to live?