Rompola has probably killed more big bucks than all the rest of the Bowsite members put together. He's a weird dude that essentially lives outdoors and nobody else can touch him for the trophies he's taken over the years.
I believe he killed the world record buck. The guy had an entire house full of giant deer he killed with a bow long before he got the big one. Many are in the record books. Anybody who says the ears were too droopy to be a real deer simply hasn't hunted much or hasn't shot many deer.
Not sure what you want for an "inside story". He shot a Whitetail that he had been hunting for 3 years that scores (as written in the link that JTV posted to Dan Schmidt's story in D&DH) more than any typical Whitetail currently listed by the major record keeping organizations. And it's real and legit.
Kevin, I believe it is real too. I wasn't dissing anything, just great to hear from his son. Apparently everyone who saw and held the buck is a pathological liar engaged in a great orchestrated conspiracy, or it is real and your dad got tired of the hater BS and said enough.
This is a riot. You see all the white in this snapshot in the NW corner of Michigan? That area surrounds the “Rompola” region. NEVER has there been a B&C buck taken out of there...in the history of man...except for all the alleged bruisers ol’Mitch has piled up. Give me a break.
The thing that gets me if legit, hows come no other monster bucks have been killed in the "poor soil" area... I'm sure hes not the only deer hunter in that area, and one of them would eventually be bound to get lucky at least once throughout all those years...
No genetics there, no food there, high human population there (for northern Michigan), intense hi power gun hunting during the peak of the rut there. And especially back then there was no QDM :-)
It would be hard enough to believe had it been done in mostly private Southern Michigan farm country but it is utterly ridiculous to stage the farce out of Traverse City.
It’s a shame the big bow model and synthetic scent company tried to cash in before everything became official.
I heard of Mitch LONG before this buck was shot here in the Midwest. He is a legitimate deer killing machine. Personally until it`s PROVEN to be untrue....I believe the buck is real.
Your map doesn't mean squat. I hunted Canada two years ago and missed a buck that would score over 200" easily. No locals had ever heard of one that big on that public land area. Here are a few bucks from Michigan lately and I would assume there were more back in Romola's day. For those of you saying they aren't there, maybe you need a new hunting spot?
You guys need to get a county map of Michigan. Or maybe just spend a few seasons near Traverse City chasing all the 200”+ bucks up there. They could barely raise them that big behind a high fence there.
I asked someone from his area that I know. They said he is the real deal, no reason to question him. I can accept that. People are just jealous. I'm in Arkansas so I got to take his word for it.
Thorton, yes there are a few big bucks in Michigan. None of those you posted lived within 200 miles of where the Rompola Buck was allegedly taken. Throw up some photos of any B&C bucks from within 100 miles of T/C. Feel free to go back 100 years.
Don’t mind me, I’m just trying to bring a few facts into the conversation. Those always get in the way of the legendary tales.
I have been to Mitch' s house and seen his deer. Some of them were taken when he lived in Missouri. I believe that he is a great hunter that has been harassed by the media and other organizations. If he doesn't want to be a celebrity hunter more power to him. There still are hunters that truly love the hunt and not notoriety.
And why would a guy NOT get the rack X-Rayed, collect the $10,000, and fade into obscurity rather than fade into obscurity without the easy $10,000? Must be the principal of it. Must be a high achiever way of thinking my simple jealous mind cannot comprehend. Carry on.
You would have to know the history between my dad and the guy offering him the $10k. Also, no other deer at the top of the records was ever required to be x-rated to determine its legitimacy. Why should one deer be held to a different standard.
Not so shrewdski- I watched some of the habitat he hunted and that was enough for me. Like I said, I could care less about your map. If I hunted big bucks based on maps, I'd never see or kill the stuff I do. My guess is he hates the spotlight and shit talkers like you or Milo Hanson pays him to keep quiet. It's been estimated a world record would bring a million dollars over years in show income, endorsements, etc.
I've had property right in the middle of that area up in northern MI since 1973 about 30 miles east of Traverse City. I have seen several bucks over the years that would have made the B&C Book, but couldn't catch them during a legal hunting season and nobody else did either. One that I had never seen alive was taken less than 1 mile from my place and it did easily make the B&C minimum, but was never entered. His mount is right inside the entry as you come in the back door of the guy's house. This Shrewski guy on here is being a total ahole because that best buck Mitch shot may have actually been taken within the southern TC city limits or close to it from what I understand and he has killed a number of huge bucks up there and in MO. He's just a little different and when I said weird earlier I really shouldn't have used that word, bu the reason I did is nobody probably spends as much time in the woods as he does to the point where I think he thinks he's a deer. He literally lives with the deer and that best buck of his created so much controversy by jackwads like Shrewski wanting xrays, etc., that Mitch just said screw it and faded back into the forest!
I catch a lot of trout with rompolas and my spinning gear. I just wish they didn't cost so much as I also lose alot of them with dreaded snags! That guy designed a helluva lure!
I killed a 152" whitetail this year in a place where there aren't ANY whitetails....
As for the x-ray offer, why agree to something that demeaning after the rack and skull plate had been examined by so many highly credible individuals who were willing to risk their reputations? The scorers and the conservation officer weren't just hillbillies who fell off a hay truck. If I was your dad and had a bad history with him, I'd tell that guy to stick that 10K up his wazoo.
Makes sense that he might have shot it in the city limits. I met a guy that showed me a rack he "found" near a city in KS. Outdoor Life did an online article on it and it looked like that new nontyical world record just shot. I suspect he actually shot it in town.
Let me see.... never officially panel measured...... in fact never entered. Was offered up as the next WR.... but withdrawn when challenged. Game, set, match......
One can guess and twist and tap dance all they want. Facts are facts, and not subject to mental state that you are offended somehow. You can't CLAIM it should have been a WR when it is fairly easy to submit it to panel measurement. You have to PROVE you have a legit WR to be entered..... NOT some ridiculous notion someone has to prove that it wasn't.... If you have any evidence that this was panel measured and entered as the WR I'd love to see it.
Otherwise it's just another local legend..... gone like bong smoke......
Maybe it was a record. He took his ball and ran away. I could care less that he was some recluse...... he put it out there as some WR. Not anyone else. Does not seem the action of someone who "doesn't care".
Has there been any relevant PROOF come up in all those years that say different? If so, I don't think there is some time limit on entry? Bring it on.....
Anyone know why Rompolo lost his job at the Post Office? Seems like I remember a story that spoke to his credibility. Maybe not. It's been a long time ago.
Ed I understand your generational arguement. That said I’m about tired of being lumped in with millennials and gen x’ers. I’m only 34 but I can remember TVs with a knob and very few channels, Nintendo was the game of my era and I never had one. My family got a computer about the turn of the century when I was 16. I had to work and pay for most things I had. I drove tractors until I was 16 in the summers then roofed for the next 8 summers. I’ve never had Facebook, Instagram, MySpace, or a twitter account. Bowsite is my social media. I get your arguement, you still grew up in a different time than I did. Point is there are a lot of Gen x’ers and even millenials that didn’t grow up with a silver spooon in their mouths and probably grew up more like you did. As to the Rompolo buck, I don’t understand why anyone cares. Must be a generational thing. ;) Seams like the geriatric generation is invested in it. Lol
Ohh and in case you cant put two and two together at your age.;) The baby boomers created all these f’ed up gen x’ers and millenials. Thanks for that legacy.
My overall conclusion from reading the torrent of "information" at the time was simply that Rompola hunted (hunts?) after legal light. He would see the reclusive bucks the legal hunter doesn't. If one plans stand sites carefully for low light carefully and carefully equips the bow with sighting optimized for low light much can be done. That is still my opinion on the subject.
Awwwww now link don't paint all of us "geriatrics" with the same brush ; ) if getting old means I need to be grumpy and cranky and opioionated like some of these guys than please Lord take me now! Lol
Give the man his due ! His buck did not need "ground growth"
I did not see it, I did not check it by touching it. However lot's of folk's did, and I for one do not presume to think / believe those who did check it are all liar's.
Lot's of folk's have never published or entered their trophy's into any record book.
This conversation is intriguing, I hope there is more posted about all that surrounded the buck. I remember the controversy very well and all the photos, etc. I'd love to hear more from those that knew him or of him.
I understand there are high fences, crooks liars and cheaters. But it is Sad that it has come to this. Shoot a giant buck and you practically have to hire a defense lawyer. You Will be judged. It happens all the time. Im guessing often to good honest people. To all of us that have dreamed since we were young, that some day we harvest a world class animal. How Sad to be judged and slandered for it if that dream actually came true.
For most men, it seems that women, money and giant antlers cause more issues than anything else.
Nearly every person I know that has taken a very large deer seems to run into a boatload of unnecessary controversy afterwards, typically without merit and caused purely from jealously.
^^^^Exactly why people don't enter them into record books or plaster them all over social media. You get hammered, and accused of about anything a moron with a keyboard can dream up.
I know of one instance where someone broke into a house and stole a huge buck. Shoot it, get it in the truck, get it home and keep your mouth shut.
One quick glance at the kill photo should immediately tell any seasoned deer hunter that the buck in that pic has had its skull plate removed. Bucks don't look like that period. It looks scalped! Looks like ol Mitch even held the fake rack BEHIND the deers head.lololol
Like I said earlier, witness the most hilarious hunting pic in history. Hahahaha!
Kodiak, so you're saying the official scorers and conservation officers who all saw it, held it, examined the skull plate and attested that it is intact and genuine, are all liars? Including his son who now posting on this thread? What would be their motivation to engage in such a conspiracy that would wreck their reputations? They had nothing to gain from it.
The buck is real. The question is about the circumstances under which it was killed.
BigOk my older brothers had one and I think two whole games. They broke it in a few months before I was old enough to play and my parents said never again. I can vaguely remember them shooting the ducks as the flew out of the reeds. I spent most of my days from the age of 6-10 roaming town on my bicycle carrying a Red Ryder shooting cats. I guess I had a bike and a BB gun so I grew up “entitled”.
I don’t know Mitch or his family. I do find it interesting that so many have so many different accusations/theories - bottle fed, high fence, shot at night, skull plate removed, no big bucks existed in that area at the time, the list goes on and on. You’d think all the conspiracy theorists/haters could at least get together and come up with a single consistent grievance.
Here's the buck shortly after the 'kill' . The tiny sliver of 'skull plate' completely encased in bondo...antlers stickin' out straight sideways.....hahaha!
Interesting that neither the conservation officer nor the scorers mentioned anything about Bondo, and they also held it and examined it closely. I don't see any Bondo in that grainy old photo but my eyes aren't what they used to be.
I wasn't there, so all I know is that a number of reputable, trusted men risked their reputations to publicly attest (and allow that to be published in national magazine interviews) that the rack was real. Seems like if it was fake there would be one person who actually held it who would come out and say it?
Ohio, yeah there was plenty of controversy surrounding the Hansen buck as I recall. Seems to me I remember reading about fair chase, ethics and running animals with a pickup truck.
So I guess the buck antelope I helped my buddy shoot several years ago in a unit in Wyoming that's not on the map and made the B&C all time Record Book at 84 4/8" by an Official B&C scorer is impossible along with the other 5 we've taken in the last 5 seasons that all were from 76" to 80" are all fakes too. You guys that are dissing Mitch and what he has done over the years plain suck and for you Shrewski, I could care less if I got kicked off this website after reading this thread and all the crap that's being spewed about Mitch and that great buck! PS: He wasn't entered in the Book so we can keep shooting ones like those without having a gang of hunters knowing the unit and where we hunt.
I took these photos of my TV while I was watching a video, I believe it was one of the Realtree Monster Bucks videos. This isn't the first time I saw a big buck with droopy ears. So if you're basing your opinion on droopy ears, you might want to rethink it.
From: ohiohunter 27-Feb-18 Record books don't ask for location.
* **I didn't say it did, although they like to know the general whereabouts the animal was taken. Look at all the BS that is just in this thread alone by people that don't know squat about the area Mitch shot that buck. I am not a liar when I stated what I did and if I can see two B&C bucks and one even bigger that made Book a mile from my place, but wasn't entered, isn't it enough along with looking at all the other huge bucks he shot up there? I don't know what to say other than there are a lot of jealous idiots in this world and it appears that Bowsite has it's fair share of them too!
Controversial topic. I'm willing to believe it more so for the reason's others questions it's validity. Something you can't deny is that Rampola was crazy about whitetails and he did shoot some real nice ones before either killing or not killing this controversial buck. I'm a handy guy, no artist but I would consider myself moderately talented. If I was going to try and fake a world record and I knew lots about deer and have have held many racks, I'll tell you what I wouldn't do. I wouldn't jam the antlers in sideways, or tie bale twine around them (seriously Kodiak??) or schlapp some bondo on it and call it a day. I guarantee you without knowing the situation, but just having some common sense, the skull plate is either real or "looks" very real in person. I also just can't see a guy faking it and coming up with an odd shape of rack like that. When we all day dream about a WR typical coming past our stand, it's not the buck we picture. Not totally sure where I stand on it, don't really care too much either, as score means less and less to me, but as I see how crazy people get I'm leaning more and more to the side of Mitch just didn't care and had enough. The arguments people come up with against it are so weak, and that's almost pushing me more into believing it than anything.
All of this This discussion reminds of a quote by Abraham Lincoln,
“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”
Makes sense to me unless you believe 200 + policemen were trying to frame O.J.
One thing is for certain. The story would never entertain so many years later if he hadn't of done what he did. We today have one of the most interesting deer "mysteries" ever. It would almost suck to have it put to rest lol. At this time with all the intrigue I bet if it was x-ray'd and "verified" the rumour will would still never stop. We will always have Mitch to thank for the one of the best deer stories ever.
There are some women I've talked to on the phone that sounded somehow "hot or beautiful" and then for whatever reason years later you meet them and it's like "dang I wish I never would have met her" lol, the Mitch Rompola buck may be that scenario that is fun left to the intrigue of it...
Kind of fascinating reading up on a few of the different accounts. I never really knew all the mystery surrounding the situation.
I've tried to put myself in the shoes of someone killing a world record animal. Not sure how I'd react. One of those things I don't think anyone can plan. I don't think I would like the spotlight very much, and it's a pretty sad commentary that simply by avoiding the spotlight some will assume you have something to hide.
