Insurance agent, Steve Lippitt from Bartlesville, Oklahoma was out rifle hunting with his buddy Kyle Barton in December when he shot down a massive deer that’ll most likely rank in the top 10 deer killed in the state by rifle.
Steve is 50 years old and has had 20 years of long-range shooting experience but this was the best hunt he said he’s ever been on.
It was a cool morning with no wind, perfect for a deer hunt, as he and his friend overlooked a 320-acre private farm that he has hunted on for years.
“It was the perfect morning because there was absolutely no wind and I wouldn’t have to calculate bullet wind drift,” Steve told Outdoor Life.
Steve was excited because he knew there were some big bucks roaming around the area that he could shoot long-range with his .308 custom-built Baer rifle with BAT-action and Nightforce scope.
Steve spotted the big buck on the farm a few days before, but he couldn’t get a shot on the deer and he had even almost hit it with his vehicle at one point.
Now out on the prairie again, he whipped out a portable shooting table to get his gun ready and then leaned up against a cedar tree and waited.
“Soon after daybreak, a few does stepped into a cut bean field, and we were watching them to see if they attracted bucks,” Steve said. “About 8:30 a.m., we spotted a big buck and I ranged him at 870 yards. He ran through the does checking to see if any were receptive, but the buck was moving and I waited. I knew he wasn’t going to stay long, and would be off looking for more does. So I was going to take him the first chance I got.”
After waiting a while, the buck finally stopped for a moment and stood still. This is when Steve took his chance and squeezed off a shot sending a hand-loaded 205-grain Berger bullet 849 yards directly hitting the deer.
The .308 bullet broke the buck’s shoulder and it dropped directly where it stood. The two hunters got up to go check on the kill and it was a lot bigger than they realized it was. In fact, it was the biggest deer they saw.
It was a five-and-a-half-year-old deer and weighed 260 pounds. It was a main-frame 12-pointer with incredible mass and a nearly 2-inch kicker for 13 scorable points.
According to Steve, it green-scored as a typical buck at 203 5/8s inches gross, netting 190 4/8s inches. If this is still true after being viewed by a wildlife official, it will be in the top 10 for typical bucks shot in Kansas by a rifle hunter.
“I have been hunting whitetails a long time and never would have thought I’d shoot a typical buck of this caliber,” Steve says. “He definitely is a buck of many lifetimes, and I shot him on my wife’s birthday, so I owe her dearly for the chance to collect such an incredible animal.”