Rob Brennan’s 39-pointer

If the velvet was gone, Rob Brennan would be a household name to Illinois deer hunters.

Instead, Brennan’s Big Nasty buck remains one of the more impressive oddities of Illinois deer hunting.

While Brennan’s big Vermilion County buck was certainly massive, its rack was also still in velvet when Brennan shot the deer on Dec. 1, 2006. That the buck never shed its velvet is apparently due to an injury to one of its testicles that caused a reduction in testosterone. A review by veterinarian Cliff Shipley turned up some interesting possibilities.

“I’m just guessing, but because of the damage, I doubt if the buck would have shed his 2006 rack. Had he not been killed, I think he simply would have stayed in velvet from that time on,” Shipley told writer Steve Bartylla.

That’s unfortunate for Brennan, since the Boone and Crockett Club does not accept bucks with antlers still in velvet. So while Brennan’s 39-pointer grossed 290 6/8 inches as a non-typical and netted 284 7/8, the buck can’t make the record books. Not that Brennan was complaining any about a buck had more than 110 inches of non-typical growth on its main-frame 10-point rack.

Brennan had first spotted the buck in 2005 on his trail cams. During bow season that year he had hunted with no success for the buck his children—son Tyler and daughters Chelsea and Jenna—named Big Nasty. So heading into the 2006 season he purchased a muzzleloader because he wanted to be able to take an accurate shot at a longer distance.

After seeing the buck once during archery season, Brennan had to wait until the second shotgun season for another sighting. And it was during a noon-time hunt on Dec. 1, 2006 that he finally met up with the big buck.

Brennan had set up near a picked corn field that attracted several does and an 8-pointer. Finally, Big Nasty appeared as well. Brennan said he made an 80-yard shot and dropped the buck in its tracks.