I've always believed Mitch's buck was real....still do! But you know the old saying....haters gonna hate. Sounds like there are more haters on here than I realized. I love to meet him one day.....seems like a man you could learn a lot about hunting from in a short period of time. He has probably forgotten more about whitetails than most will ever learn.
I know of an elk killed this past season with a bow on NF public land that would likely crush the existing P&Y WR. It was killed a few miles from a very good friend's house and he has held the rack. He is beyond credible and knows BIG bulls because he lives in a big bull area and has killed a few whales himself. The fellow who shot it isn't interested in notoriety, but damn sure doesn't want his hunting area ruined or the draw odds for his sleeper unit to blow up, doesn't want the death threats or the hater rumors or the questions about his integrity. He just had a chance to shoot a giant bull, made the shot, and it now hangs in his house for a few friends to see.
I tend to believe the buck was real - he caught all kind of crap and said screw it. I know guys like that. As far as the buck goes, the Game Warden is in the pictures with the entire buck in the bed of the truck NOT just the skull plate. That was enough for me. One other thing of note I don't think anyone has ever addressed - at least as far as I have seen. That is one damn big deer body wise. I have killed many that field dressed over 200 lbs. that buck is no doubt bigger than that by far.
Gordon Whittington's article about the buck in NA Whitetail years ago convinced me it was a fake. You can still read it if you google it. I wish the pictures he talked about in the article were still around. The one where he got a picture of the buck's head under the scrape dripper is hilarious as is the bedded buck pic from the year before he supposedly killed it. I truly wish it had been real but there are WAY too many red flags.
Call me a hater, jealous, whatever. I'm sure he's a great hunter and all but being a great hunter doesn't mean you can produce a WR typical due to your hunting skills.
I have always wanted to believe it was legit. Dan Bertalen was on here stating it was and that seemed pretty bold & believable. I even kept the post. Mitch's son is on here too...why wouldn't Mitch want/need the $$$ that would come from that kill....
I would have a hard time believing that he found that many credible people to vouch for faking something like that. Now granted, it doesn't look "normal" in the picture. But what is a normal deer. Sure the heck ain't a 200+ typical. A deer would have to be pretty abnormal to be a 200+ typical in the first place. And I agree, droopy ears don't mean much to me. Seems real to me
The comments about it can't be real because of it's droopy ears and look at how the rack comes out of it's skull like he's holding a rack behind the droopy eared head are hilarious, as are the rest of the ignorant comments about it when so many reputable people, including the area GW, had their hands on that buck when it was still intact in the truck before it was even processed or prepared for mounting!
If you are going to claim that you killed the new world record typical whitetail, then it is up to you to prove it to all. Otherwise don't publish pictures, don't have your deer show up as advertisement on archery gear, etc.
Link, i am the oldest of 5. I that i was standing in high cotton roaming 40 acres in my garage sale army camo shooting a BB gun and fishing. Dang sure wasn't no silver spoon.
By the way, I'm 62..... getting older is inevitable..... growing up optional...... and in my case amusement is mandatory.....
No one will ever know I guess, as a little research revealed he can't enter it. He signed a legal agreement that the deer was no WR or larger than the Hanson buck and he could make no claims as such. He was forced to put up or shut up. He shut up. For what reasons I don't know..... nor care. Again, was never panel scored nor entered. Done.
Other interesting notes.... apparently this "recluse" was also an official measurer for P&Y and B&C and a high ranking member in the CBM. They videoed the recovery in a time where the camera gear was not real common for the average Joe and was like lugging around a toaster oven. It was planned and arranged to be promoted.
Nawwww..... he didn't care about scores or records or anything like that. (actually being a scorer was a ruse I guess...) LOL!
A person can say many things about this infamous hunter and deer..... that he didn't care and was not interested in scores, WRs and such is not one of them.
Hunter: Mitch Rompola, Traverse City, Michigan Date: November 13, 1998 7:47 AM Hunting Method: Bowhunting From a treestand. Bow: CSS (Custom Shooting System) Signature Series Compound, 34-inch axle to axle, set at 58 pounds with Adjustable Pro-stop set to 30 inches draw with letoff adjusted to 75 percent. Arrow: Gold Tip 5-layer Laminated Graphite shaft, 5575 spine, full length 32 inches, crown dipped. Broadhead: Gold Tip Gladiator, 125 grain expandable, four blades Scent Control: Buck Fever Vanishing Hunter spray, Scent Lok Suit Scent Used: Mock scrape made with Buck Fever Synthetic Scent Shot Distance: 12 yards Distance traveled after shot: 70 yards Deer – typical whitetail, mature adult, 7 ½ years old (biologist aged) Weight, Field Dressed: 263 pounds, certified scales (estimated live weight 300+ pounds) Antlers: 38-inch outside spread, measured 216 5/8 inches net typical, by a respected panel of official Michigan measurers. Hmmmm.......
1. For a loner not seeking the limelight, Mitch sure had lots of sponshorships lined up from synthetic scents to his bow etc.....He also had his web site, lined up the interviews etc.... 2. Mitch sure has a pension for killing bucks with unusually wide racks and even wider spaces between antler burrs along with brow tines that tilt out which is also very, very rare. 3. Many of his "kills" have racks that don't seem to match the bodies. Having been a taxidermist, antler collector, antler repair guy some of his older deer look terrible. He seemed to get better at attaching racks over the years. 4. Ears can certainly droop but like the photo below, the muscle features change when the ear butt muscleature is cut through or damaged like from skinning back and attaching antlers.
I really wish Barry Wensel would weigh in on this since he and his brother Gene had several run ins with Mitch in the 1980's. Mitch DID WANT to be recognized and have notoriety long before he shot the supposed world record.
Barry truly believes Mitch is mentally ill and that could explain some weird run ins with the law on non-hunting related stuff. For folks that haven't, it's interesting to read antler collector , Larry Huffman's article on why he believes its phony bologna.
Admittedly, both Larry and Craig Calderone who each offered 10,000 (20,000 total) to have the rack X-Rayed have an axe to grind. It would cost antler collectors like Larry some money to devalue their collection and previously Craig had the Michigan state record bow kill which was featured in North American Whitetail.
Additionally, supposedly Craig was pissed at Mitch as well since he believed Mitch had alerted scoring officials to a spotlighting violation when Craig had shined deer with a gun in the trunk. No deer was poached but it dethroned Craig's deer which on the contrary, had been well documented and plenty of skull plate and quality kill photos.
I really , really, really doubt Mitch killed a 38 inch wide whitetail and really, really, really doubt that his deer dressed out at 263 pounds.
I also think the "panel" of scorers that Mitch trained and hand-picked were bafoons for not demanding to inspect the encased skull plate that was trimmed narrowly down to a knats ass a week after the kill? I am highly suspicious looking at poor, grainy photos. How were they not suspicious in person???
It looks more like the color purple in the original stain job than the movie, "The Color Purple." It was later obviously re-colored and evened out. Larry believes Pottasium Permanganate was used which was very common at the time.
I know most people don't see the details in things and that's precisely why people buy, pay for and brag about atrocious taxidermy.....all the time on this site.
I can't ever remember and I've killed a ton of deer, elk, antelope etc......having ONE photo with blood running out of the deer's ear. But if you cut the ear butt muscle from the inside and lay the deer on that side......the arteries and cappilaries certainly could spew some blood.
Finally, think about live footage you've seen of an excited guy that is twisting and turning the rack of a giant buck he's killed. Mitch was EXTREMELY careful to NEVER move or pick up or twist the deer's head in his walk up video. Who does that?
In the inspiring words of Jim Belushi, "Pull my other leg, it plays Jingle Bells."
Apparently you have little experience with large bucks Kodiak. Luckily for you, I have two decent ones in the house that haven't been put on a form yet. One is a mule deer and the other, a 4.5 yr old whitetail. It's funny you would compare a 2 or 3 year old buck to one that is much bigger in terms of bone growth and calcification. Once bucks reach a certain age and their long bones stop growing, their bodies divert the calcium to antler growth. As for the guy claiming it field dressed in the 260"s I'd believe that in a heartbeat. When I was 16, I shot a buck in KS that was close to 300# and I've noticed the farther north I've hunted, the bigger the body size.
Look at all these trophys with drooping ears. The bigger and older you are, the more tissue relaxes when you die!!!!!! Gravity and age does this to all things. I've worked in the ER over 12 years and I can assure you, humans faces droop really bad when they die
I'm sure that if you actually shot him, he was pen raised, under a corn feeder, you added points, refused to have him x-rayed, turned down Cabelas $10k offer, rattled him in after dark and used a spotlight, OR .... you found him dead of EHD.
See how this sounds? Congratulations on a world class buck if none of those apply to you :)
I've seen a couple bucks dress over 240 with one at 260. That was in IL - they will get bigger the farther you go north. As I stated earlier the deer itself is damn big! 263 is completely believable.
On the drooping ears - I work in south TX on a couple big ranches during season that have a lot of mature deer (6.5 +) - both bucks and does - it is very common to see older deer 7 + years old have drooping ears when they are alive. I rarely see deer that old in other parts of the country. These ranches won't even target the bucks til they are at least 6.5 and often older. I've seen many bucks with one drooping ear and one normal ear - most likely due to a fighting injury. The buck in the pics is obviously mature. The droop doesn't cast doubt on the buck to me at all as I have seen and killed deer with major ear droop.
Hey Kodiak, I actually put your skull together and colored and worked on it........I can't remember who bought it from me? In the spirit of hoax's , I hope it was disclosed to you those are cut offs.
Rough Country- Having talked to you about giant bucks in the past, you seem to be the guru on this sort of thing. What do you think about the Rompola buck?
;Most likely Rompola simply did not want to tell where the buck was actually killed. That is the most simple explanation for all this. I have seen this critical , accusatory , and sometimes hateful rhectoric many times over the years . It usually is jealousy over a successful hunter with a huge trophy. God bless, Steve
I've had blood on the ears and face of multiple animals. It's quite simple: Animal collapses, coughs blood up from wounded lungs, and in it's final death throws, gets blood all over it's head or ears from the blood it just coughed onto the ground it's laying on. And sometimes when you turn them around for photos, you get blood on them that's fallen on the ground.
I agree with Lou and Thornton and some others who believe the buck is real. It is more about Mitch being beat up over and over again by certain folks who had an axe to grind with him. He no doubt was and I hope still is a great hunter. As for the new world record being worth over a million dollars over some years that is totally false. You kill the new typical world record whitetail and the story right are probably gonna be worth a half a million bucks. I would say in less then a year you would easily surpass a million bucks. I have killed a few mature deer and droopy ears and little to no pedicle is fairly common. I just think it is a shame the deer is never going to get credit for growing the enormous set of antler. Think about this, even f you took those antlers and turned them up a bit and it shrunk the spread by 5"s. It would of still been a world record, so if they were faked why not make them look more "legit" then they are and still have the record??? Shawn
I have no idea whether that buck is real or not but to say that a certain area can not grow a B&C buck is nonsense. When the southern half of Michigan got hit hard with EHD in 2012 there were bucks found along the local waterways that would give the most experienced hunter buck fever. Some of these bucks had never ever been seen alive and had never walked in front of a trail cam. Nobody knew they existed. There are B&C bucks out there in less than prime areas.
From a Grand Traverse County swampy area. He was very smart and wary. I only got two vids of him and never seen him again. The date is wrong on the cam info strip...it was November 2016. I have seen one wider and bigger in the field with split brows but never got a pic of it. There are big deer that are shot up here but the people who shoot them do not advertise it nor want the attention....they're smart.
"Rough Country- Having talked to you about giant bucks in the past, you seem to be the guru on this sort of thing. What do you think about the Rompola buck? "
Kevin, I would not be surprised at all. I've had people tell me about large, unique deer that have been taken here but are not advertising it. That is likely common practice in many places, not just here in Michigan. Folks aren't interested in the attention or the problems that come with it.
The buck in question is no more real than the world record buck I shot last fall that I chose to not have examined. If you claim something then either prove it or shut up about it. That is what we are discussing: "a claim" and that is all it is............ so arguing about whether it is real or not is pointless.
From: bow assassin 27-Feb-18 I've always believed Mitch's buck was real....still do! But you know the old saying....haters gonna hate. Sounds like there are more haters on here than I realized. I love to meet him one day.....seems like a man you could learn a lot about hunting from in a short period of time. He has probably forgotten more about whitetails than most will ever learn.
Ain't that the truth in all respects, especially the haters comment!
From: txhunter58 27-Feb-18 The buck in question is no more real than the world record buck I shot last fall that I chose to not have examined. If you claim something then either prove it or shut up about it. That is what we are discussing: "a claim" and that is all it is............ so arguing about whether it is real or not is pointless.
The only thing Mitch didn't do is have it xrayed when those two guys started giving him all kinds of crap. He had a number of reputable people, including the area GW, look at it while it was still in his PU after he shot and recovered it. Then reputable people scored the rack. Milo Hansen, as far as I know, wasn't hounded to get his buck xrayed and it was accepted as the record, so why shouldn't Mich have been treated the same way? The Hansen buck was run all over the prairie up there before he happened to run by Hansen and get shot, whereas Mitch has shot a ton of huge bucks with archery equipment and yet many are haters just because he's better than probably any other archer in history!
He doesn't want the attention? ok I get that......but why film it, promote it, try and market it? That whole excuse makes no sense to me. Maybe Mitch should write a book only to be published after his death. Then we can all know the whole story.
LOL! All you have to say is ROMPOLA and you get 162 posts in a couple days! ;-)
It is probably the most famous buck of all time. The interesting thing is that it got MORE notoriety because of all the controversy and the fact that the hunter decided NOT to prove it was legit and said screw it. Personally, I like the fact that he just dropped the whole thing instead of trying to prove it was legit and go the "celebrity" route! It is probably the most talked about buck in history because of that.
So.........the year is 2022 and ole Mitch decides the time has come to set the record straight. He pulls that rack out and turns it over for anyone and everyone to test, x ray, examine, and go through any analysis needed to prove it is real. 2023 comes around and nothing has been found to prove it is fake and no one can deny it is real. And he provides additional pictures and video of the deer immediately after the kill. It is entered into B&C, makes it through panel scoring and IS the new world record. All doubts are laid to rest. Now how much is that buck and story worth?? Maybe Mitch has a plan..........??? Just saying. In any case, there would still be debate on Bowsite!!!
