While hunting during the back end of North Carolina’s rifle season in December, Vincent Clark targeted a small planted field in hopes of finding a deer foraging for food. That plan led him to tag an incredible 203-inch buck that local legends were made of. (Photo courtesy of Vincent Clark)
July 29, 2022
Bucks breaking news
The Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina are full of evergreen trees, mountain laurel, black bears, and relatively few white-tailed deer. The terrain is rough, rocky and thick with tangled foliage making it difficult to hunt. Although oak trees bearing poles are abundant in some areas, there is not much agriculture in the steep country. Therefore, the primarily forested area is not considered prime habitat for growing or killing a world-class trophy.
Most bucks taken in Appalachia have racks without too much mass. Even larger deer rarely have long or heavy teeth. So local hunters consider any deer over 140 inches in the area to be a true giant.
Vincent Clark lives in Avery County, the heart of this area. He is an avid hunter and a true mountain man who leads a private lifestyle. The buck he killed, on December 7, 2021, was a local legend. Because it was so large and unusual, it lit up the Internet and brought North American Whitetail to our attention. Even though Dollar was suddenly famous, Vincent avoided the limelight. So she told her story to Christian Gardner and let him get the word out.
Christian also lives in the area and runs a Facebook page called Appalachian Holler Hunters, which promotes local hunting. Also, Christian is a skilled photographer. As follows, Christian relays the story of Vincent’s hunt for North Carolina’s incredible whitetail.
Mountain monster
The big buck had been the topic of discussion for the past few years among hunters at local gun shops. Several of them had trail cam photos, which added fuel to these conversations. The buck was covering a lot of ground with a ghostly demeanor, managing to elude all hunters’ efforts to claim his crown.
The buck carried an uncharacteristically large frame and roamed an area several miles long, appearing randomly here and there throughout the season with no apparent pattern. Many men were chasing him, but no one seemed to have any real idea where he might appear next. This clever activity allowed the deer to survive season after season and grow a very unusual and massive set of antlers. The legendary dollar was proving very difficult to remove.
Many local hunters knew of the huge buck Vincent was hunting, even though the deer was solitary and didn’t seem to have much of a pattern or core area. This is par for the course for most mature mountain jets. (Photo courtesy of Vincent Clark)
Vincent had a few trail camera photos of the big buck and even found a set of brown shed antlers in the spring of 2019. By then, the buck was noteworthy, but not even close of the size it would become.
Vincent had access to a small hunting area bordering the Pisgah National Forest, where the lone deer lived. It was the kind of property where Vincent could count on seeing a few deer if he put in the time. So he hunted there hoping to get the buck that so many were looking for. But the deer never appeared during the ’19 or ’20 seasons.
Remaining ghost
When deer season opened last fall, nothing had really changed. If someone in the area had killed the fat deer, everyone would know. Word travels fast in small rural communities and Newland is no exception. Vince still thought it would be pure luck if he even saw the giant whitetail. So he hunted as much as he could, but he never expected to be the one to kill the deer.
By December, most of the season was winding down. Most of the females were already bred, and boating activity was much lower than it had been a few weeks earlier. There was almost no chance of catching a buck behind a doe, but wheel-weary animals needed energy to get through the winter. So monitoring food sources in the afternoon was a great tactic.
One afternoon, Vincent headed to a shooting house overlooking a small field planted to hunt. It was a cold windy day, but the season would be closing soon and he wanted to catch another deer if he could. Around 5 p.m., he saw a buck walk into the edge of the plot about 100 yards away. The huge rack of light colors left no doubt that it was the ghost buck. Vincent knew immediately that this was his chance. Quickly, he aimed his 7mm Rem. Mag. and made the shot. The legendary deer fell a few meters from where it had been. Finally, the giant deer fell, but the story was not over.
The incredible buck from North Carolina was estimated to be 8 years old and had very worn teeth. The routine had reduced the former mountain monarch’s weight to just 200 pounds, far less than he should have weighed given his age. The deer was most likely at the peak of maturity and as big as it would ever be.
The impressive 23-point frame has everything a trophy hunter dreams of, including beautiful split front tips, adhesive points, huge mass and even a drop tooth on the right beam. And all this in a giant 8 point main frame.
While parts of the Appalachian mountain range are known for producing monster whitetails, it’s rare to get one as far south as North Carolina. In fact, Vincent’s deer was in the running to break the state record. He fell short, but still scores an uncharacteristic 203 0/8 with 23 runs. (Photo courtesy of Vincent Clark)
Immediately after Vincent caught the big buck, there was a lot of speculation that it might become the new state record. With that on the table, things were kept quiet until it was officially measured.
The drying period lasted a couple of months, and then Vincent went deep in the Dixie Deer Classic in Raleigh in March 2021. He fell short of the record, but managed an amazing 203 0/8 inches and screamed much attention at the event, winning the best non-typical male weapon and also the best of the show.
All in all, this incredible whitetail from the Appalachian Mountains is a unique trophy from a special part of the country that is almost never in the spotlight for big bucks. Vincent’s buck is unlikely to be matched anytime soon, as the buck is a true mountain monster.
