MEET OUR SPEAKER

Jeff Tipton grew up in New Lebanon, a small town out west of Dayton, Ohio where he had ample opportunity to explore all the critters and wild places of the rural countryside. Jeff’s father and grandfather fanned the flames for his love of the outdoors as they took him fishing and upland game hunting. Right out of high school, Jeff met brothers John and Rick Rogers. They were both avid outdoorsmen, even at a young age, and they introduced Jeff to hunting grouse, quail, pheasants, ducks, and turkeys, and they even did some beaver trapping together. Jeff’s love for the outdoors became a healthy obsession as he spent all the time that he could in God’s creation. He still hunts with the Rogers brothers today after 40 years.

At 20 years old, Jeff pursued a career as a game warden (or wildlife officer, as as they are called in Ohio). 1995 he went through an extensive hiring process with the Ohio Division of Wildlife and was chosen as a cadet to start the 1996 Ohio Wildlife Officer Academy. Right out of the academy he was assigned to West-Central Ohio.

This had always been Jeff’s dream job. The job was challenging and exciting. Wildlife officers often patrol alone at night, in remote areas where backup is usually not very close by. And almost everyone they encounter is armed. The job of a wildlife officer is dangerous, and Jeff’s experience wasn’t any different. In 2009, while he was training a new officer, a group of poachers put a bullet through the windshield of his patrol vehicle. It passed between the two officers’ heads and impacted against the back window. A pursuit began, the suspects crashed and fled on foot, and were eventually captured, arrested, tried, and convicted.

In 2021, Jeff retired with 25 years of service. Today, he spends his time hunting, fishing, backpacking, serving his local church, and spending time with his wife Heather and family. He’s been all over the country hunting birds and to the Alaskan Tundra to hunt Caribou. God has given Jeff a deep appreciation for God’s divine design in how things have been created he enjoys sharing that appreciation with others any chance he gets.