My dad will be 70 this year. And he does still hunt with family and a couple of close friends. He shot another monster and very unique non-typical this past fall (again in that part of Michigan where that class of buck just doesn't exist according to some).
The notion that an area cannot produce a BC deer is nonsense. When the EHD killed most of the deer on my lease here in MI I found 3 bucks that were likely 140 plus and had no idea about 2 of the 3 prior. Lots of giants turned up that no one knew about. It was an eye opener for most....
Kodiak, Neither fan not hater of Mr. Rompola. Despite following this since it hit the public airwaves, I have not been able to "decide" if its true or false nor do I care very much either way. The skeptic in me hears the naysayers but the hunter in me hears the believers. I would like to think that anybody could kill a potential world record, anywhere deer roam.
WyoBowHunter, have you given any thought to what happens to that rack after Dad passes? I assume you and/or siblings will end up with it at that point?
Haven't read all the posts and this was mention I ask for forgiveness. One of the main issues with the Rompola Buck antlers was he wouldn't allow them to be Xrayed, to show if they were real on man-made antlers. I think they wanted to do some genetic testing also to see if antler/skull plate matched up with the deer's carcus, but don't quote me on that one. Been to long since I read the story. DANNY
The buck’s pics/video/story was all over everywhere - but when it came time to really put it in the public eye all of a sudden the hunter decides he will just become a “recluse” and clam up about it? Don’t buy it. A “recluse” would never have done all the stuff leading up to that point designed to gain the notoriety.
Rough Country’s post above did away with any lingering thoughts I may have had that it may have been legit.
I heard that he was going to be charged with fraud if he continued to promote his world record buck. So the only thing to do would be go withdraw your claim and quit promoting it as a legitimate kill. This is the same guy who got caught looking up women’s skirts. He also got fired from the post office. How in the hell do you get fired from the post office? He had all the articles written about how great he was and then he shoots the biggest deer of his life and suddenly he doesn’t want any publicity. Who ever cuts a skull plate down like that. Who wouldn’t get it exrayed and take the money from a guy you don’t like? Mitch is a liar and anybody that believes his story is gullible.
I have no idea if this buck is legitimate or not, but I can say this. The OP, Mr. "E.F. Hutton" is a perpetual pot stirrer. He got exactly what he wanted out of starting this thread. He prides himself in be able to stir people up while pretending not to, and imagining himself of superior intelligence. He also frequents a forum that I moderate and tried the same thread on there a couple days ago. He is registered under a fake name here and also uses the screen name Lamplighter. Jim McKinney is not his real name, nor is he from Ms. He constantly talks about today's generation of "ESPN hunters" and "look at me" hunters yet not long ago he killed a nice buck on public land here in La. and immediately started posting it online to show it off. He quickly deleted it after being called out. So, with that being said, be wary at his attempts to stir the pot and incite bickering.
I am curious to see if this buck will ever be given the credit it deserves. I have no dog in this fight and don't have an opinion either way, but I feel if it is indeed a record, it should be recognized as such. If Mr Rompola indeed wanted to escape the speculation and publicity, I don't think that worked out for him.
TXhunter, the hunter already and this is said with all due respect was already a little quirky from what i have read and heard about the man. I love the fact that he just keeps going out and killing huge bucks. I can tell you this, if the man ever decides to write a book and share just his knowledge I would be the first in line and believe he could become a rich man off of that alone. Hell as has been said if he decides even just to tell his side of the story some outdoor entity like NA whitetail would pay handsomely! Shawn
Mitch is the only one that truly knows and thats all that counts... funny of all record book bucks taken the only names i know are Milo and Mitch... whitetails are a mystery, think of all the people who have made it their careers... a four legged mammal can cause so much controversy, whod a thunk?
Scentman....I'll go out on a limb and suggest Kevin (wybowhunter) knows. That being said...I wouldn't mind seeing the NT buck he (Mitch) shot this year.
I just read ohios link and now have a different opine... why? Why go thru all that trouble and time and not submit? I myself always looks for the good in a person, hard to defend this controversial subject. If you really look at the pic something does seem odd... but that may be from all this mystery surrounding it.
Dan Bertalan's Bowhunting's Whitetail Masters was a good read. Had a chapter about Mitch. How he hunts, equipment he uses, how he decides where..............included some pictures of the bucks he's killed.
The whole book was a good read and interesting how those guys bow hunt in their part of the country. 'Course some of those guys have since turned into law breakers in the eyes of many.
Any idea if DNA, tissue collected from buck has been analyzed? Would be interesting what genetic info can be collected. Collect from all the other really big deer in Midwest see if they are related, something like ancestry .com to build a database???
I personally believe it is real. I have zero reason not to. Too many people that have held it say its real. The basis that not many huge bucks come from the area he shot it in is stupid. Quite a few deer hunters believe they see every deer that lives where they hunt. Not so. Especially in thick cover. But, the biggest reason I think it is real is I have a buddy that lives here in southern WV, who hunts in gun counties and, as of 3 years ago, had killed 18 P&Y class deer on heavily hunted rifle ground. With a bow. When picking his mind about how he did it, he told me many things he looks for while out scouting. Some of it was very much related to what Mitch related in that video.
I killed a pretty big deer several years ago. I got him out of the woods at 9 PM. I had to check him in the next day, skin, take care of the meat, and drop the horns off at the taxidermists. I dropped him off at around 3. My taxidermists said by 7 pm the next day, he had heard from 4 different people, that I don't even know, that I had poached the deer. Jealousy is a bad thing. And, I cannot tell you the number of really big deer I have seen in garages, horn boxes, etc..., killed by very good deer hunters, that are HUGE. They just European mount or cut the horns off and do it again. God Bless men
Ohiohunter’s link pretty much says it all. Any rational person will see it as bogus unless and until it’s proven otherwise. Which would be easily done. If he doesn’t want to vindicate/validate it, then no complaints should be coming from him or his supporters.
His written agreement that he would not claim it as anything pretty much says it all.
Time to move on from the sideshow, nothing to see here.....
Geeze guys.....it's only a damn deer. There was a time 20 years ago when I actually gave a darn about what a total stranger shot. Now all I care about is ME getting out next season......God willing.....
Honestly......if he's a happy man then good for him.
From: TXHunter 28-Feb-18 Ohiohunter’s link pretty much says it all. Any rational person will see it as bogus unless and until it’s proven otherwise. Which would be easily done. If he doesn’t want to vindicate/validate it, then no complaints should be coming from him or his supporters. His written agreement that he would not claim it as anything pretty much says it all.
Time to move on from the sideshow, nothing to see here.....
To you, Ohiohunter, and all the others that have no idea what actually went on when Mitch shot that buck up here years ago I have to call BS and say shame on all of you that call yourselves hunters! I AM a rational person and for you to come on and say that any rational person should believe the BS that you and others are putting out that make the buck Mitch shot not an honest trophy can in plain English stick it where the sun don't shine!
It's extremely unlikely Mitch wouldn't have the rack X-rayed given the huge financial rewards if the rack was real. Signing the noncompete agreement with Milo Hanson also makes the legitimacy highly unlikely. Pride or not, no one is going to turn roughly a million dollars or even a fraction of that just for having the rack x-rayed.
Cooool!!!.... what was the panel score and when was it entered..... (killed by an official P&Y/B&C measurer BTW)..... I must have missed that part..... FACTS..... not coulda shoulda woulda..... Proven facts. There are requirements, and those were NOT met. Right now the only ones dealing in emotions and not facts are his fan club.
Could it have been an honest above board WR? Who knows. There is no proof or facts that is was. That's not my fault. It's his. So.... as in the settlement he signed..... it was not.
All the rest..... I don't know what the scoring system is for Unicorn farts....... but would seem to be anything you wish it was.....
Good grief.... what the heck COULD have gone on that someone who went to such lengths to promote the deer...... awww, never mind.
And yeah.... I call myself a hunter. A bowhunter at that.
Please... if you.... or anyone.... know the FACTS.... PLEASE enlighten us as to WHY he took his ball and went home after setting all this up for the big CHA-CHING..... and you can drop all the "recluse" and other rationalizations. I want to hear....
I remember the first time I saw professional wrestling on TV as a little kid. I couldn't believe there were so many people out there that thought it was real. Seemed so obvious to me.
I just think it is interesting how much debate LIVES ON after all this time.......................................................................... ;-)
We probably wouldn't even be talking about it now if the hunter had proven it one way or the other. In an odd sort of way, I am kinda glad it is still a mystery! ;-)
If you and others DON'T CARE, then why don't you shut the heck up and drop all your ridiculous comments about what you would have done and why he didn't do this and that and take all the money! People are saying it had droopy ears, so it couldn't be real, LOL! People are saying there is no way that buck could have been killed up around TC because there just aren't any big deer up in that part of MI, LOL! Another comments about blood in it's ear, so it couldn't be real, LOL! Why should Mitch have had that deer xrayed when nobody required the Hansen buck to be xrayed when it was scored and deemed the WR? None of you know all the particulars of the guys that were wanting all that done and offering money, etc. As has been said by some who live up here, including Mitch's son, there are many big deer here and many all over the country that are shot and never shown to the general public because of stuff like happened to Mitch and by ones that don't want notoriety and just want to hunt since it's their passion just like it is Mitch's! Money isn't everything ohiohunter and it's too bad that many just use that money excuse alone for why it wasn't real because he didn't accept it. The buck was witnessed by a number of locals, including the area GW, before it even was removed from the PU when he brought it in. The rack was panel scored by several reputable guys that attested to it breaking the WR Hansen buck and they had no reason to lie or cheat when they did their measuring. Did you see the legal document Mitch signed? It didn't say he didn't have a WR rack. It said that he wouldn't go out saying it was because he was fed up with all the BS he was getting from haters just like all the BS that's being spewed on this thread and it's too bad his son visits this site, knows the truth, and has to read this BS not only attacking the credibility of the deer, but making other accusations against his Dad that they know nothing about! Sad, very very sad and I'm done with this miserable bunch on this thread that are haters because they probably can't even go out and shoot one half the size of that buck so nobody else can or should either!
I could give complete benefit of doubt to the deer being legit, if it wasn't for one thing. Why does the skull plate on the deer look so flattened out? It looks like a dump truck rolled over the top of his head and flattened it.
If that's possible, naturally, somebody enlighten me.
At this point, I'd like to see the huge buck that ohiohunter supposedly shot. Cant seem to find it online. Of course using his real name in his profile might help.
Anybody remember the former world record Jordan Buck, shot by James Jordan in Burnett County Wisconsin in 1914?
I lived, worked as a Land Surveyor and hunted in Burnett County for several years and know it well. I currently live in the next county south and still hunt in Burnett County at times.
The area where the Jordan Buck was killed has pretty infertile sandy soil and a lot of jackpine timber. It's not exactly the most fertile land in the country. Definitely nothing like Iowa or southern MN or WI.
There are some nice bucks shot in Burnett County but not many come anywhere close to the Jordan Buck. It just goes to show that big bucks can come out of relatively infertile country if they live long enough.
I would like to believe that the Rompola buck is real but I could also argue either side of the argument...
Ok, so after reading this thread and doing a little additional research on the web I have what I think is a legitimate theory on how It all went down.
If the recovery video is real which shows his walking up on giant buck whose rack resembles the one on the photo, then there are a few things that I questioned. The video and and picture are two completely different types of woods which is not that big of deal. But the actual deer looks different and the rack in the photo looks like the antlers are way too flat and the deers antlers in the video are more realistically angling out the top of he deers head like every other deer I've ever seen. So here's my theory..
Mitch shoots a giant buck, potential world record. Videos the recovery and people see it and actually handle the deer in the back of the pickup. So he takes the deer home and since he cut the skull plate off so ridiculously small he broke the skull in half while handling it. (I've done this before on small bull elk by accident). So in a effort to repair it doesn't get it quite right, and ends up with some awkward looking antlers witha skull plate covered in bondo. Then he shoots another buck and replaces its rack with his WR rack hence the photo getting the awkward look and somewhat prooving the conspiracy theorists rights.
Now, to save face and not be called a liar and cheat and also the guy who shot the new WR buck but broke its skull plate, he refuses to get it X-rayed. So in turn, he did shoot a New Wr buts it's not he official Wr cause he broke the skull plate.
Good thing about this theory is everybody is a little bit right and Mitch is still a great hunter with some really bad luck.
Jeez Doorknob, Quite a stretch. I've dragged out nearly every deer I've shot in the last 20 years alone. Does that make me a poacher? Freezing whole deer? Using next years tag? I also don't have video of every drag, DNA evidence of every deer, or pictures with weather reports. Wow. I'm pretty sure IF I ever shoot a WR deer (pretty sure I won't since I don't hunt where the "experts" think they need to), I won't be subjecting myself to the ridiculous efforts to discredit that some on here will go to and will keep the buck quiet. That being said, I don't know what to believe but 20 years after the fact people are still bashing the guy over a deer. If he had entered it and proven it he would have had to deal with another type of bashing so he loses either way. No wonder he stays quiet.
Doorknob, So called facts and data can be used to support either side of an argument. Hasn't the Trump presidency taught you anything? I've read probably every word on this topic, viewed every video and am dead set in the middle of nowhere. You quote one article and have a conclusion? Did you ever think that the one article you read could be slanted away from the truth. No magazine or writer is incapable of making a mistake and there are some writers and magazines that swear the story is real. Google Mitch Rompola. I hope the truth, whatever it may be, comes out someday but until then, I will stay in the middle ground and neither bash nor praise Mr. Rompola. Done with this thread until more comes to light.
JFK, Area 51, Jimmy Hoffa, AND the Rompola buck! -All unreal conspiracies with 100s of theories available.
Mitch knows the truth as does God. It'd be downright spectacular to see Mitch come out and prove the naysayers wrong if the buck is real. WyoBowHunter, if Mitch is really your father, I commend you for speaking up on this site and tolerating the venom the way you have.
