The Most Controversial "World Record" Buck? The Mitch Rompola Buck
In the world of record book bucks, there always seems to be some controversy behind how the deer was harvested or around the deer in general. The word "controversy" is almost always synonymous with The Mitch Rompola Buck any time that certain deer is brought up. Is it real? Did Mitch split the skull? Is it a set of antlers from an entirely different state mounted on a doe? Is it a fake rack mounted on a smaller buck? Tune in to find out!
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I know a guy sitting on a state record archery buck and wont submit it because he doesnt want the attention nor for people to know what county he hunts in etc. He feels that the opportunity for big bucks comes from not having a lot of other hunters in the area because they read an article about big bucks.
Know the feeling. All your best bucks get shot.
Yeah, everyone here knows someone with a state record buck in their garage...
There’s a couple very pressured spots around MI public that always house huge bucks. Lots of people who hunt those properties and try to talk around know about it but only about 5 percent of them are killing any bucks, maybe less. I have only pulled out two in the last 5 years and only in one of the spots. I have noticed only two others hunting it correctly, according to me anyway. The only other two I know about that have killed monsters also. But their is at least one other who no one knows that is taking at least one per year doing better than the ones who get any. The only evidence left are the gut piles. No one sees who it is. Makes you wonder but no one leaves cameras back in these spots so no one knows if it someone who hunts it at night or just waits for the wind and to be alone. My point is, if you find a big buck spot. They are smart enough to weed out the bad hunters, just don’t hunt near them or when they do. If they spook them, set yourself up for it. Those spots, IMO, the bucks don’t just get shot to pieces if it’s highly pressured and popular.
@@americanagothic7851 Again, no. That's not how public land works. Trust me, I hunt in PA...There are no such thing as "secret spots". There are no secret public lands. There are always people hunting where you think they won't. Those big public bucks are outliers. In any state. Telling the stories doesn't make it true.
@@ZeddicusTheMage In the state of Georgia, there are bucks that would wipe out the top 7 records for typical easily. You dont understand how common this is, especially considering how many people have killed others over antlers. Just sad.
This deer is on display near Jackson, Michigan off I94 at the whitetail hall of fame if anyone is interested in seeing it up close. It had all these stories and articles displayed with it. I saw it about a week ago.
Thanks for sharing that information about buck. If I get up to Michigan I will check it out.
Not true. That guy that has the museum hates rompola. It's a replica made
It’s a replica
Not original
@@joseoyea1647 ok rinella
He was smart for not entering the deer. Records can be broken and forgotten about but here we are going on 25 years later and still talking about his buck. The man was a genius.
He wants to be forgotten tho? He’s a recluse now and clearly never wanted the attention. There are many reasons why someone wouldn’t want the world knowing where a buck like this was taken
A genius at rapid taxidermy maybe
come on man
Seen a 14 point one time bow hunting by Amasa. Never seen it again but I found a small ridge with big pine that weren’t cut surrounded by swampy ground about a mile off road . Had lot of rubs, scrapes, and 8 beds old and new with no way to sneak in to it
bullshit
People who knew Mitch personally always described him as reclusive, kind of a hermit, didn't like a lot of attention. Distrust of the government, general public, etc. I'm not sure but I think he may have been a Vietnam vet? Those type of people really don't like attention and I know people like that who would have reacted the same way. I know some guys who have shot really big deer and refused to ever have them measured, etc...they didnt care for or believe in such things. Makes me wonder how many giant bucks are gathering dust in a garage somewhere. PA just got a new record that was killed in the 1960's and kept in obscurity for decades. Verdict is still out with me. I can see both arguments for this buck, for and against.
Then why did sell a video?
There wasn’t a billion dollar price tag on a deer in the 60s and if there bringing it forward now it so they can profit
@@DIRTISTERRIBLE if you are from Michigan, you understand many of us are far more fans of CBM than P&Y or B&C. There are many bucks registered with CBM that do not have registrations with P&Y. I guess that may make us all frauds in some people's minds.
@@jameszynda462 what video did he sell? I would like to buy it~
@@slimshady4157 haven’t seen it advertised since he settled with Hansen . It was a explanation of how he hunts and scouts as to demonstrate that his tactics could lead to killing a monster I don’t recall he talking about the actual deer hunt itself. But without registering the deer the vid was his only shot at money . Which is why the he doesn’t want recognition is crap he always was trying to profit
How does anyone explain 3 B&C scorers, biologists, and DNR staff saying it's real?
Not to mention getting paid off to go silent. Proof enough for me.
Exactly ,Gordon is but hurt because he is the self proclaimed expert and only his opinion matters. I met a guy this last summer in Utah in his mid 70’s and has guided the AZ strip since ‘72. Over the years he has taken some personal giants. One I’m particular would be #3 typical after a bunch of deductions from the kickers. It was scored by the owner of trophy hunter magazine who is an official scorer. This buck along with others are in a back room on the wall very few know they exist. I took pictures and can show them he just asked not to share them because he doesn’t want all the fan fair. So Mitch not wanting to enter any of his giants is not surprising. B&C and P& Y are clubs that have a lot big animals but for everyone in the books I’d bet there are as many like this older gentleman and Mitch’s bucks that will never be entered. The more Gordon talked the more I disliked him, Mitch might already knew who he was and the ego and to not let him ever hold it makes me smile.
