I have known Stan Estill for well over a dozen years, and can attest to the man’s magnetism for big bucks. His walls are littered with monster whitetails, mostly from central-Illinois, so I was not surprised when he called me to tell me of the deer he most recently harvested.
Stan had been watching this deer since 2020. The first trail cam pic he has is from 2021. The deer was an 8-pointer, in full velvet, and about 100-inches back then. More recently, in 2024, it was a full velvet 120-inch 7 pointer. He nicknamed this deer Velvet.
Opening week was warm and he saw Velvet far off with some does. Later, Velvet was running with some older bucks, one of which Stan harvested—Bully, a five-year-old 11-pointer weighing over 3l0-pounds.
Two days later, Estill was sitting in a 20-foot elevated blind over food plot. Deer began to filter into the field about 4:30 P.M. These were mostly does and fawns. The first bucks did not start coming out until 5:30. No shooters were in the plot that evening.
Shortly after 6, Stan began packing up to get down and head home. Just then, Velvet appeared and was passing right by the blind. A 35-yard, double-lung shot did the trick. The deer fell within sight of the hunter. Stan is a solo hunter, so as usual he got his front-end loader and put the deer in his truck.
If you have been paying attention to the description of this hunt, you should have noticed that not once did I refer to Velvet as a buck. I called it a “deer” every time. That is because this deer had NO sex organs—no scrotum, no testes and no vaginal opening—just a single tube to allow for urination. Stan told me he was shocked and immediately knew he should not field dress this deer until it could be inspected by Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) biologists.
One of the professionals that Stan contacted in his investigation was a well-known veterinarian in central Illinois, Kyle Schroeder. His theory about this deer, based upon a review of dozens of photos, is centered around hormonal deficiencies. Without testes, the lack of testosterone could help explain the permanent velvet and possible antler retention.
In none of the trail camera pics and all of the actual sightings of this deer by Estill has he ever seen the deer without velvet. He has also never found a shed from this deer.
Schroeder also went on to speculate that the deer could be classed as a true hermaphrodite, given the absence of even a poorly developed sex organ. He reminded me that he is not a biologist and that his comments are theory at best, but the lack of testosterone could certainly explain why the antlers never dropped.
Estill also contacted the IDNR to report this very unique deer. I, too, contacted this agency and spoke with Jayette Bolinski, director of communications for the Department. She told me, “Examination of the dozens of photos by IDNR biologists suggest a mutation of the sexual organs. While very rare, such mutations have been reported to occur in nature.”
So, if you harvest a deer that has “abnormal” anatomy, it might be a good idea to have some further investigation done by state officials. You might just have a most unique deer for yourself. Stan told me he only made one mistake while talking to IDNR officials during this investigation. He said, “Since this deer could neither be classified and a buck or a doe, could I have tagged it with an antlerless deer permit instead of my buck permit?” Personally, I think that question is still worth asking.
