---
title: "Here’s Why This Giant Missouri Buck Was Still in Velvet in Late September"
description: "An Illino"
date: "2026-10-09"
modified: "2026-10-09"
authors:
  - name: "Bob McNally"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/authors/bob-mcnally.md"
url: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/missouri-buck-velvet/"
categories:
  - "Big Game Hunting"
  - "Deer Hunting"
  - "Hunting"
  - "Trophy Deer"
  - "Whitetail Deer Hunting"
tags:
  - "Evergreen"
  - "News"
---

# Here’s Why This Giant Missouri Buck Was Still in Velvet in Late September

![A bowhunter with a nice velvet deer](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/bowhunter_velvet.jpg>)
*\<em\>Photo courtesy Chad Hepner\</em\>*

Mid-afternoon in late September found Chad Hepner, 54, of Collinsville, Illinois, 18-feet high in a tree. He was on a field edge overlooking a wide, well-used trail linking a deer bedding thicket to an acorn feeding area.

He had permission to hunt a small parcel about an hour drive from his home in nearby Missouri. The spot was alongside a just-completed county public works project that had cleared and graded the ground, with timber on both sides.

“I’d hunted the spot the previous evening and passed a 145-inch 8-pointer because I knew a huge buck still in velvet I called ‘Medusa’ was in the area,” the retired Air Force veteran tells *Outdoor Life*. “It was hard to pass that 8-pointer, but I’m glad I did.”

![A big velvet buck on a tailgate](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/pickup.jpg>)
**Photo courtesy Chad Hepner**

So on Sept. 23, Hepner climbed into the same tree. He’d patterned Medusa well enough to know he often trailed behind a smaller 6-point. And late that afternoon the 6-pointer showed.

“I was videoing the little buck as he crossed the cleared area, when I spotted Medusa’s rack on the trail behind him,” says Hepner. “I said ‘holy crap’ to myself and got ready for a shot when he came into range.”

A video Hepner made shows the buck slowly walking across bare ground as it was leaving its bedding thicket and heading to acorns – just as the small buck had done moments prior.

“I came to full draw when he was broadside at 18 yards, made a bleat to stop him, and sent my arrow through the top of his heart,” Hepner says.

The deer kicked high, turned and ran back into the bedding area. The hunter heard his full sprint turn into a crash.

![bowhunter with a velvet deer on tailgate rock on sign](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/tailgate_buck_bowhunter.jpg>)
**Photo courtesy Chad Hepner**

Hepner phoned his wife, Michelle, and told her the good news. Then he called his buddy Mark Johnson.

“Mark wanted to drive right out and help me get the buck out of the woods, but I said to wait a while to make sure Medusa was done,” Hepner says. “It was full dark when Mark got there, and we didn’t have much trouble finding Medusa because he’d only ran 65 yards.”

With Johnson’s help the two men dragged the velvet buck out to the pickup and drove back to Hepner’s home, where they hung the buck in a large walk-in cooler.

The following morning Hepner skinned and quartered the buck, preserving its head and cape for delivery to a taxidermist.

In dressing the buck, Hepner learned Medusa had been injured, likely from an automobile collision a year or so ago.

![bowhunter with a velvet deer on tailgate](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/big_velvet_buck.jpg>)
**Photo courtesy Chad Hepner**

“He had a broken leg, and I think that injury altered his breeding ability this year, and that resulted in his abnormal rack and why it was still in velvet. I’ve scored a lot of bucks, but he’s a tough one to figure with so many points and the bases like they are. Plus, he’s still got velvet on.”

Hepner has spoken to several friends who are top Buckmaster scorers who’ve seen photos and advised Hepner on trying to score it. By Hepner’s non-official measurements, Medusa likely will tally over 200 inches of antler.

**Read Next:** [This Fishing Guide’s Clients Canceled, So He Went Hunting Instead — and Arrowed a 200-Plus-Inch Buck](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/indiana-buck-fishing-guide.md>)

“I’m still trying to set up a time to get with a Buckmasters scorer,” Hepner says cheerfully. “But bow season is still open.”

## Author
Bob McNally has been an outdoor writer since shortly after the earth’s crust cooled. He has written 12 outdoor books, more than 5,000 outdoor magazine stories (including many for Outdoor Life) and more newspaper outdoor columns and features than there are hairs on a grizzly bear.