BOULDER JUNCTION - It was getting really dark, and I was about to give up when I glanced up a street and saw him standing there: a white deer with maybe an eight-point rack.

I inhaled with a gasp. "There he is!" I whispered, even though I was in my car, by myself.

I slowly drove up the quiet dead-end street with driveways branching off it. As I took slow, even breaths, I realized the white buck wasn't alone. There was another white buck with him, and they were mingling in a herd of maybe 20 to 30 brown deer. I took a few grainy iPhone photos as best I could as the herd silently and gracefully loped into the woods.

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It was amazing.

Well, kind of. According to the dictionary, in order for something to be truly amazing, it should fill a person with "great surprise or sudden wonder." I absolutely was filled with sudden wonder. But I wasn't really surprised; after all, the Boulder Junction Chamber of Commerce claims "more albino deer than any other place in Wisconsin." And if you are there to look for a white deer, chances are very good that you will see one.

Boulder Junction, nestled among the lakes and rivers above the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest in far northeastern Wisconsin, also asserts that it's the "Musky Capital of the World." But the Chamber has put a white deer on a tourist billboard on U.S. 51 just north of Woodruff in an effort to lure people into town.

And the white deer definitely draw people in, said Theresa Smith, Chamber executive director. People from all over the country travel to Boulder Junction to get a glimpse of a white deer — a testament to the attractive power of the animal and its aura of enchantment.

"We've been seeing them and loving them as long as I can remember," Smith said. "They are just a beautiful sight. They're unique, and they're just so tame and they don't seem to be scared of us."

A white doe spotted with a brown deer Feb. 14 in Boulder Junction. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

'I was awestruck.'

Tanner Hause, a 35-year-old carpenter from Ogema, learned about the power of the white deer on Sept. 12. He was driving home from a work site in Wausau when he crested a hill between Merrill and Medford and saw an all-white buck.

He had seen the deer as a flash of white a few days earlier, but he never thought he would glimpse it again. This time the deer stood along the road as Hause slowed down and got his phone ready to take pictures. He was able to snap a few, including one where the deer is staring straight at him.

"I was awestruck, I guess you could say," Hause said. Hause is a lifetime resident of northern Wisconsin and a hunter. It was the first time he saw a white deer in the wild. When he was a kid, he remembers seeing one at Wildwood Wildlife Park in Minocqua. That hardly counted, he said, but the memory still stuck with him.

Hause posted some of the pictures on his Facebook page with the comment, "Well there's something ya dont see everyday!!!"

"My stuff usually only gets a couple likes from my friends," he told the Wausau Daily Herald in September. This post was shared more than 137,000 times.

Facebook also played a role in making the white deer of Boulder Junction famous. A local photographer started posting photos and videos several years ago on a Facebook page called "Life in the Northwoods." Shortly after that, Smith said, people started regularly contacting the Boulder Junction Chamber of Commerce to learn more about the deer. "It really took off after that," Smith said.

Hause was not only featured in the Daily Herald but also on television stations, and the Outdoor Channel picked up on the post. People from all over left thousands of comments and reactions.

"People were like, 'Aw, it could be your spirit animal,'" Hause said. He started a new job around that time, and some thought maybe seeing the buck "was a sign that it was a good thing," he said.

He's not sure about all that, but he does know one thing: "Really, it was pretty amazing."

A billboard along U.S. 51 near Woodruff on Feb. 14 showcases a white deer to help promote tourism in Boulder Junction. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

'It just seems magical ... kind of spiritual.'

Amy Sprecher is the third-generation owner of Sprecher's Bar in Leland, an unincorporated community just southwest of Natural Bridge State Park in Sauk County's Driftless Area.

Copy text Copy this quote's text The quote has been copied Tweet Share Amy Sprecher, Leland It just seems magical ... ghostly and it's kind of spiritual. Quote icon

Sprecher first saw a white deer around 2009. It was "because one of my customers had them on his property," she said. So Sprecher went off to see one for herself, and she can't explain in words how seeing that deer affected her. "It just seems magical ... ghostly and it's kind of spiritual," she said.

