If you’ve ever suspected that a mature buck is avoiding your trail camera on purpose, you won’t get any argument from Ohio bowhunter Tommy Allen, just the latest bowhunter from the Buckeye State to tag a 200-class buck this fall. Allen had played trail-cam games with a buck he called “Zeus” for three seasons. He finally caught up with the buck this month and made a perfect shot to end his multi-year campaign with the huge whitetail.
Allen first became aware of the buck three seasons ago. “I felt he was a 3-½ year old that season,” he told F&S. “He had 12 points and was probably a 135-inch buck. But I felt like he was one of those deer that would really blow up if he could make it another year or two. I was actually chasing another deer pretty hard, so it wasn’t too difficult to pass him up that fall.”
Allen’s decision to pass the buck proved a wise one, as the next summer, the buck maintained 12 points, but had poured on the coals in terms of antler growth. “I’d estimated he was between 180 inches and 190 inches last year,” he said. "I went after him hard, but had no luck. I had like 20 cameras out, and he just seemed to dodge them constantly; every time I thought I had a pattern on him, he’d switch it up and disappear. The rut was no different. All of a sudden guys were seeing him like 4 miles away. He came back home in December for a bit, then disappeared again.”
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When the summer of 2024 arrived, Allen spotted Zeus in early summer and realized the buck was poised to make another huge jump in antler growth. “He was easily 140 inches in June, so I knew he was going to be amazing,” he said. “Unfortunately, he was feeding often in a bean field and when I’d go out to film him, there’d be 50 or 60 cars going up and down the road, just people out looking for deer. So, like Zeus liked to do, he changed things up again; he quit entering the bean field from the same spot and switched it up again and I had to start over. I finally figured out that he was still hitting the bean field, but entering from a different spot and feeding where he couldn’t be seen.”
Once Allen had figured out Zeus’ new hideout, he felt slightly more confident, though the buck continued his maddening ways. “I'd get a pic of him in a spot, and then he’d switch it up again,” he said. “It’s almost like he knew the camera was there.” Still, Allen formulated a game plan, hanging a stand near a bowl the buck liked to frequent, then sweetening the setup with a corn pile that’s legal in Ohio. When the wind and conditions were perfect, Allen snuck in for an afternoon hunt. “The wind was good, but that bowl always played tricks with it, so I was a little nervous,” he said. “And then he appeared, and there were so many squirrels around, making so much noise, that it made the buck nervous.” Finally the buck settled down, and when he walked in to 41 yards, Allen steadied his nerves and sent an arrow on its way. The shot was perfect, and Allen watched the buck pile up after a 40 yard run. “I called my buddy, and after he congratulated me he told me to soak it all in. So I did and, to be honest, when I walked up to that deer, I just stopped and cried like a baby.”
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Allen had plenty to be emotional about. The monstrous buck (a buddy with a meat processing plant said the deer had to push 300 pounds on the hoof) had a rack that hunters dream about. The main frame 6X6 sported 20 scoreable points (12 inches of abnormals), 28- and 27-inch main beams, a 17-inch inside spread, and a gross score of 216-4/8 inches. “He’s an amazing buck, and one that really made me wonder if I’d ever figure him out well enough to have a chance,” Allen said. “I spent a lot of sleepless nights wondering how to get it done, and when I did it was just incredible. I feel really blessed.” Allen is a member of the Buckeye Boyz Outdoors team and self-filmed the hunt for Zeus; you should be able to watch it on their YouTube channel soon.