Mitch was an accomplished bowhunter who at one time held the Michigan state record for bow-killed typical whitetail. He was an avid whitetail buck hunter. He would know about the hysteria that shooting a potential world record buck would generate, long before he ever fired an arrow at that mythical deer. He would know that any potential world record deer would be met with skepticism and claims of wrongdoing. He is not going to cut the rack off a potential world record deer. No one is that dumb unless they have no idea of what a world record deer would look like. Likewise he is going to seek out a conservation officer to examine and verify the deer as a legitimate kill to quell any naysayers that killing was illegal in some way. Mitch was not some local that bumbled into the woods and killed a potential world record deer. Best theory that I have heard is that the whole thing started out as an elaborate prank that rapidly spiraled out of control.
From: ohiohunter 01-Mar-18 Top gun, you're way too emotionally involved. You must have some vested interest in this topic, hell even Rompolas son isn't half as worked up as you. What gives? Are you a woman having your monthly??? Guess what, I still don't care... I'll wake up tomorrow morning just as I did this morning with zero concerns regarding this topic.... wish I could say the same for you.
I said I was done posting, but this post of yours shows how big of an ahole you are when you make those kinds of comments to and about me now. You're a brave SOB with a keyboard. I may be 70 but come at me with that shit face to face and you'll be picking your teeth off the ground! I've been back and forth with wybowhunter by PM, know exactly where he lives now, and he's just sitting back laughing at the thread to keep from crying with you bunch of jackwads and all your theories that are getting even more ridiculous since my last post. He knows the truth that it was a legitimate kill and why Mitch did what he did, but why come on here to let you rip him apart like you have his Dad?! As far as that snow theory if you don't live up here and know the crazy weather patterns it's just another BS stretch. I'm in a spot where we get hammered and you can go a mile or two and the ground is bare! Yes, I'm pretty emotional when I know what the truth is about this whole situation and then have to read all this BS and trashing of a guy that can probably hunt better in his sleep than the whole bunch of you when you're out in the woods, LOL! Mitch was and still is a killing machine at our age with so many P&Y and B&C bucks that it's unreal and he didn't shoot them at night or out of season, or any way other than through legal means. You bunch are just pathetic and need to get a life! PS: If the person who questioned the identity of wybowhunter had done a name search for free on the net to verify it, he would see that Kevin Mitchell Rompola is the son of Mitch and now lives in the state of Wyoming, not to be confused with the Wyoming that's a suburb of Grand Rapids, MI.
"Why should Mitch have had that deer xrayed when nobody required the Hansen buck to be xrayed when it was scored and deemed the WR? " Because of the unusual circumstances, and keep in mind other racks have been xrayed by Pope/Young/B&C, so there are multiple precedents.
You say that money isn't everything. That's right it's not, especially if you are already rich. Mitch wasn't and isn't rich and the kind of money the WR would mean could have given him whitetail bowhunting heavens and equipment, and wherewithal to hunt trophy WTs for the rest of his life, to to mention his sons. Very little pride swallowing would have been involved and if anything he would have extracted sweet revenge on all the naysayers. All the stuff about droopy ears and blood is indeed irrelevant, but not the x-ray issue and the non compete agreement. If he was so prideful, why sign that? If called to court, bring the rack in as your evidence, end of story. Where is the natural pride anyone would have to fight back and show all the skeptics they were wrong at least one final unambiguous time even if you were sick of the controversy, it would take very little time and effort to have the x-rays done, as much effort as buying a few groceries at the local market. The rack is fake.
From: David A. 01-Mar-18 "Why should Mitch have had that deer xrayed when nobody required the Hansen buck to be xrayed when it was scored and deemed the WR? " Because of the unusual circumstances, and keep in mind other racks have been xrayed by Pope/Young/B&C, so there are multiple precedents. You say that money isn't everything. That's right it's not, especially if you are already rich. Mitch wasn't and isn't rich and the kind of money the WR would mean could have given him whitetail bowhunting heavens and equipment, and wherewithal to hunt trophy WTs for the rest of his life, to to mention his sons. Very little pride swallowing would have been involved and if anything he would have extracted sweet revenge on all the naysayers. All the stuff about droopy ears and blood is indeed irrelevant, but not the x-ray issue and the non compete agreement. If he was so prideful, why sign that? If called to court, bring the rack in as your evidence, end of story. Where is the natural pride anyone would have to fight back and show all the skeptics they were wrong at least one final unambiguous time even if you were sick of the controversy, it would take very little time and effort to have the x-rays done, as much effort as buying a few groceries at the local market. The rack is fake.
***That is quite the hypocritical post when in one sentence you agree that money isn't everything and then turn right around and say how great it would have been if he had a lot of money to pursue his passion---yadayadayada! FYI the only unusual circumstance that started that whole mess were the two jealous jerks that were harassing Mitch due to previous run ins with him. The big money involved was strictly what Hansen would have lost if his buck would have been dethroned and I hope everyone knows what shit you go through when lawyers get involved and the money they want for their services. Mitch doesn't and hasn't ever needed a wad of money to hunt big whitetails, as he's been doing it his entire life right up though the big NT he shot near TC last Fall with what most would probably call meager money he lives on. FYI Kevin moved out to Wyoming just to be close to the great elk hunting he can do every year as a resident out there when he fell in love with calling in big bulls during the archery season when they're rutting.
"***That is quite the hypocritical post when in one sentence you agree that money isn't everything and then turn right around and say how great it would have been if he had a lot of money to pursue his passion---yadayadayada!" No, that's not what hypocritical means and secondly, while money isn't everything we all know how important is and most of us work our arses off for a lifetime and will never see a million dollars. I doubt Mitch is stupid enough not to understand what it would mean in terms of financial security as he gets older if not for his bowhunting. This is not complicated. Have the rack x-rayed and no lawyers needed, period. It would take an hour and solve his legal problems he already was having. They would all go away rather than get worse and keep ruining his life.
Either that or the man truly is irrational. Regardless, I'll side with Occam's Razor - the simplest explanation is usually right - especially when money is dangling like low fruit for basically no work at all other than driving to a nearby x-ray facility/dentist or doctor's clinic.
From: ohiohunter 01-Mar-18 Hahaha, that statement isn't hypocritical at all. Money isn't everything, but it should would be nice to never have to worry about it.... I'll echo that sentiment 1000x and 1000x more. Topgun..Funny you just so happen to be the same age as Rompola... as his son exclaimed. And you sure do sound awfully worked up over a bunch of guys speculating about a 20yr old deer... fyi everything discussed on here will not impact anyone's life whatsoever, well maybe you and your health, but thats not our fault. Sounds like you and Kevin have quite the relationship, I suggest you strengthen that bond before its too late, now turn off the computer before you stroke out. Edit... Dave, I like that quote...... do you think we can drive this thread to 500??? do you think topgun will live to see it???
***You are one work of art and I guess that's because you're a friggin Buckeye, LOL! Stay with your daily job because you'd starve as a comedian if you're so interested in having money! So now you're questioning my age too! FYI my birthday was 8/16/47 and I was born breech. Would you like to know the Hospital where I was born too, LOL? I also have never met Kevin, but just struck up a quick conversation with him by PM when you jerks started dissing his Father! I'm glad I've been able to tell you to stick it because if I were Kevin I don"t know what I'd be doing abut now after reading all this BS you guys are coming up with. All I can say is that he is one cool cucumber staying out of this and I wish I could, but when I read shit I can't stay quiet and have to call people out that have no idea what really went on up here after Mitch shot that buck.
"It is easier, no doubt, to talk about persons, because so many disagreeable remarks spontaneously occur to one. It is more difficult to talk about things and events, because this requires a certain amount of intelligence and reflection and information. If we are to talk of things, we must know something about them. And it is our duty to see that we do."
HOLD UP ON THE BUCKEYE SLURS...... This could get to be a revolting topic for Michigander's !
Look I for one believe the Game Warden, the scorers, along with the other folks who saw who handled and deemed the buck to to legitimate. Those officials and folks had no vested interest in lying or perpetrating a hoax.
Just because no one saw it previously or another one hasn't been seen means nothing. Has anyone seen another "Missouri Monarch" in that area of St. Louis, or did anyone ever see another "Hole in the Horn" buck in that area or so on and so forth ?
THIS POST needs to be put down or moved the Community Forum so those who wish to vent, bad mouth others can have their go at one-another.
Fellow's let's leave this alone, at least for another year !
After going through this thread I can only say that I REALLY envy a lot of you on here! I would love to have a life so uncomplicated that an irrelevant topic about something that occurred 2 decades ago would make me debate in a thread that may hit 300 posts on basically NOTHING! ;-)
One thing is for sure, TopGun you blow your TopKnot pretty quickly. Calm down man. You insist on insulting people yet, take it like a brick when it is given back to you. People would take you seriously if you didn't lose it every time someone disagreed with you.
I was so fascinated by this story when it first came out. I really respected a lot of hunters out there and as a young hunter entering the sport I found myself trying to be like them. I only hope for the respect of the deer, that it was harvested humanely and given a good death. A magnificent animal. Hopefully one day we find out the truth. To many good hunters have let us down, some of them who attacked Mr. Rompola. I know the facts and true stories behind the Calderone buck and his trespassing. I know about the hunting out of trucks and slob hunting by Mr. Hanson. For some reason I found these stories so fascinating that I dug and dug. I have many more tales of such hunters who claim to be record holders, but don't believe everything you hear. Really hope someday the truth comes out and the deer get the recoginition it deserves
I am more likely to believe someone that was there at the time this took place than someone that saw it on the internet. A lot of people talk the talk but not many can walk the walk. What I have seen is over the years is the guys that are really good bow hunters don't have too brag about it and don't belittle the ones that arent
What else does anyone need on this thread other than to read the post below to Jaquomo from Kevin, Mitch's son, to believe the buck is legit or are all you haters calling him a liar?! He knows the true facts like some of us others that were up here back then and know what actually went on compared to ones that are on this thread that are just reading and conjecturing and pitching all this BS. That's what ticks me off and if you guys were me and know what I know you'd be ticked off to no end too!
From: WyoBowHunter 26-Feb-18 Jaquomo, Not sure what you want for an "inside story". He shot a Whitetail that he had been hunting for 3 years that scores (as written in the link that JTV posted to Dan Schmidt's story in D&DH) more than any typical Whitetail currently listed by the major record keeping organizations. And it's real and legit.
"Look I for one believe the Game Warden, the scorers, along with the other folks who saw who handled and deemed the buck to to legitimate." The problem is we don't know this for sure, do we? No sworn testimonies? No video testimonies on YouTube or elsewhere that we can go to and try to form an opinion whether the person is/was telling the truth. We just have hearsay that so and so deemed the buck to be legitimate. A reporter could follow up on this, esp. with the game warden and get video documentation or a sworn affidavit, but apriori I'm very doubtful of these so called facts. No way Rompola would turn down 6 figures $$$ ++ because he was tired of it all.
Consider this, if the odds Romola would turn down 6 figures $$$+++ because of pride or too much hassle let's say is 1 in a 1000; if the odds are a buck like this is killed by a bowhunter and not a rifle hunter is say 1 in a 100; if the odds are the buck came from that area of Michigan are say 1 in a 1000; if the odds are the antlers really are real given the extremely unusual configuration esp. the brow spree which I believe is the greatest or one of the greatest ever record is 1 in a 1,000,000 - then we are looking at odds of .001 x .01 x .001 x .00001 = 1 in a billion or whatever (my little calculator went bonkers and quit...
Nobody offered him "6 figures". That estimate was given in an outdoors article written over a decade later.
I see it could be hard for some to understand that money is not everything. I could make twice the amount I do if I were to take travel jobs in other states. Instead, I stay local to avoid the hassle. Ten years later, people still question me why I walked away from outfitting. It was easy money, and I controlled a decent amount of land. They can't understand that I hated baysitting "hunters" that didn't understand that KS deer hunting is hard sometimes, that I couldn't hunt with my friends and family, and that some guys are just plain hard to please and a pain to be around. I discovered it is a greed-driven business with a fair amount of instability. I find far more joy hunting my own land and other states and countries and with friends and family.
That's true re: 6 figures, but that would be for selling the rack according to my Google search. Articles, advertising, replicas, trad show use, etc. would surely bring this amount much higher perhaps 10x, but I admit I really don't known. Perhaps others more experienced in this area can weigh in. I'm sure any bowhunter now or years ago know a world record typical WT is worth a lot, regardless. Runner up big bucks, not nearly as much.
Re: Money isn't everything, almost everyone agrees but $100,000 to much much more for the trouble it would take to have a dentist x ray the rack is just not going to be passed up except in exceptional circumstances.
I have no bone in this argument really, as I think the whole thing about so called world records, especially typical racks is as absurd as a big mouth bass world record. I agree 100 percent with your stated sentiments about just enjoying work and family vs. trying to get rich.
Good to hear from you David! I didn't realize that was you I was talking to. Too often on here I don't read everything when I'm tapping on my phone at work between patients. I hope all is going well.
You said to assume the following.........."Consider this, if the odds Romola would turn down 6 figures $$$+++ because of pride or too much hassle let's say is 1 in a 1000; if the odds are a buck like this is killed by a bowhunter and not a rifle hunter is say 1 in a 100; if the odds are the buck came from that area of Michigan are say 1 in a 1000; if the odds are the antlers really are real given the extremely unusual configuration esp. the brow spree which I believe is the greatest or one of the greatest ever record is 1 in a 1,000,000 - then we are looking at odds of .001 x .01 x .001 x .00001 = 1 in a billion or whatever (my little calculator went bonkers and quit..."
I say assume it happened and if so that makes it 100% true. There is not an opinion on this that matters above as to if it is real or not. What we think does not change what actually if factually real.
out of all there posts all but one, Kevin's, is a suspect opinion. Nobody but Kevin is in a position to be lying or telling the truth.
Bou'bound, maybe we can reduce the odds Rompola would turn down a lot of money for virtually no work as 1 in 2 (50%). Or even eliminate this. My calculator still has a headache from the other improbabilities. On the other hand, extremely rare events have to happen somewhere to someone, right?
Mysteries are always a bit interesting, that's all. I have no dog in this fight.
I saw mitch do a short seminar in michigan the year before he shot the buck. He said that he was hunting a buck that he thought could be the next world record. I don't know whats true or not. But if it's a hoax he planed a year in advance.
