Not quite backpacking, but last weekend my husband and I went on a short bike-packing trip along the Mississippi River north of Alton, Illinois. We were keeping an eye out for birds and turtles in the river as we rode. At one point we saw a couple of lumps bobbing up and down, so we stopped and saw they were the heads of two deer that were swimming across the river. I would guess the Mississippi is at least a half-mile wide at that point. I've seen deer in all kinds of places, but that was a first for me.