Boy’s North Platte Adventure Interrupted By A Herd Of Mule Deer

The North Platte River is 716 miles long and meanders right through the middle of Casper, Wyoming.

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The North Platte (or simply the Platte as many locals call it) is why Fort Caspar was established in the mid-1800s and this Fort and the popularity of the nearby Morman Ferry crossing led to the creation of the town of Casper.

My family and I have lived in this area for 13 years, and we've spent a lot of time hanging out by, or on the Platte.

We love to walk (and run) down the gorgeous North Platte River Trails, and recently we've begun to take family float trips down the river.

Rather than using tubes, we load up our family of 7 into large 2 person kayaks, and recently, we purchased a few small single-person kayaks.

Our younger kids have gotten pretty zippy and often charge ahead of us slow old folks as we travel down the river.

This past weekend we went on an 8 (ish) mile float.

Spotting wildlife along the river is one of the best parts of this activity, and from Eagles to Pelicans and even an Antelope or two we've gotten used to seeing some of Wyoming's coolest creatures doing their thing while we float past.

On this particular trip, our 8-year-old son was the leader, choosing what side of the river islands we should take and setting the pace.

We were all shocked when he suddenly shouted "Deer!" as a herd of 7 - 10 Mule Deer Does plunged into the water and swam across the river just a few feet in front of him.

I struggled to get my phone out of a ziplock bag so I could record them, and was disappointed I wasn't quick enough to capture them.

Just when I was getting ready to put my phone away three Mule Deer Bucks splashed into the water and swam after the ladies.

Take a look...

@prairiewifeThere were about 7 Does that swam across before these Bucks! ##wyominglife ##muledeer ##northplatte ##floatingtheriver ##wyomingwildlife ##wyomingisntreal♬ God's Country - Blake Shelton

It's unexpected moments like this that remind all of us how lucky we are to live here in Wyoming.

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