Re: my comments above, of course not everyone is required to give sworn testimonies, etc. But the "facts" mentioned that a game warden and others looked at/or scored the rack is being bandied about as a given, and did that really happen, who knows? Many whitetail experts think the rack looks fake and I agree. B & C and P&Y have required further proof in such cases including x-rays. As a would be detective, if I were investigating this, I would want to talk to said game warden and others vs. just accepting the story line. You want to nail down facts vs. heresay, otherwise it's just opinions again. The odds as I and others explained them are extremely unfavorable for this rack being real, even if we eliminate certain odds such as the odds a person would turn down big money because it was too much trouble or because of pride (esp. since Mitch had to swallow pride re: Milo Hansen agreement) esp. since the natural tendency is to defend pride by proving doubters wrong. My own archery methods are often remarked to be fake, and I argue back, as it's very natural to want to prove people wrong because of pride of innocence rather than the other way around. Think back in your life of when you might have been accused of lying and I'll bet every time you made the effort to set people straight on why you were telling the truth at least if you were telling the truth. If the matter had gone public, I'm sure you would also do almost whatever it takes to clear your name.
Very little adds up, other than some people who are claimed to have said the rack was real. In perspective, it's just an interesting mystery to many of us and to solve the mystery, a few things would need to be investigated vs. just accepted.
Yes, if DNA is available from the specimen it can be matched to known DNA of the area. That does not mean the victim could not have traveled extensively, including swimming. Forensic animal DNA data bases are building, especially with all the CWD testing creating readily available tissues for DNA sampling.
I can't speak to what was said (comment on sworn testimonies) but I distinctly remember a picture of a Game Warden posing with the deer in the bed of a pickup truck. I believe it was in an issue of Deer and Deer Hunting if my memory serves me correctly. I think that would be pretty tough to fake a Y incision, thread and a loose rack from an animal that was undoubtedly handled by that warden and likely many other people as well that day. If it had all been video taped and no one else had touched it I would be much more suspect. The statistics were mentioned as being almost improbable but think about the Powerball Lottery - pretty much astronomical odds but someone ALWAYS wins eventually - long odds or not. One other thought - the Milo Hanson buck was a 3.5 year old deer - what are the odds of that!!??? Just my thoughts.
Nicks link--thought it was odd he says "i didn't get cocky I center shot him" then 2 sentences later he says "hit him in right front shoulder with arrow sticking out"
Well which one was it? That struck me as odd. IMO if I had people that I didn't care for offer me $20,000 just for a x-ray im laughing and taking their money to the bank! He gave interviews but wouldn't verify the rack through a x-ray. Case closed.
No doubt he's a excellent hunter with a passion for whitetails. But think he got a little caught up in everything and saw big money. Money will make people do crazy things
If that Bucks twin was killed in Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Nebraska, or Minnesota, there wouldn’t be near the outspoken negativity about it. It would have been accepted for what it is. That is one huge deer.
Truth be told, Jason (Thornton) came close to killing a buck that would have perhaps scored higher than the current WR typical...although perhaps he was nontypical. I guess we'll never know for sure just how big he was/is. Still out there...
The picture that JL posted of them officially scoring the buck is probably the best picture of the rack that was ever put out to the media and you can see that it's not weird at all like the poor picture at the kill site made it seem. That article with the men's statements and their expertise in handling and scoring a lot of racks should be enough to allay the thoughts of any naysayer that the rack is not legit, but I'll bet there will be more negative comments that they should have taken polygraph tests or sworn on a ten foot stack of Bibles or something to that effect, LOL!
Strictly speaking, it hadn't gotten to the point where anyone demanded it be x-rayed. They asked for it to be x-rayed given the unusual appearance and circumstances. This has been done before, it's not a one off thing. It was Rompola's own decision not to enter it and to sign the noncompete agreement with the current world record holder. In the end, he folded. Why didn't he just say "to heck with you", and not sign anything? The only reason I can think of because if he hadn't, it would have gone to court and he would have been required to prove the rack is real or otherwise face penalties for damages to Milo Hanson. Anyone have a better explanation as to why he signed the noncompete agreement?
Slightly out of the norm people sometime do things a lot of us would think are totally nuts. One such person that comes to mind is Einstein!! Mitch may have his reasons and we may never know but I do know he is a hell of a hunter and I hope he takes his secret to his grave. He will live in Whitetail Lore forever if he does!! Shawn
That's a valid point, Shawn as is the fact freak racks can show up almost anywhere in their geographic range. All we can do as amateur sleuths is consider the overall evidence and motivations...does make one wonder how reliable the jury system is...even expert hunters still disagree on this one...
Why are you calling it a freak rack? It's just frigging wide and there is nothing in that good photo to make anyone use that word unless you're using that word to mean huge! This all got started after those two jerks that had it in for Mitch were jealous that he had killed that monster and decided to cause him grief over it, which they certainly succeeded in doing by declaring it need to be xrayed. They threw in that money to make it look like there was no way if it was real that Mitch would turn it down and Mitch told them to stick it where the sun don't shine. He didn't shoot that monster to make millions of dollars off of it and then when the word spread about the score exceeding the Milo Hansen buck Milo saw that it was going to put a big bite in the money he was making from his current WR. That got his lawyer involved who threatened Mitch with a lawsuit and Mitch wasn't going to lose any money over the buck and he would have when you get lawyers involved since they're the only winners when they get involved in anything! Thus, Mitch signed the paper and went about his business of shooting more big deer up here and hasn't looked back.
The one thing that I do agree with ohiohunter is that I also consider the Jordan buck to still be the "fair chase king of the hill". The Hansen buck was chased all over the prairie up there until it finally ran by Hansen close enough to get wacked. I don't call that a fair chase situation, and yet B&C scored the deer and made it the new WR over the Jordan buck!
Many of you just don't get it regarding your xray comments and never will. This is right in line with the premise in our country that a person is innocent until proven guilty, but it appears if a lot of you were on a jury heaven help the person that is on trial before the first witness was called to the stand!!!
Psst: My deer guru is EFHutton, and EFHutton says................................. .
But, for the record, innocent until proven guilty doesn't apply in this case. When someone makes a claim, the burden of proof is on them, as proved in this case in court. And also for the record, I would LOVE for this story to be true, I WANT it to be true, but me wanting and you believing doesn't make it so. So, again, this approaching 300 post thread means absolutely zilch
You're right, I don't get it. I also don't give a shite but, IF, all I had to do was X-Ray it to shut people up.....why not? I honestly know nothing about this deer or this guy and all I can do is think about what I would do, so....I'm going to x-Ray and smile, and if they still don't accept it as real then f-em' ......I'm going hunting.
Tough, good point, about calling it a freak rack, I suppose although to me and others it does look fake. Disagree Mitch would have to get lawyers. Just have the rack x-rayed and officially scored, the finally tally would then answer all objections and legal challenges.d
Topgun nope, I get it but I don't think you do. The explanation is simple. You're right in the sense that Mitch should be presumed innocent in a court of law or even public opinion to a considerable extent. But if he wanted the buck to be a WR, he would need to meet certain requirements and those requirements can include x-rays and submitting the rack to B & C (since his bow was not legal for P & Y). He exercised his rights not to do that. He also folded on the Hansen challenge for whatever reason. He doesn't have the world record, bottom line. The reasons why are legitimately open to debate, some proponents on both side have valid points, but it's not the WR buck period.
How much income does the number 1 Whitetail rack in theworld generate in a year? Or over 10-20 years? How much would it be worth to pay someone to keep the new number one out of the books? That may very well buy a signature on a document.
Well, then there's Larry Huffman's comments on the rack and what one might call freakish coloration:
"As for Rompola, I believe that he fabricated his antlers. The coloration of the Rompola antlers is very suspect. Back several years ago, it was common practice to use Potassium Permanganate to stain antlers. This product produced a brownish/purple color. Today’s experts actually paint antlers using modern techniques. As I have said, some are so good it is almost impossible to detect. They no longer use Potassium Permanganate.
Old antlers turn somewhat yellow. Some more than others depending on where they have been hanging. If they have been hanging in a smoke filled room they can be quite discolored.
If you examine the photo of the Rompola buck you will notice a yellow tone on the three longest tines. These tines change color about three or four inches above the main beams. The color of the tines where they join the main beams is a brownish/purple color like that of Potassium Permanganate staining. This color is also quite evident from the skull out past the brow tines. The same stain or color appears where all of the tines join the main beams.
Another thing that is very suspicious is the distance between the burrs. I am the owner of the Legendary Whitetail collection. I have personally measured the distance between the burrs on most of the 84 trophy heads in this collection. This list includes the Jordan, Hole In The Horn, Breen, The Mel Johnson and many more. The widest distance I have found between the burrs on any of these trophy bucks is 3 ¼”.
The Rompola buck is said to have a 38” outside spread. Using this dimension as a basis, it is very easy to calculate the distance between the burrs. On the Mitch Rompola buck the distance between burrs comes out to 4 ¾”, a full 1 ½” greater than any buck in the Legendary collection. That would mean that the skull on the Rompola buck was almost 50% wider than any previous world record buck."
JL, thanks for that pic and text, that does weaken my argument re: people who examined it. In a way, I wish it was real and Mitch would finally have it officially submitted. Nothing is better than a good "come from behind victory"...
How in the flock can anyone look at that good picture and see any purple color or come up with that theory about it being a man made rack based on what just looks like a normal colored rack from this part of the country where that deer lived! The longer this thread goes the goofier stuff people come up with to debunk it for Pete's sake. Nobody in any organization to the best of my knowledge wanted it xrayed to prove it was real after the CBM guys had scored it and made their statements that they had examined the skull plate and it was for real. It was the two jackwads up in TC that had it in for Mitch before he shot that buck and then proceeded to come up with that xray and money angle to get back at him because they were jealous of his phenomenal success killing big bucks. It got to the point that then when Hansen got involved with it from the money angle he was going to lose on his part that he got a lawyer to threaten Mitch and that's exactly what it was. I give up because every time I think this thread is finished someone else comes up with another preposterous theory about the rack and this last artificial rack theory is a real stretch. How can it be explained that even the one scorer and a GW who is a government official that handled the buck while it was still whole in the PU after it was brought in from the field made their statements that it was real and yet all these bogus comments are still coming out? I give up!
David, there are pics of his other deer out there in Google land. The stuff I snipped and uploaded are from one of the D&DH articles on Google. There is more to the article. All of this has been put out there numerous times so it's not anything new if you've followed the story over the years. I was up there when it went down. I believe there is a local news station video of the deer too. Pretty sure I remember watching it on tv....maybe even video of it in the back of a truck. My recollection might be off on that portion but pretty sure it was on the local news.
Joe I'd like to know where in Pennsylvania that toad was shot? I can't believe it's from your home state as the genetics in your state's squirrel population isn't known for squirrels that large. Now you should see the one I have in my basement makes yours look like a runt. .; )
I still think Hanson is paying him not to enter it. Coloring on antlers changes with the humidity. I have deer antlers that looked much different at the time of kill than they do on the wall. The best time to find sheds is on a cloudy day or late evening.
What counts for a lot is actually talking to the people yourself vs. reading news clips. I found this out in my search for the Tasmanian Tiger. Very different to sit across the kitchen table with witnesses vs. reading about sightings in news clips. If I had infinite time I'd go up and try to interview all concerned. I seem to have a bit of a knack for it in person as I got people to talk and even let me video interview that no one could and who did want any publicity (regarding Tassie Tiger sightings). I just like to solve problems/mysteries. The truth is out there...I would start with the sponsors Mitch had...
Ol’ Mitch sure has a lot of photos of him with deer, trophies, plaques, etc. for a secretive hermit who just wants to be left alone to hunt in private.......
I noticed the people who believe Mitch’s buck is real complain about the thread. The doubters just want to have their very logical questions answered. Why do these same doubters not attack other giant bucks that are killed? They all got together and decided to pick on Mitch. Mitch has credibility problems and that doesn’t help his story.
I really don't give a hoot in hell either way. I just find it amusing that people are this fascinated with something that in the grand scheme of things is irrelevant.
This book ended in 2002. Mitch has killed a pile of big bucks since this book was posted.
This book ended in 2002. Mitch has killed a pile of big bucks since this book was posted.
I'm pretty sure that record has since been broken, But keep in mind his 181.7 was not the famous Rompola buck. I counted 7 more bucks that he had listed in that edition in the 130-145 range (CBM minimum is lower than B&C).
Now that I think about it, all of Mitch's big bucks look very odd...at least to me. Something off about them. Perhaps he was churning out those 'racks' in a basement antler lab.
Its call ed genetics!! I am pretty sure Mitch killed a lot of those deer in the same general area. I also figure if he killed one that was 181"s there that it would not be out of the realm of possibility tat he killed one that was 220"s from the same general area. I am bored we just got 20"s of snow and it is sloppy miserable mess out so I look at bowsite! Shawn
"The funny thing is, I don't remember any controversy about the Hansen buck, other than it was shot by a pig farmer"
Plenty of controversy. Good ole Milo and the boys ran that buck down with a truck. I always look for truck as method of take in the book, but they must just have that for Milo.
Yup, watch a giant buck walk acrossed wide open prairie for two miles, not a tree i sight, he goes into a little island of over grown cover, go surround it with 8 or 10 guys with rifles and send someone in to flush him out and shoot him!! Fair chase?? (Yup) Now go to the big woods of Michigan and kill a giant with a bow all by yourself!! Fair Chase?? (Yup) I think it is pretty cool to kill giant deer consistently all by yourself with a bow and maybe Mitch figures the same thing and maybe he is reading this thinking what a bunch of A-holes!! LOL!! Shawn
Where Mitch killed that buck is by the TC airport (as the story goes). In town basically. It's a subdivision now. Before they built houses on the south side of Airport rd and 3 mile rd, it was a pretty thick cedar swamp and didn't get hunted to death like 99% of MI being it was in town. My old man killed deer in there in the late 50's when he was stationed in the Coast Guard here. There was some guys that had a carpet store on Airport and they had a number of really big dead deer on their walls killed out behind there store. Could that swamp bear a 200" plus deer???? Beats me but Mitch did kill a pile of nice deer I do know that. Money and ego can make most folks do things they ain't proud of. On the flip side being attacked and called a fake can make guys just say F......It too.
My only though on that big buck is being that freaking wide, how did he walk 10 feet in that cedar swamp?
I'm wondering why Mr. Rompola had a bunch of nice deer entered into the record book(s), but didn't want his biggest entered (?). Anyone know why/why not....?