She and her boyfriend ended up buying that very property near Leland, and the handful of white deer that live in the area almost became part of their family.

"They kind of become your kids," Sprecher said. "They all have their own mannerisms, and they just kind of pull you in. ... It's kind of hard to explain."

Sprecher is part of a group called "Protect the Rare White Deer," formed after a hunter shot a white buck near Leland in 2012. Although it is generally illegal to kill white or albino deer, sometimes a white deer will be taken by accident, and sometimes it will be shot legally because it has a spot or splotch of brown on it. And some exceptions are made in chronic wasting disease management zones. The kill in 2012 was technically legal, but it rankled many people like Sprecher, and they have lobbied for both stricter laws to protect the deer and countered proposals to allow hunting of white deer.

The group's website, protectthewhitedeer.com, is full of information about white deer, delving into science and mythology of the animal. The site explains the subtle differences between white deer and albino deer, highlights a bit of the genetics behind the unusual coloring and explores just how unusual albino deer are.

They are quite rare. Studies and estimates vary, but common sources estimate that one deer in 20,000 is born albino, although some figures make it as high as one in 100,000. The state Department of Natural Resources estimates that about 2 million whitetail deer live in Wisconsin. That would put the number of albino deer in the state somewhere between 20 and 100.

Complicating those numbers is the fact that some deer can be white or nearly white without being a true albino, according to the Protect the Rare White Deer group. White deer that lack all pigment are considered albino, typically identified by pink noses and eyes, although albino deer can also have light blue eyes. Deer that are white with brown eyes are referred to as leucistic deer. The coloring in both kinds of white deer is due to genetics, but different genes create the different color patterns.

Copy text Copy this quote's text The quote has been copied Tweet Share Ernie St. Germaine, Hayward And every now and then, an animal will be born that encompasses the spirit, the white spirit. ... They are reminders that we should pay attention to our responsibilities. Quote icon

The site also digs into the lore of the white deer, underscoring that Sprecher is by no means alone in her feeling that the deer have a spiritual quality. White deer have their place in European mythology, have roles in the King Arthur tales and are part of American Indian religious beliefs.

People from all over the world have responded to the website, Sprecher said.

"We get people (responding) from Germany, France, Spain, Australia, South America," she said. "It was just overwhelming. We never expected anything like that. It was amazing. ... I don't know what it is, but you can tell the passion."

A white doe crosses a road Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

'They are reminders that we should pay attention ...'

Ernie St. Germaine, 72, lives in the Hayward area and is a member of and former judge for the Lac du Flambeau Tribe of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. He says he has "spent most of my life outdoors," and he's seen several white deer through his lifetime, even though he doesn't seek them out. If he sees them, he treasures those moments because they are sacred to him.

White — as in snow-capped mountains, a bald eagle's head or albino animals and people — has special significance in Lac du Flambeau traditions. It symbolizes living in harmony and balance with nature, St. Germaine said. The story he heard from his elders when he was growing up was that the bald eagle soared high into the sky to speak to the Creator, who told the eagle that animals needed to help teach about life.

The eagle agreed to watch over the earth, and keep an eye on the animals and people to make sure they live up to their obligations to nature.

"And every now and then, an animal will be born that encompasses the spirit, the white spirit. Even some human beings are born that way," St. Germaine said. "They are reminders that we should pay attention to our responsibilities."

When St. Germaine sees a white deer, or any white animal, he stops and offers tobacco, and takes an introspective look at himself.

"Am I treating others with kindness? Am I living in peace and harmony in my heart? What are my responsibilities? What am I doing right, what am I doing that's not right?"

A white buck scratches its chin with a rear hoof Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

'These white deer do capture people's imaginations.'

St. Germaine shared his thoughts on the white deer with photographer Jeff Richter and naturalist John Bates in the book they collaborated on, "White Deer: Ghosts of the Forest." It is primarily a photography book, featuring Richter's striking shots of white deer around Boulder Junction.

Richter is friends and neighbors with Bates, and he asked Bates to contribute the text for the book to go along with his photos.

