Craig Meyers shot his first deer at age 12. Even today, he can clearly recall showing off harvested deer with his dad in the back of his 1987 square-bodied truck.

Ever since that time, he’s loved the outdoors. Today, this passion has even led him to own a whitetail land management business.

Fast forward to 2025, and Meyers was excited about his three years of history with a deer he called, “Krabs.” The buck earned its name from the massive crab claws on each main beam. Meyers had collected a lot of trail camera photos and even a shed from the buck. In 2024, he had a close encounter but couldn’t get a shot off. This season, he hoped to finally cross paths with the massive deer.

The Day the Wind Switched

In early October, Meyers needed brakes on his truck, so he dropped his vehicle off with his retired dad. His dad handled the mechanic work while his son was at his day job. This flexibility gave Meyers the ability to make the trip on time and be there when the wind finally switched into his favor.

“My dad definitely deserves credit,” Meyers said. “He knew how badly I wanted to get down there.”

On Oct. 3, 2025, the wind shifted midday, which worked to Meyer’s benefit. He made the long drive from Michigan to Ohio and headed afield in hopes of seeing the big, record-class whitetail. Worried about wind direction, he dropped milkweed about every 20 steps to ensure the wind remained in his favor. It did.

After an hour-long entry walk, he arrived at his fiberglass, hard-shell blind and settled in. Furthermore, he kept the windows closed to retain scent. Meyers even taped most of the windows to further scent-proof the blind. No doubt, Meyers was in for a hot sit.

“It was 87 degrees outside, so it was probably about 105 in the blind,” Meyers laughed.

He kept ice packs in his pack and used them on his person to stay cool. He also used portable fans to make the situation more bearable. “I think I drank almost a gallon of water and never peed once,” he joked.

The Giant Arrives

Given the heat, the hunt started off slow. Eventually, a doe entered the open. She fed through the west end of the food plot and quickly departed. She went downwind but never acted as if she smelled him, which gave Meyers more confidence.

Several minutes after the doe departed, Meyers looked back to the west and spotted a big, 150-inch 10-pointer he’d been keeping tabs on. Any other year, he’d have taken the shot.

“It was so cool to see him out there eating,” Meyers said. “He stayed on the west side of the plot for a bit.”

After a while, an 8-pointer slipped through the CRP, entered the food plot, and walked into view, too. Both bucks fed around in front of the blind.

A few minutes later, Meyers looked out another window, and there was Krabs, slowly easing toward the food plot. He ranged the buck at 55 yards but decided to let it get closer. The deer kept slowly coming and eventually stood broadside at 41 yards. Meyers decided to take the shot.

He opened a window, settled the crossbow sights, and slowly pulled the trigger. The bolt connected and blew through the vitals.

“It smoked him,” Meyers said. “It hit the main artery, took out his opposite shoulder, and he just face-planted and came right at me. He bull-dozed through the plot five yards from me. Greens were flying everywhere”.

A Dream Realized

The buck ran over into a two-track, and given the size of the deer, Meyers decided to rush out and see if a follow-up shot was needed. He exited the blind, walked over to the roadbed, and there the deer stood — still alive.

“He was in the two-track, and there was blood everywhere,” Meyers said. “It was vitals, for sure, but I wanted to be sure. I hit him one more time, even though it wasn’t necessary.” The deer expired within seconds. Meyers couldn’t believe it. He was standing over a 225-inch whitetail.

Immediately, he called his wife, father, and others to share the great news.

“The emotions took over,” Meyers said. “I couldn’t believe all the work for this deer paid off. It wasn’t just the hunt. I showed up to this property four years ago and put work into it.”

It’s his friend’s land, and his friend allows him to put in food plots and make positive habitat changes to the landscape — including four acres of greens — most of which was done with an old tractor and side-by-side. As a result, it attracted and held this massive whitetail.

“It all came together in this moment,” he said. “Of course, you can work all you want, but growing a 200-plus-inch whitetail? It’s hard to comprehend the rarity of it. I feel very blessed to have chased him.” The big Ohio buck scored 225 inches.