Most of that land is all private on the south side of Airport Rd. There is a city conservation area approx 1/2 mile south of the new airport entrance that I believe is open to archery only hunting. Alot of folks do not know that. In fact there are a couple of county/city/township places open to hunting there most folks do not know about. When I was flying on helo's out of TVC we would often see deer along the runway before the airport was fenced off and some after the fencing but I think those ones were sniped off. About 2 years ago I seen a cell pic of a very, very large buck not too far from the conservation area.
Wild1there's an old joke/saying, something to the extent about doing a lot of great things in life (insert what fits best) but screw one sheep. Or be accused of screwing a sheep????
Killinstuff- Makes sense it being a town deer and all. I know a guy that shot a 200" less than a mile from the Wichita Ks airport. He drilled it through the neck and never saw it again. Supposedly shot it on small acreage zoned business across from the golf course that he owned.
Lol. There have been several posts stating his huge buck was possibly an urban deer. Urban bucks are known to get huge since they are usually unpressured and usually unhunted. I was just relating of another such buck shot under similar circumstances in my own state.
Well, he almost killed one two yrs. ago in Manitoba. I was there. Well, sorta'. We both tried for him this past season, but "Moose" didn't cooperate. I didn't see a buck in a week of hunting. Always looks easy on TV...
"David A. you own the Legendary Whitetail Collection?" Nope. I was quoting Larry Huffman.
LBT, ya' that pic does look like "an arrangement..." Well, here's a buck I took. He hit the ground so hard one of his antlers came off. "Well, what should I do now for the photo?" *Just but 'em back in place...you can improve him a little, but don't get too greedy...*
Well I have chased them in 3 states and one other country, not to mention having guided on 4 different ranches totaling about 11,000 acres. That being said, the only true 200" I have seen is the one I missed in Canada two years ago. He had mass like I had never seen and I'm guessing he was much bigger than all the other 200" I've seen on TV. Over the last 24 years I've chased them in KS, I've probably only seen 8 while hunting that went between 170"s-190"s. They were almost all in open country chasing does. I shot a 6x6 I hunted for two years back in 2001 that would have went 190" but I lost the blood trail on the neighbor and I'm sure they nabbed him. Most of the others I watched from the road. The biggest of those went 186". A hunter my partner was guiding shot him two days later a mile from where I watched him with does in a pasture off a county road on the first day of rifle season in 2005.
Author’s Notes: The following story is Mitch Rompola’s first-hand account behind the amazing chain of events in his three-year quest that lead to him bow harvesting his mega-buck. Unlike many previous articles on Rompola that focused on negative speculation, this author offers you an inside look at Rompola the deer hunter and the incredible depth of his passion for pursuing big whitetails. Mitch opens his complex world of bowhunting whitetails not to boast of his accomplishments, but to pass along 40 years of whitetail wisdom to help you, the reader, better understand the keys to successfully pursuing world-class deer.
Insurmountable Odds
Our lives represent nothing more than the results of statistical probability. It’s all a game of odds, really; jobs, spouses, the lives we lead, the deer we shoot.
Oh sure, we affect those odds somewhat every day by our actions and try to chart the course of our destinies. But try as we might, just what are the odds of any particular hunter taking the biggest whitetail of all time?
Staggering.
Consider that each year some 11,500,000 deer hunters go afield and only one of those fortunate hunters bags the biggest deer ever measured once every 40 to 50 years.
So how has just one man in his span of 40 years of hunting, harvested with a bow and arrow, close to 20 record-class bucks, three state records and probably the biggest typical whitetail ever taken with a gun or bow?
Quite simply by stacking the odds in his favor far beyond the limits of statistical probability.
A master architect of his own success, Mitch Rompola began beating the odds when he was 9 years old. Armed with only a recurve bow and undaunted confidence, he waded into a cattail marsh to take the biggest deer ever arrowed in Missouri before 1958. Mitch topped his 153-inch monster five years later by arrowing a 206-inch non-typical when he was 14. And by the time he reached 18 and left home for Michigan, he had tagged three record-class whitetails.
Thrown into a foreign environment of hunting the cedar swamps of northern Michigan, Mitch realized the odds were against him now. So he set out to topple the obstacles of probability through an understanding of the deer he hunted.
Even as a teenager he knew secret to bowhunting bucks anywhere hinged on a solid foundation of understanding through scouting. So he waded into the tangled cedar swamps scouting endlessly until he knew the whitetails as well as they knew each other. While the rest of society, including many a wanta-be expert hunter, went about their daily lives of work, family, recreation, friends and watching television, Mitch roamed the woods for miles, backtracking deer through the snow and logging their patterns.
Spending an estimated 200 to 300 days per year scouring the countryside and relentlessly interpreting deer sign, Mitch recorded everything related to the sign he saw. His log books read more like the chronicles of deer than a man. They contained every scrap of information including; rubs, scrapes, trails, sheds, sightings, how deer interacted and reacted to other deer, to other hunters, wind direction relative to movements, patterns relative to terrain, all the way into the psychology of why particular deer did what they did when they did it. The years of mounting log books with their associated maps and aerial photos only hinted at the compilation of understanding that grew behind the dark, predatory eyes of Mitch Rompola.
Simply by spending 100 to 1000 times more effort scouting than the average hunter, Mitch vastly skewed the odds of success in his favor. But the real key wasn’t in the scouting time alone. It hinged on the cumulative lessons they offered to an ever-inquisitive mind. Armed with both his vast knowledge base and refined hunting skills, Mitch entered a life-consuming pursuit of big deer that perhaps only one in a million hunters would consider let alone commit their life to. Many a hunter could imagine the passion that would drive Rompola, but few could comprehend the depth of recluse man who lived their dream.
Yet, however extraordinary his commitment as a deer hunter, Mitch modestly scoffs, “Oh, I suppose anybody could really get to understand deer that much if they were willing to spend the time and effort.”
The big “if” is in fact what separates Mitch from the rest of the deer hunting world. And it’s that big if that helped him in tallying more record-class bucks with a bow than anyone in Michigan history, including taking the current state record typical, a massive 183 5/8-inch 12-pointer that he took in 1985.
So maybe it’s not so statistically remarkable that if any hunter in North America could conceivably take the world’s biggest typical whitetail, it should be Mitch Rompola. But then again, there’s the vital role of the deer and its habitat in the equation, and ultimately connecting both hunter and deer. That’s where probability appears to have fallen into the hands of fate.
Urban expansion forced Mitch in the summer of 1994 to look for a new hunting spot. He wasn’t happy with the long drive to a remote area owned by friends, but he was encouraged by all the components the new spot offered for harboring big bucks.
Irony or fate also changed another facet of his hunting that year. A long-time skeptic of deer scents, he tried a new concept in deer lures, a synthetic scent invented by a local hunter, Kevin Kreh. “I had tried most of the deer scents over the years,” said Mitch, “and experimented with different scents where I had lots of deer. But I got such mixed reactions and negative results with just 1 ½ year old naïve bucks, I would never try that stuff on a mature whitetail that I have put a lot of time into and risk a negative reaction.”
So when Kevin approached Mitch with the idea of trying his Buck Fever Synthetic Scent, Mitch became more reluctant than ever. “Synthetic scent? I thought what kind of a crackpot do we had here? But Kevin had killed big deer over it so out of curiosity I tried it and was shocked at what happened. The deer literally tore the place to pieces during late spring when they were totally out of the rut. I knew this was really unusual behavior. So I tried some behind the house and also got excellent hits.”
Armed with a scent product he felt he could trust, detailed maps and an unquenchable thirst to learn all he could about the new area, Mitch began deciphering the subtle deer sign there. The new spot offered a remote blend of twisting ridges that dumped in a vast cattail marsh, an ideal security hideout for reclusive bucks.
In addition to his usual scouting and logging tactics, Mitch began to develop a new technique of patterning bucks using the synthetic scent. Through trial and error, he learned how to create synthetic trap lines that helped him key in on specific spots where he might ambush a big buck. “It was mostly by accident that I learned how to effectively use the synthetic scent. At first I began putting it in a lot of areas to see where I would get the best hits. Out of 50 to 100 synthetic scrapes I found that some barely got hit while others got hit hard. So at first I used it primarily as a scouting tool to help eliminate low percentage areas. That really helped me learn about the bucks in the area. But it was a big parcel of land and I knew it would take a couple of seasons before I could hunt it effectively.”
Again, Mitch was using statistical probability with the scent to focus his efforts. Just one more method of stacking the odds. And they began to pay off when during late archery season that year he tagged a 125-class buck from another area over one of his Buck Fever scrapes.
Near the end of the 1995 season, he began to understand the complex patterns of big bucks in the new spot. One snowy day while heading into his stand, he caught a glimpse of what the area had to offer. “I only saw this big buck for a second before it vanished into the cedars. It was huge. Then I saw where it had dug up the dirt and scattered it on top of a foot of snow while making a scrape. That big guy was still actively in the rut that late in the season.”
Undaunted by the big bucks that eluded him there, Mitch took advantage of the harsh winter of 1996 when the vast marsh froze over. Suiting up like a Navy Seal ready for a mission, Mitch donned his scouting outfit and headed for the remote swamps and ridges. “The only way that I can successfully do all the continuous scouting that I need to and not be scent-detected by these big bucks, is to employ TOTAL SCENT CONTROL. That means that I’m totally covered with rubber from my neck to my toes. I wear strictly rubberized outerwear including rubber gloves, boots, chest wader liners, and a rain suit top. Plus I spray myself down with Vanishing Hunter. That knocks down any remaining scent. I simply can’t leave any scent when I’m out there walking around and setting up my synthetic scrapes. Because if I leave human scent around my synthetic scrape areas, those big deer aren’t going to put up with that for one second.
“Scent control is one of the biggest problems that foil average hunters. They put up their one stand, toss out their bait and they think they’re pretty well set up to hunt. Then they go in and hunt it during the wrong wind currents without proper scent suppression and they’re being patterned by the deer. It’s supposed to be the other way around. And soon their hunting spot isn’t that productive.”
Walking the ridges and frozen swamps that winter, Mitch began unraveling the secrets of the big bucks that called the marsh home. He soon learned their recluse bedding hideouts and the narrow travel corridors where they crossed creeks and ridges. But the most important revelation came when Mitch fit the pieces of the puzzle together relative to how the bucks approached and left their bedding areas. “I realized that I had been hunting the wrong side of the ridges,” said Mitch. “I needed to be more on the northeast edges if I was going to intercept these big bucks. Their patterns showed that 90 percent of the travel skirted the northeast and southwest edges of a natural clearing in there.”
Now armed with this new information, he began refining the crucial details of exactly how the big bucks would approach their bedding areas in the mornings and where they would leave in the evening. Like a general plotting a coming battle, Mitch meticulously mapped out every detail of the buck’s movements, and when the snows finally melted, he once again began laying his synthetic trap line.
“I spent the entire next spring moving all my setups and my Buck Fever synthetic scrape lines to the east sides of these ridges. And boy did it make a difference. Those bucks started hitting my synthetic scrapes like you wouldn’t believe in March and April.”
Like an attentive gardener, Mitch tended his synthetic scrapes throughout the spring and early summer. By mid-summer they had grown into raw patches of torn earth yet things of beauty to a buck hunter like Mitch. But his biggest surprise at the buck’s response to his synthetic scrapes came unexpectedly when he was checking them one cool July afternoon. “I saw a deer standing down in the meadow. I had my video camera so I started sneaking down there. As I got close I saw that it was a nice buck. Kneeling down, I zoomed in on the deer with my video camera when sudden it put its ears back and another big buck walked right into the viewfinder. Then they actually got up on their hind feet and started clubbing the heck out of each other with their front hooves.”
Mitch recorded the unusual event on his video camera as the two magnum bucks in velvet fought with their hooves. Finally, the big 8 point clubbed the wider racked 10 or 12 pointer in the nose and the fight ended with both bucks disappearing into heavy cover. Now more than ever, Mitch knew the area held at least two dandy bucks.
As fall colors hinted at the coming season, Mitch kept refining is synthetic scrape setups and concentrating on the ones that offered him the advantages of scent and sight. But the terrain and wind currents challenged him at every turn. “My problem was I had three big ravines coming down into points and flattening out into a giant cattail marsh where the bucks bedded. That created all kinds of tricky wind currents and thermals. So it was very difficult to setup in some of these areas.”
Despite the buck’s advantages, Mitch discovered that his most productive setups blended proximity to the buck’s security areas with their curiosity over nearby synthetic scrapes. “I try to think like a big deer as if I were in their hooves and how I would travel knowing people were out there trying to get me. They actually travel the way I would to be elusive enough to avoid or detect hunters during daylight. Most of their travel is in fact nocturnal. These big bucks aren’t about to travel a quarter mile or more to a food source in the daylight. By the time they get there, it’s dark. But what I did find out was that if I got close enough to some of their bedding areas with my synthetic scrapes, they would come out enough to check these key scrapes close to their bedding spots.”
Forever the statistical tactician in his hunting, and with the 1996 season soon approaching, Mitch wanted to know exactly how long it would take him to get from work to his hunting spot. So on September 18 he timed his drive, and as he drove down a two-track near his prime area, he spotted two deer walking along a ridge. He grabbed his binoculars. As the second deer came into focus, Mitch’s hands suddenly became unsteady. “I’ll remember that day the rest of my life. I thought, my gosh BIG BUCK isn’t even the word for this thing. When it turned and looked away, I saw clearly how wide the rack was and thought I was seeing things. It was the widest spread deer I had ever seen.”
As Mitch watched the massive buck, he began jotting down the details of the approximate size of the rack on a scrap of paper. When the buck finally ambled over a ridge, Mitch walked over to check for sign. There, in the soft sand of a trail, lay another significant clue to hunting the giant buck – an odd shape to the right front foot of the buck, a track “fingerprint” that would allow Mitch to further detail its movements.
That evening Mitch tallied up the rough score on the scrap of paper then rechecked the unbelievable total. “I came up with something easily in the 190’s and close to 200. But I have a tendency to field judge deer on the small side, so I knew I had a good one. Now all I had to do was get him.”
Mitch knew it wouldn’t be easy arrowing the buck. But he never imagined it would take another two years.