Richter, 62, lives in Mercer, about 24 miles west of Boulder Junction, and for much of his life earned a living as a logger in the Northwoods. But in the early 1990s, photography grabbed him and he became, as he puts it, "a quote/unquote professional photographer."

He owned a photography shop in Boulder Junction for a period of about 10 years, and that's when he learned about the white deer there. He hadn't seen one before, in all his time in the Northwoods.

Copy text Copy this quote's text The quote has been copied Tweet Share John Bates, Mercer We turned a corner and in the headlights there is a white deer standing in the road. ... It had a kind of apparitional aspect to it, and it's startling, stunning. Quote icon

"I decided that sounded like an interesting animal, and one that I should see," Richter said. "I was lucky enough to stumble onto an albino deer. That moment is still kind of seared in my memory. ... I continued to pursue them with photos."

The white deer are so dramatically different, so striking, they claim a place in minds and hearts. "These white deer do capture people's imaginations," Richter said.

Bates, 68, also lives in Mercer. He's worked as a naturalist in northern Wisconsin for years and has written nine books on natural history.

The first time he saw a white deer was in the early 1990s. He and his wife are volunteers in the DNR's annual frog count, and they were up early in the morning heading to the area where they would listen and count different frog calls.

"We turned a corner and in the headlights there is a white deer standing in the road. And in an instant, it was gone," Bates said. "It was so startling and it was so fast. Bang. Here and gone. It had a kind of apparitional aspect to it, and it's startling, stunning."

He's seen a lot of white deer since that time, Bates said, and it's always "a surprise and delight, overwhelming beauty. ... It just strikes your heart and imagination, and often you're left without words."

But later, the story gels and the memories take their place on the treasure shelf of the mind, and "you end up talking about it a long time," Bates said.

A white buck spotted in a classic pose Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

'It's another thing ... other towns don't have.'

To be honest, I really didn't expect to see a white deer on my quick trip up to Boulder Junction. But I received explicit directions from both Theresa Smith of the Chamber of Commerce and from Cole Schuenemann, 17, a Boulder Junction native who works at the town's sporting goods store, Northern Highland Sports.

Schuenemann grabbed a map and drew a circle around the portion of town in which the deer tend to hang around. Look for the trails made by the deer and watch the roads, Schuenemann said. "They like to walk on the roads."

No wonder. The snow was waist deep, and deer like to take advantage of plowed areas as much as people. And even seeing the deer was a thrill and will be part of my memory treasures. I think seeing one out in the woods, by chance, would be even better. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled as I return to Boulder Junction in the future for canoeing, cycling and camping.

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I feel a little sad for Schuenemann. He doesn't get that little jolt of adrenaline like I did when he sees a white deer. "They're pretty common around here, and you get kind of used to it," he said. "I saw one just the other day. I was in that neighborhood to shovel the snow off a roof."

Still, he's happy the white deer are there and wouldn't want them to go away.

"It's another thing about Boulder Junction that other towns don't have," Schuenemann said. "It's pretty neat."

Keith Uhlig grew up east of Colby, the place where one his favorite foods, Colby cheese, was invented. He is a very slow runner, a lazy bicyclist, a clumsy cross-country skier and awkward kayaker, but he enjoys doing all those things whenever he can nonetheless. He loves learning and writing about all the people, cultures, places and things that make Wisconsin a terrific place to live.



Contact him at 715-845-0651 or grew up east of Colby, the place where one his favorite foods, Colby cheese, was invented. He is a very slow runner, a lazy bicyclist, a clumsy cross-country skier and awkward kayaker, but he enjoys doing all those things whenever he can nonetheless. He loves learning and writing about all the people, cultures, places and things that make Wisconsin a terrific place to live.Contact him at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com ; follow him on Twitter at @UhligK

Learn more about Wisconsin's white deer

Protect the Rare White Deer: http://protectthewhitedeer.com/

The Boulder Junction Chamber of Commerce: https://boulderjct.org/

Life in the Northwoods on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LifeintheNorthwoods/

Photographer Jeff Richter's Nature's Press website: https://naturespressbooks.com/