Day Fishing with a difference

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You’ve heard of salmon jumping into boats, but 4 juvenile Sitka black-tailed DEER swam directly toward Tom Satre’s 62-foot charter vessel in the icy waters of Stephen’s Passage, Alaska.

Once the deer reached the boat they began to circle, looking directly at the humans on board. Clearly, the bucks were distressed. With help from the group of locals, the typically skittish wild animals came willingly into the boat. Once on board they collapsed with exhaustion, shivering.

Here the rescued bucks rest on the back of the Alaska Quest.
All four deer were transported to Taku Harbour. Once the group reached the dock, the first buck that had been pulled from the water hopped onto the dock, looked back, then leapt into the harbour, swam to shore and disappeared into the forest. After a bit of prodding and assistance from the humans, two others followed suit… but one deer needed more help.

Here he is being transported by Tom Satre:

Tom, Anna and Tim Satre help the last of the bucks to its feet. They did not know how long the deer had been in the icy waters or if there had been others who did not survive.

The good Samaritans describe their experience as ‘one of those defining moments in life.’ It was for the deer, as well.