Author’s Notes: Even with the emerging, well-documented information about this story, sadly, some writers persist on speculating in their wallows of negative conjecture. It would appear that either the anti-hunters have disguised friends calling themselves pro-hunting writers, or some writers are so pitifully spiteful about information they lack the professionalism to obtain — or worse, that they’re content to defame the image of hunting in their tabloid attempts to sell a few copies of their publications.
So why did Henry Ford invent the Model T? Or Leonardo da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa?
The same reason Mitch Rompola harvested the biggest typical whitetail ever taken with a gun or bow.
Romantics call it destiny. Realists call it the precise juncture of opportunity, time, space and the dedicated human element capable of turning a dream into reality.
Whatever the definition, it seemed that destiny began unfolding her plan on September 18, 1996 when during a scouting trip, Mitch Rompola spotted the biggest buck he had ever seen during his four decades of bowhunting big whitetails.
Besides getting a good enough look at the sprawling rack to know it would score near 200 inches, Mitch also discovered that the buck imprinted a telltale track with its slightly deformed right front hoof.
Mitch guardedly shared the news of the giant buck with a few close friends. Just before season, he set up a stand over one his hotter synthetic scrapes that had grown to over 12 feet across that was being hit by several good bucks. His first evening over the scrape gave him a chance any hunter would envy.
Hooves in the leaves snapped Mitch to attention and he readied for the shot. A huge buck ambled past at 12 yards. Mitch held off on the giant 9-pointer, hoping the wide racked buck would soon follow. But by dusk, the first day’s hunt closed without seeing the monster buck. Mitch mused how the image of the wide racked buck had now changed even him. “That 9-point was one of the biggest typicals I ever let walk past me. And I would soon regret passing him up that evening.”
October 12 again found Mitch near the scrape overlooking the marsh where he suspected the massive buck bedded. Just like 40 years earlier on his first deer hunt, Mitch Rompola heard the clattering of legs in the cattails. Seconds later, a massive 12-point rack floated through the evening shadows. Painfully slow, the giant buck worked around the clearing closer to Mitch. After 15 minutes, the deer had moved within 30 yards and Mitch readied for the shot of lifetime. The tip of his arrow began to quiver like a bird dog on point. “Boy did I get excited then, because I thought, man, I’m going to get a crack at this thing. Its rack looked so wide as it was looking around I just about started coming unglued. It’s been a long time since a deer has unraveled my nerves like that, but this deer sure did a number on me.”
Mitch raised the bow. Fingers tensed on the string. He took in a long breath to steady his nerves. But suddenly the massive buck tensed and threw back its head as the huge 9-point Mitch had passed opening day charged off the ridge. Mitch stood stunned as the 9-point dipped its head, eyes wild, nostrils flared, and chased after the wide racked buck. Both huge bucks disappeared into the thick cover in a hail of breaking brush. Moments later, the dominant 9-point strutted back toward the ridge where it had been guarding “its” scrape.
Fearing that the 9-point would injure the massive 12-point if given another chance, Mitch now turned his attention to the ridge behind him where the agitated buck was now tearing up every bush in sight. Mitch grunted softly on his Bow Grunter call.
The commotion stopped. Ten minutes later he grunted again. This time hooves began stalking toward him. Mitch knew from the deliberate walk that the deer was attempting to pinpoint the grunt. Again, his fingers tensed on the string as he quietly waited. Heavy hooves slurped through the mud only yards behind him. As the buck finally emerged from the thick pine boughs, the string’s twang broke the silence. The giant 9-point wheeled and bounded into the shadows for the last time. The pecking order over Mitch’s scrape had just changed. “I shot him as much out of anger as anything else because I was so upset that he ran that wide racked big buck off. He actually had 10 points; 9 points typical with a 2 ½-inch sticker point on one of his back tines. He was lot better than I thought and ended up scoring 168 and some change.”
Despite tagging the big 9-point, Mitch’s thoughts remained focused on the sprawling 12-pointer. Spending countless hours the rest of that season dogging the odd shaped track, Mitch learned more of the buck’s secrets without avail. He ended the 1996 season more committed than ever to tag the buck the following year.
During that winter Mitch continued his relentless scouting and backtracking the giant 12-pointer. He learned where the buck set up its approaches to its bedding areas and revealed more locations where Mitch should setup morning stands.
Again, Mitch continued to use his Buck Fever synthetic scrapes to help monitor the buck’s patterns. He also raked out places on the runways the buck was using to reveal certain repeatable patterns of how the buck traversed his domain.
During the summer of 1997, Mitch began using an experimental scent dripper to dispense his Buck Fever synthetic scent. The programmable dripper, made by a local friend and accomplished deer hunter Dean Broecker, allowed Mitch to scent up his main scrape without disturbing the site. While checking on the dripper one day in late July, Mitch was greeted with one mighty welcome sight. “I noticed movement on top of a ridge and it was him; the big wide buck in velvet. His rack was already way out past his ears. He had been laying up there watching me and when I stopped to look at him, he just walked over the ridge and disappeared.”
Mitch bowhunted the area the first two weeks of October without spotting the giant buck. Nonetheless, he felt confident with his setup and the synthetic scrape being hit. And upon returning from his annual hunt in Michigan’s UP with friends in late October, he headed for his setup.
When leaving his truck for the woods, Mitch usually sprays his boots with Buck Fever to help lay down a scent trail as he walks into his stand. But this Sunday morning he was anxious to get back to the site before sunup and didn’t take the time to scent his boots then. Instead, he waited and put synthetic scent on his boots at the scrape site that had again been freshly hit. After squirting scent into the fresh scrape and on his boots, Mitch walked over and climbed into this stand.
Later in the grayness of first light, a blocky shadow drifted through the timber. Wide beams ticked against the brush as the buck moved into the scrape and dipped its head. The buck immediately picked up Mitch’s boot scent and zeroed in on the trail, heading right for Mitch. “I got ready for the shot and saw that it wasn’t the wide12-point but a real nice buck. He tracked my synthetic scent trail right to my stand like a bloodhound with his nose to the ground. I drew and let him come until he was standing directly underneath my stand. He looked up and our eyes met, I released the arrow.”
The big buck slammed to the ground as the arrow hit spine and heart. Moments later, Mitch suddenly realized he had seen this buck before – on videotape. “He was a nice 13- point that I had videotaped fighting with the 9-point in July of 1996. He scored 150’s typical and 160’s non-typical. A real nice buck.”
Mitch kept scouting and relocated the wide rack’s odd track near a clear cut in some pines. Forever the opportunist hunter, Mitch moved right into the area and setup one evening. He watched as the giant buck negotiated the sprawling rack through the pines. Though he didn’t get a clear shot, Mitch noticed the rack touch two particular branches on each side of the antlers. He returned the next day and measured the distance between the branches “They measured 34 inches wide and that’s when I really knew how much wider he was than I originally thought. I was actually embarrassed to tell anybody I was hunting a buck with a 3-foot spread because it was so unbelievable.”
Though Mitch kept tabs on the buck without seeing it, firearms season came and went, and both the buck and Mitch moved into heavier cover. With the seasonal change in the cover and buck’s pattern, Mitch moved into a ground blind that served mostly as an observation outpost to help him pinpoint the buck’s new movements. Mitch sat one morning until after 9 AM and figured the buck wasn’t going to show or had already passed through unseen. But as Mitch picked up his bow quiver and snapped it back on the bow, a haunting apparition rose from the nearby cover. “There he stood, 30 yards away, looking right at me. He had apparently bedded before I had gotten in there and I had snuck in without him hearing me. I knew I wasn’t going to get a shot, so I took out my camera and zoomed in on him. I focused with him looking at me and snapped one photo before he turned and just walked away.”
Mitch later projected the photo on paper and scaled the projection to fit the 34-inch spread. With the scaled image, it didn’t take a skilled measurer like Mitch long to tally over 200 inches on the buck’s rack.
In the winter of 1998 and entering his third year of patterning the buck, Mitch cautiously avoided scouting the buck’s bedding areas. Though he was tempted to look for its sheds, he was afraid of tampering too much in the old buck’s security cover and possibly scaring it off.
During the summer of 1998 Mitch continued tending his synthetic scrapes and looking for some sign of the big 12-point. But by late October, without so much as an encouraging track from the old buck, Mitch began to think the unthinkable; a poacher, dogs, a wire fence or possibly a car had taken the giant buck quietly, without a trace.
Disappointed at the grim possibilities and slogging back to his truck after another uneventful morning hunt, he noticed a flicker of gray in the timber. Mitch froze. Massive antlers swayed in the sunlight. And in another frozen instant, Mitch’s spirits soared. “It was him, alive, and looking bigger than ever. He stepped out on the two-track looking in the direction of my truck, looked down my way, then just walked over the ridge and disappeared. Boy, was I ever happy to see him again.”
Now more than ever, Mitch committed to trying only for the giant buck or nothing at all. Despite two other record-class bucks, a magnum 10-point and a wide racked 8-point that began hitting the scrape and following the patterns of the giant 12-point, Mitch focused on the one chance of a lifetime that had eluded him over the years.
But terrain and wind at his prime setup seemed to work against him at every turn. “First, I knew I had to set up near his bedding area because most of his travel was in fact, nocturnal. That’s why I set up my synthetic scrape close enough to his bedding area that he could come out to check it. A buck like that isn’t about to travel a quarter mile to a food source in the daylight. By the time he gets there, it’s nighttime.
“The other problem was that three big ravines came down to points and flattened out into the giant cattail marsh where he bedded. That created all kinds of tricky wind currents with the surrounding hilly terrain. Besides paying attention to the thermals, I controlled my scent by using Vanishing Hunter. I spray it on my outerwear, exposed areas, hair, and mouth. That allowed me to hunt some of these areas that I normally couldn’t at all.”
On November 3, Mitch slipped into his evening stand overlooking an area near his synthetic scrape. On its apparent date with destiny, the giant buck materialized from the thick cover and moved into the scrape. Without a chance to shoot directly to the scrape, Mitch again grabbed his camera and snapped a photo of the buck as it lifted its nose toward the synthetic dripper. As Mitch looked through the camera viewfinder, he realized with a start that the buck was leaving the scrape, coming toward him. He put down the camera and grabbed his bow.
Screened by the thick cover, Mitch waited until the buck paused broadside at 20 yards. He drew in a deep breath, again trying to calm the swelling nerves. Despite the decades of shooting huge bucks, all the times he had seen this giant whitetail and the focus of his life’s energies for the past three years, buck fever began to nibble at the edges of his consciousness.
He looked past the sprawling mass of antlers and focused on the spot behind the shoulder. The graphite arrow leaped through the shadows. The buck jumped. Three bounds later it stopped. Mitch strained to see the hit, the weak legs, the buckling hindquarters. But the buck simply wagged its tail and casually walked into the tangle of spruce.
For a moment Mitch stood there, his mind struggling to accept the cruel reality of what his experience knew – he, Mitch Rompola, had somehow missed the shot of a lifetime.
Numb with disbelief, Mitch climbed down and walked over to where the buck had stood. There lay his arrow sticking almost straight down in the ground, clean as it had been moments before. “It must have deflected off some brush that I didn’t see and the arrow dropped right underneath him. It never touched him.”
Mitch tried to find comfort in the fact that the buck didn’t appear overly startled by the missed shot. Like Mitch, the buck was more confused than anything.
He got the photo developed and stared down at the picture; the buck’s nose lifted toward the synthetic dripper, the rack spreading into the tangle of branches as if the expanse of beams and tines were part of the forest.
Now hoping beyond hope for yet another crack at the buck, he continued to hunt every day. But as the early bow season drew toward an end, Mitch tried to quench the rising fear that he might never see the buck again once the crack of rifles filled the woods.
On November 12, he slipped into an evening stand near the scrape where he had taken the now haunting photo. As evening shadows lengthened, a mass of antlers emerged from the cattails. Mitch tensed, but then lowered his bow when he recognized the 10-point and 8-point that often followed the wide rack. The bucks emerged from the swamp and moved into the synthetic scrape. They pawed around the scrape and glanced toward the ridges before disappearing back into the cattails. Mitch turned to the sound of hooves coming off the ridge. “Here he came, the big 12-point. He walked right into the scrape but didn’t offer a shot. He appeared to be checking out what those other bucks had been doing in the scrape then followed their trail into the cattails.
“As big as he was, I never saw him being aggressive towards any other deer. He was strictly a loner to the point of actually being shy He would hang around near the outskirts of other deer but never with them. Plus, he always walked away and never ran, even if he spooked. It was as if it was an effort for him to even walk. And every step was thought out like he knew exactly where he was going.”
After a fitful sleep that night, Mitch crawled from bed the next morning and headed for his spot. During the drive, he noticed the increase in vehicles at cabins and hotels. Only two days now until the crack of rifles filled the woods and sent the giant buck running deep into his dense hideout, or worse, maybe one of the gunners might get lucky and… Mitch pushed the unsettling though aside. He parked his truck and headed for his stand.
As fingers of light began to stitch the outlines of the marsh below and the ridges behind him, Mitch glanced down toward the scrape. His dark eyes looked past the network of branches, wondering if the bucks had already hit the scrape.
Suddenly, heavy footfalls on the ridge above gave him the answer. Mitch snatched his bow and turned to the sounds now bearing down on him too quickly. A tangle of antlers came toward him. He barely got poised for the shot as the now familiar 8 and 10 pointers veered slightly around his stand and passed at 12 yards.
As the two smaller bucks disappeared into the cattails, Mitch positioned his feet solidly on the stand as he collected his senses. He stared at the hillside, his eyes locked on nothing in particular.
Hooves carrying 300 pounds of buck announced what Mitch knew before he saw it. Next came the sprawling tangle of antlers through the timber toward him, supported remarkably by one very familiar deer following the same trail as the other bucks had used minutes before.
Mitch stood poised, bow up, focused yet again on the spot he wanted to hit, pushing back all other thoughts except the shot. The buck’s head passed behind a large tree and Mitch made the crucial movement of drawing his bow unseen. Onward came the deer, looking bigger than life as it passed at the scant 12 yards.
The buck stepped clear of the tree. Mitch centered his sight on the massive body, now quartering away.
The arrow sliced through the morning air.
Powerful muscles responded too late.
Hooves churned.
