Only Moose on Deer Lake

Many guests come up with the anticipation of seeing the king of the north woods; the moose. The roads around Clearwater are generally full of the monstrous mammals around dusk as they come out of the mosquito infested woods to lick up salt remaining from the previous winter. No matter how many moose I see, and I have seen many this summer, the excitement never goes away, sometimes a little more exciting than others however. As Kevin and I arrived to Deer Lake a few days ago, we were discussing strategies on how to catch enough walleyes for another staff fish fry. Little did we know that the fish we were going to catch will not be what will be remembered about the night. We battled the west wind and made it around the point to the calm side of the lake. Immediately we saw a cow on the other side of the bay submerged from the chest down in the water. Was she hot? Maybe trying to get a break from the pesky bugs? We didn't know, but we didn't care either. "Get the camera, let's sneak along the shore to get a closer look" I said. Her ears perked up. "shhhh!" we said simultaneously. She let us get close to her, but Kevin took it to another level. He took control of the canoe, I manned the camera, and he got us so close that we could see individual bugs on her back; amazing. We were in the pristine wilderness without any motors except a 1-moose-powered engine. Once the boat stopped rocking from her wake, we watched her trot back into the mosquito infested woods and we sat in awe.

-Donny