But it happened on Saturday when two deer got stuck in the mud and the wildlife officer who came to the rescue got the boat stuck.

“We go over there a couple times a year,” Hanover Township Fire Chief Frank Baker said. “We’ve never been over there for a mud rescue, that’s a first.”

He said Columbiana County wildlife officer Jesse Janosik called the fire department because a storm was approaching and was worried about lightning. Rain came pouring down, but no lightning was seen.

Baker said the fire department responded with its rescue boat and side-by-side from the nearby Guilford Lake station.

Columbiana County wildlife officer Jesse Janosik (left) and Good Samaritan Brian Keith help rescue two deer stuck in the mud at Guilford Lake on Saturday. (Photo by Ron Firth)

“With the lake being down, we started thinking about what we need,” he said.

Firefighters already purchased several 4-foot by 8-foot sheets of plywood so they can be laid across the mud if a future rescue is needed.

“Luckily it wasn’t a person,” Janosik said.

It started with Janosik getting a call about the deer being stuck in the lake behind the park office.

He first went through the park campground looking for a place to launch the boat. Brian Keith, a camper there, asked what was going on and volunteered to help out.

Two rescuers race to free a deer and themselves from the mud at Guilford Lake as a storm approaches Saturday. The lake is down 20 feet as the dam’s spillway is being replaced.(Photo by Ron Firth)

“He got into a little more than he thought,” Janosik said.

Janosik eventually decided to go near the boat ramp on the east side where the water is the deepest now at 5 foot. Deer on the lake are a common sight, but these two found deep mud.

“The deer seem to power through it,” he said. “That spot where they were at was one of the worst spots.

“It was some thick pudding mud. I’m 6-foot-4 and it was up to my waist.”

Janosik said the first deer they encountered was exhausted and was quickly placed in the boat.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources side-by-side got stuck at Guilford Lake on Saturday while unloading the boat (shown in water) used to rescue two deer stuck in the mud.(Photo by Ron Firth)

“He wasn’t fighting and he took it easy,” he said.

The second deer was a struggle, so Janosik and Keith backed off, not wanting the deer to hurt itself.

Baker said when firefighters set up by the park office, the rescuers had gotten the boat free and brought the first deer to the shore and it stood up.

“The second one, by that time, got out by itself,” he said.

Baker said the fire department helped get the Ohio Department of Natural Resources side-by-side and boat trailer, which also got stuck, onto dry land.

“The fire department helped clean the boat, which was helpful,” Janosik said.

Because of the low water level, the beach is closed this summer and there is no boating. Motorized vehicles are not allowed on the lake bed, for the reason that unfolded Saturday.

Many people walk on the drained parts of the lake, but Janosik warned that you don’t know what is under the next step.

“If it’s rocky, there’s a better chance of being safer than if it’s just sand,” he said. “You’ve got to be aware with pets, too.”

There are two lucky deer who know where not to tread.

“It could have very easily been a person out there who was too curious,” Baker said.