Hunter: Keith Tippett
Points: 11 (6L, 5R)
County: Dooly
Season: 2016-2017
Hunt Story
Margie's Buck: By the title of this story one would think Margie was the person that harvest this buck. However, she was not a hunter but the mother of Keith Tippett from Ocala, FL who harvest this buck on 11/20/16 at 9:00 a.m. Margie Tippett passed away on 11/14/16 with her family by her side after fighting breast cancer for the last 13 years. She was such a strong woman, fighting through chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I normally would've been hunting the rut this time of year, but her health took a turn for the worst, and I needed to be there for her and my father. I know that my mother sent this great buck by me on that morning, I had been watching a doe with a small buck behind her for 15 minutes, when the doe gave the the small buck the slip and was out of sight. About 15 minutes later the doe reappeared with the small buck, then Margie's buck was behind him. This awesome buck was now right on her trail out in a clearcut, once I saw him I knew he was a really good one. I followed the buck with my scope and was waiting for him to get to a open area in the clearcut, he finally stop in a area where I could get a clear shot. About 80 yards from the stand, I shot and he gave a big leg kick. I felt very good about the shot and immediately texted my father who was hunting the stand I normal hunt and my wife who was pulling out to go home to see her grand baby. I told her to go ahead and go, but something told her she should stay and go help with the tracking and pictures. Thank God she did decide to stay. I got down and found a really good blood trail, then went and picked up my father Wayne Tippett and wife Christy Tippett. We started tracking the buck and had good blood for the first 50 yards, then we lost the trail. I looked where I last saw the buck enter the woods into a bottom and could not find any sign of him. After about 20 minutes of looking for him and starting to get that sick feeling all hunters have experienced, I heard my wife say "I have some blood over here", assuming it would not be very much but was happy she found some. When I got to her and the blood there was a good amount of blood where he must of stopped momentarily. We now had a great blood trail and I knew we would find him and that my shot was lethal. We followed the trail to the creek where he crossed to my neighbor's property. I contacted my neighbor, and they were very wiling to help me with the recovery. I showed him on the map where I believe the buck crossed, and we went to the creek where I last had blood. There was a lower stop that look like the place he would have gone, but instead he climbed the bank and that's where we had blood. Once we got to the top of the bank he was laying right there, and we were very excited by the size of his antlers. He had only made it 10 yards off of my property. I then explained to the four young man that help me recover him that my mother had recently passed away, and I know she sent this buck to me to harvest, and if my wife hadn't stayed to help track I may have never of found him without her help. I big thanks to the fellas that help me drag him out for some 45 minutes where my father and wife were waiting. They were very happy we were able to find him and could not believe how big he was. I have since changed the name of the stand to "Mom's Stand" to honor the two wonderful women that I have been lucky enough to have in my life. I love you both and will never forget that day. This is the first time I've submitted an entry into the Truck-Buck Contest, I'm not concerned if I win anything, but wanted to honor my mother with this story. I enjoy reading your magazine every month and thank you for the job you do.
