Winners included a Boone & Crockett black bear
The 39th Annual Dixie Deer Classic was held this past weekend at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. The highlight of the event is the awards ceremony, recognizing the best deer and bear killed in numerous categories. This year’s highlights included an archery buck killed by a 6-year-old, a non-hunting trophy killed by an F-250, and a Boone & Crockett black bear.
Greg Collins of Westfield, N.C. won the Dixie Deer Classic Best in Show award for his November Stokes County buck that scored 166 5/8. Collins killed the deer with a Winchester 70 bolt action .30/06 on opening day of gun season after he spotted the buck chasing a doe the day before.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime deer for me. I’m sure I’ll never be lucky enough to see another one like that,” Collins said.
Let’s take a look at some of the winners:
The N.C. Typical Gun Female award went to Karrie Newton of Bullock. She killed a Granville County buck in November that scored 145.
James Carrier of Vass killed a 157 4/8 buck in Harnett County in October. He won the N.C. Typical Gun Male award.
The N.C. Non-typical Gun Male award was presented to Chuck Vlasek of Sanford for his Alamance County buck from November. His buck scored 175 5/8.
Alek Knight of Westfield killed a Stokes County brute in September, winning the N.C. Typical Bow Male category. The deer scored 163 1/8.
Check out this gnarly rack!
Devin Dwight Layne of Cameron claimed the N.C. Non-typical Bow Male award with a Lee County whopper that scored 175 7/8 in September.
Denver’s Chris Parrish won the N.C. Typical Muzzleloader Male category with his Randolph County 153-inch buck from November.
Elijah Evans captured the N.C. Typical Crossbow Male Youth award. The Haw River 12-year-old shot a buck at 20 yards on his grandfather’s Alamance County farm that scored 159 back in early September.
The N.C. Typical Crossbow Male award went to Dennis Godwin of Wade for the Orange County buck he arrowed in September. His buck scored 142.
Denny Lower of Sanford killed a huge buck in October that earned him the N.C. Non-typical Crossbow Male award. His Lee County buck scored 178 1/8.
Hunters killed some impressive deer during 2018-19 season
Lexington’s Chris Benfield took top honors for N.C. Typical Muzzleloader Female with her November Person County buck that scored 149 7/8.
Melissa Thomas of Parkton killed a 116 6/8 archery buck in Harnett County in September to win the N.C. Typical Crossbow Female category.
Chase Edward Fraley’s massive Moore County buck scored 160, earning him the N.C. Non-typical Gun Male Youth award. The Carthage hunter killed the buck in November.
Robert Garner of Robbins won the N.C. Typical Gun Male Youth award with a Moore County buck he killed in November. His buck scored 153 3/8.
Jeb Manning of Broadway’s 130 4/8 buck from Chatham County in September earned him the N.C. Typical Bow Male Youth award.
Creedmoor’s Ava Camillo took the N.C. Typical Muzzleloader Female Youth category with an October buck she killed in Granville County. Her buck scored 115 4/8.
6-year-old wins President’s Award
The Dixie Deer Classic President’s Award was given to 6-year-old Owen Ramsey of Raleigh for his Wake County crossbow kill from September. Ramsey’s buck taped out at 92 3/8.
Scotty Wayne Sexton of Robbins won the Non-hunting category with a buck that scored 146. Sexton hit the deer while traveling in Moore County this past December with his F-250, which suffered $5100 in damages.
Jeff Murphy of Madison won the N.C. Bear Award for a Pamlico County bear he killed with a 500-yard shot in November. The bear scored 21 3/8, which also places it on the prestigious Boone & Crockett list for black bears.