Sprawling antlers carved a three-foot swath into the brush for the last time.
After a long moment, Mitch gasped for air, realizing he had been holding it since before the shot. The hit was unmistakable this time, solidly in the vitals with a resounding crack as the broadhead hit the far shoulder.
Mitch blinked as if to be sure it wasn’t all a dream. But he knew he wasn’t dreaming as the impact of his three-year quest surfaced and his knees became too weak to stand. He sat down, replaying the shot over and over in his mind until his legs could again hold him. Wobbly, he climbed down and inspected the hair and splashes of red where the buck had bolted.
Finally, Mitch shook himself free from the trance of what he had done and headed for home. He knew it was going to be a long day and he needed to share the news that would soon rock the world of hunting. “I was so excited that I had to tell my girlfriend I had actually shot the deer this time. Plus I needed to let her know I was okay because we have a pact that if I’m not back by a certain time, she would come looking for me. And I didn’t want her to send the National Guard out after me.”
Though tempted to take up the trail, 40 years of bowhunting savvy had hardened Mitch’s resolve into the responsible decision on such a buck; give the deer some time before tracking it. He slipped out of the area and returned home. He also knew the magnitude of what he had just accomplished and wanted to get his video and still camera to document the recovery.
Mitch returned with his recovery gear and began by recounting the story from his stand to the recording video camera. With the camera continuously recording, he then took up the sparse blood trail. Just beyond a large scuffmark in the leaves, Mitch saw the fletching of his arrow sticking up over a small rise. As he pointed the video camera in the direction of the arrow, and walked over the crest of the rise, there lay the enormous deer.
The sight of the fallen buck, dissolved away Mitch’s usual stony exterior as a flood of emotions washed over him; the bittersweet rush of excitement flavored with the humility of what he had done. The photos he later took, with his characteristic somber pose, only hint at the feelings beneath. “Even with all the big deer I’ve taken, that moment still gets to me. I always regret taking the life of a mature whitetail buck. They’re just the most beautiful and magnificent animals, and there’s nobody who respects them more than I do. And especially one like this that I’ve hunted so hard for several seasons. This buck showed me quite a bit of humility as most of them do. When I’ve spent so much time working on him, hunting him and understanding so much about him, it’s tough when you realize that all of that has finally come to an irreversible end.”
Mitch knelt beside the deer. His 35-inch Gold Tip arrow had penetrated 18 inches with the quartering away shot. One of the blades of the Gladiator head had broken where it had lodged in the far right shoulder.
For the better part of the day, Mitch muscled the huge deer, a body length at a time, over the remote ridges. Finally, with exhaustion tapping the last reserves of his adrenaline, Mitch slid the deer up a special loading ramp into the back of his truck.
As any proud hunter would do, Mitch showed his deer to a few close friends that evening. The next morning, the news began spreading faster that a jack pine wildfire. The parade began at first with admiring friends, including several official measurers. But by late afternoon, the carloads of curious strangers, were quickly growing out of control.
By Monday morning, Mitch’s phone began ringing non-stop. The media had got a sniff of the story and swarmed upon him relentlessly from across the country. By Tuesday, the media onslaught hammered Mitch into seclusion.
Mitch knew enough about scoring big deer to know that his buck could possibly rewrite the history books when the time was right. But the media wasn’t about to wait for drying periods, official scoring, Mitch Rompola or anything else, and immediately began bannering the deer as “The New World Record”.
Overnight, Mitch’s personal pride at taking the deer began turning into bitter regret as much of the media, lost in the vacuum of accurate information, began dredging up tabloid style stories of their own that personally attacked Mitch and the deer from every conceivable angle. Suddenly, what could had been scores of positive wildlife management and hunter impressions to the public, turned into a rampage of negative speculation that blackened the eye of Mitch and hunters everywhere.
Much of the irresponsible media remained indignant and actually blamed Rompola himself for his poor portrayal in print. Didn’t the fool know that once he shot the big deer, the entire three-year story, the nearly 50 years of his private life, even the unscored rack belonged to them — to the world? What a fool Mitch was to even think he could maintain some shred of control or sense of direction over his life.
Dismayed at the whole affair, while unrelated tragic events transpired in his personal life, Mitch withdrew even further into seclusion. “It’s a darned shame the way it’s all turned out. I don’t regret shooting the deer as much as I do presenting it to the media. What really hurts is the fact that I have two grown sons who have to hear all this misrepresented junk that happened years ago that doesn’t have anything to do with this deer or my life now.
“It’s odd how some hunting writers and hunters can accept a lucky hunter getting a deer of this size on some deer drive because that doesn’t challenge their egos. But because of my past bowhunting success and the fact that I hunted this deer for three years, they end up becoming jealous critics. But in the end, now that I’ve told the whole story, how people judge me and what I’ve done, is now up to them.”
So why did Henry Ford invent the Model T? Or Leonardo da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa? Or Mitch Rompola arrow the biggest typical whitetail ever?
Romantics call it destiny.
Realists will flatly say, “Because they could.”
Author’s Notes: Hunters interested in learning more about the science behind the Buck Fever Synthetic Scent System that Mitch used to harvest his mega-buck and many others, visit the Buck Fever Synthetic web site at http://www.hawgslimited.com or those wishing to order Buck Fever products direct can call 800-522-2728.
FACTS ABOUT THE ROMPOLA BUCK
Hunter: Mitch Rompola, Traverse City, Michigan Date: November 13, 1998 7:47 AM Hunting Method: Bowhunting From a treestand. Bow: CSS (Custom Shooting System) Signature Series Compound, 34-inch axle to axle, set at 58 pounds with Adjustable Pro-stop set to 30 inches draw with letoff adjusted to 75 percent. Arrow: Gold Tip 5-layer Laminated Graphite shaft, 5575 spine, full length 32 inches, crown dipped. Broadhead: Gold Tip Gladiator, 125 grain expandable, four blades Scent Control: Buck Fever Vanishing Hunter spray, Scent Lok Suit Scent Used: Mock scrape made with Buck Fever Synthetic Scent Shot Distance: 12 yards Distance traveled after shot: 70 yards Deer – typical whitetail, mature adult, 7 ½ years old (biologist aged) Weight, Field Dressed: 263 pounds, certified scales (estimated live weight 300+ pounds) Antlers: 38-inch outside spread, measured 216 5/8 inches net typical, by a respected panel of official Michigan measurers.
I'll only add two things to this discussion. (1)-I believe the buck is 100% legit. (2) 1964, Cocodrie Swamp, LA, I killed a buck that a day later, field dressed, on the scales at a locker plant in Ferriday, LA weighed 264. Freaks, whether it be freaks of weight, (body size), or antlers can occur in any place. It is quite common in humans.
Part of me wants to believe it’s legit...but it’ll never be resolved I’m sure. One thing seems to be certain is that the guy was a big buck slayer before and after this deal.
Haha Grubby, I'm just fascinated with this topic, have been since 98' when it was all over the place. How could something so easy to put to rest still be a hot topic 20 years later? Very interesting to say the least...
Everybody keeps saying that he was offered $10,000 bucks to have it x-rayed. Craig Calderone offered that money to Mitche's favorite charity, not to Mitch himself. Time will tell if it is real or fake!
I'm sure he's killed plenty of deer and most likely some nice bucks but there are several phonies from my vantage point and I can't believe no one questioned the photo posted above. Let me give a little background: This photo was submitted by Mitch per the request of CCS archery systems who was sponsoring him at the time. They wanted a photo of a big buck not previously published and voila', ole Mitch came through with flying colors. (This CCS employee even thought it didn't look right)
This is absolutely a mature DOE! with shed or cut off antlers being held up to her head. It's a short haired deer with a rounded female, slender, face and the antlers are being held too far over the edge of the head. There are no Pedicles!!!
Prime example of a short haired buck with pronounced and very identifiable pedicles and no rounded top and the proper spacing of antlers and near vertical brow tines which occurs in the high 90's percentage wise.
A buck and doe face look NOTHING alike if you look at the hair patterns and hair thickness on a buck forehead versus a doe.
(have no clue who this dude in the photo is...pulled it off google)
EF Hutton- I grew up hunting Cocodrie and Saline when they were still swamps. You could camp two weeks and not see another hunter except the ones with you. This was years before they became WMA's. Those days are long gone. We had a camp on Muddy Bayou st Saline and would launch boats off the levee at Cocodrie and motor up the bayou and just camp anywhere.
"Supposedly more recently it is claimed the rack/mount has been destroyed in some sort of fire event (D&DH Editor Dan Schmidt | December 10, 2017), contrary to a previous claim it was stored in a vault for safe keeping." Good point. That's another unlikely odds nail in the coffin of this buck being legit, although sure, fires happen...but the antler weren't made out of wood, I would presume...
The whole "droopy ear" thing proves nothing. A ton of droopy eared bucks have been killed. Two years ago, a new, pending world record buck was killed about two miles from where I hunt. It is a freak, an anamoly of nature. Droopy ears, odd pedicles, a wide rack are proof of nothing. Anything can happen in nature. Bondo proves nothing. Many if not most, heavy, wide-racked bucks have the skull plate covered with bondo. There is no proof it is a fake and no proof it is not.
Bottom line, after all this time, who gives a flying burrito? But it is something to do while waiting for the water to go down and the fish to move up.
OK don't any of y'all get your panties in a wad, because I don't particularly give a shit either way. I am just curious. I always thought the story was fishy, but not until reading the DDH article today did I know that several well known and named scorers and a conservation officer (Berger, Holbrook, Brown, and Bailey) all personally examined the deer and stated that it was legit. (But did not claim it was fair chase and taken where MR claimed.)
So why would 4 men stick their necks out to support a fake? If you spent years as a deer scorer, wouldn't promoting a fake discredit the whole trophy scoring system? Then all of the time and effort you have wasted was in pursuit of a bunch of meaningless BS. That they would support a hoax seems as unlikely as the alternative - a man turning down six figure offers for the chance to prove the naysayers wrong.
Maybe a more likely scenario is the man who had the most to lose if the Rompola buck was proven legit either paid Rompola off or threatened him or his family. This theory, and it is only a theory, would be supported by the signing of the document that preserved the other buck as the WR. To me, those pieces fit together and explain what has been reported better than the assumption that the four who examined the buck all lied to support a hoax,
I was not there, so I am not going to second-guess the opinions of four knowledgeable people who actually saw the deer and examined it closely. Still, questions remain...
I heard the wensel's offered him $1million for the rack and he turned them down. Also heard he had family that owned a deer farm in the midwest so he had access to some monster racks... who lets their world record buck burn up in a fire?
Definitely a stud of a Man. I just wish he would enter the buck and honor the spirit of the huge animal. I feel like droopy can never Rest In Peace till he receives his rightful place right above milo buck. RIP droopy
I was asking Kodiak since he seems so sure about everything only to be proven wrong later. The cape is a doe but I'm guessing he would have loudly proclaimed it was definitely a buck.
Is there ANYONE on this site that actually saw the “Rompola Buck “ in the first 24 hours after it was shot or before it was skinned and broken down ?
Are there pictures of the “Rompola Buck” ... possibly in a pickup truck with crowds of people around immediately following its removal from the hunted area? There should be dozens of witnesses to that buck before it could be altered. Are any of these people Bowsiters?
On a buck of this magnitude .... a possible world record.... how many times is it green scored in the first week ? There should be dozens of people that saw it within the first 48 hours. Anybody on Bowsite witness an informal green score ?
And what purpose does it serve the owner of a possible world record to remove the antlers from the complete skull? Who does that? Who would risk cracking a skull plate on a potential world record ? Who would mount it before the sixty day drying period for an official score ? Are there any Bowsite members that would do what Mitch did?
Why?...do people talk about 'the Milo buck' ...it was a GUN KILL period and in a very sad 'hunting' scenario that (from what I heard) was not very ethical! ... also besides the people that did score it some 'in the Industry, and very well known by many, also held and saw the Rompola rack ...... and they told me It Was The Real Deal .... Period! ........ so the nay-Sayers can say all they want .... but there are those that actually do know the truth! That is all that matters and I'm glad Mitch chose to go on with his life. ..... Del Austin with The World Record Non-Typical form Nebraska is gone now (recurve kill) and Mel Johnson's World Record Typical (recurve kill) from Illinois I feel will never be beat! ..... not with trad equipment anyway .... and this new fancy hi-tech gadgetry just isn't the same! .... and it sure don't mean that much to some .... and $$$$$$$ and fame is way over rated! IF you are Bow Hunting for 'that', then you are Bow Hunting for the wrong reason! .....jmho
Headhunter-I'm glad we knew Mitch before all this crap drove him into hiding. For sure, one of the best pure deer hunters I ever met and I met a lot of them. We were scheduled to do a team seminar for Glenn then, he killed the buck in question and he decided he would be better off declining. I only talked to him one time after that.
The rack was lost in a fire?...how convenient. Any one ever research this, did his house really burn down? I just can't overlook this, although I'm trying my best to be open minded.
""l Austin with The World Record Non-Typical form Nebraska is gone now (recurve kill) and Mel Johnson's World Record Typical (recurve kill) from Illinois I feel will never be beat! ..... not with trad equipment anyway .... "
What? Most whitetails killed in bow season are shot at around 20 yds. Gene Wensel killed a buck that scores higher than the Rompola buck, it just wasn't a typical. Objectively vs. stylishly, it was a bigger buck!
I meant to add Gene Wensel did it with his recurve...Now, the reason a new WR probably will be taken with compound or rifle is that that there are far fewer hunting with trad. bows these days.
We all know BC, is a record keeping organization. I also thought, the manner in which a big game animal was killed, carried a lot of weight.
If the Hansen buck was basically run down, as I have garnered from this thread, and killed, does this not matter, to BC? If true, ethically, I would be embarrassed. But, then again, I’m sure Ole Milo, has made a bunch of cash. Somebody, set the record straight.
I had to come back in. So now, anyone that kills a deer on a deer drive is unethical? Who among us, if hunting with a group, and saw a huge buck go into a patch of brush, would not form a "push" and hope to get a shot at it? I have never seen anything written about the Hansen buck being pushed with vehicles until this bunch of lame #$% hypocrites decided that EVERYONE that ever killed a good buck is an outlaw (oh unless they did it with a recurve and then they are as clean as can be). What a bunch of hogwash.