@@moneyandtimefreedom3352 I agree with you guys. Just a bunch of butt hurt people that Mitch killed the deer.
@@brentbarnett9224 Nice name!
Look at all the WIDE framed bucks he's killed...he obviously found a spot with a wide framed pool of genetics...I believe it's real 100%
Imagine a fishermen who chases record bass catches the new world record by a pound and goes to get it weighed and the official says “ok, I just need to cut this open to make sure you didn’t shove a 2 pound weight into its stomach and then you’ll be the new world record holder” and the fishermen says “eh, forget about it. My goal in life was to catch this record bass but I decided I don’t want it verified.” Wouldn’t it be completely obvious that he put a weight into the fish to make it heavier? What other reason would someone have for not allowing their world record to be properly examined?
I think people would be surprised at the amount of record breaking deer people have. Some hunters literally do not care about score or breaking records. I’ve personally seen a 214” typical a guy killed bowhunting. Has zero interest in officially having it scored. Heck even some old farmers have jaw dropping racks just piled up in barns. I think it boils down to some don’t or could care less about the money it could bring or all the attention it attracts.
@@jtd662 that would make sense if Mitch didn’t go out of his way to try and become famous as a deer hunting guru. Yeah it’s easy to say that now that he is a recluse. But prior to this buck he was advocating for himself and trying to get his name out there. He wanted the recognition.
Imagine repetitively calling someone a lier and then wonder why they withdraw
@@stevenmartens6692 no, they asked him to prove it was real. Then when he wouldn’t do it after claiming it was the new world record, he was labeled a liar.
Dude was a guy who loved hunting he had many records why fake this one he didn’t want the fame nor did he care
Awsome vid guy's!
I had a guy picking up a bow one day in my shop and he knew a guy that kill not 1 but 4 bucks over 200” with a recurve. I got too see the pictures of his trophy room he was an old man that honestly one of the greatest trad hunter to ever live and no one knows him because he doesn’t want anyone knowing he didn’t even mount of them they’re all on skull cap plaques. The guy said I want to show you something because they had gotten close through work. Unbelievable!
How’d they know it was over 200”?
@@bubbamarkland1992 you could tell they was over 200”. It wasn’t a 180 that was called a 200”. They was well over 200”..
@@jobyshaw5459 interesting
I’m with mitch. He had so many records at that point..to kill a giant and have all the backlash happen, I’d say “the hell with it too.”
Records that no one can verify.
@@HuntsT he had several deer in the Michigan commemorative records book so yes they were verified.
Who's to say that more than one of his bucks aren't fake? If he indeed threw his hands up at the folks that insisted it was fake and said to hell with it, I genuinely feel sorry for him. I honestly do not think I would try to certify a record whitetail, simply due to having to deal with jealous a-holes. As a huge whitetail enthusiast, I really wish Mitch would've just gotten the thing examined and put in the book.
@@Killada3pt the only thing we have when we die is our name and our legacy. Every man knows that especially once they get older. He will forever be known as a liar because he didn’t allow someone to examine the rack. If it was real, why would you ever allow that to happen. If you didn’t want it to be known about, by all means, keep quiet. There are dozens of record book bucks killed in the last 10-20 years that no one knows about. I know of 3 off hand. But once you go public with it, you gotta see it through.
Could you give examples of his many records
Look at the video, that shows the rack being of normal spread, was not near as wide as the pictures of it.
A friend of mine took several elk racks and white tail racks out of my collection and fabricated a new world record. I couldn't tell where the grafts were. He ended up getting a cape and mounting his creation. It was on display at Schupbachs sporting goods in Jackson, Michigan for years. It was never portrayed to be anything but a fake but man was it impressive!
This guy is an enigma for sure. I was intrigued by the deer and thought it to be fake but after looking into Mitch I find it hard to believe such an accomplished hunter would fake something like this but anything is possible. This dude was a deer hunting machine
I bet people felt that same about the musky fishermen that recently got busted cheating.. they were campions already
He is good at hunting so that means he would never lie? Why wouldn't he take the 10k why did he agree to stop calling himself the record holder?
@@mikehunt6160 Well so hypothetically he lied and he hasn’t profited of it. So what was the point?
He's an accomplished hunter in a place that nobody around him on surrounding properties have seen the deer he's been killing. Maybe he has a sickness that he has to be on top. Just like them walleye fisherman that got caught. Not saying that's his story but definitely possibilities
This is just like the fisherman that got caught for cheating couple months ago. He's an accomplished sponsored fisherman, so why lie and cheat? Reason is people are liars and want to be better than everyone else.
Mitch had a family member that lived down the road from me and from what I understand, that's where the rack was stashed for a while until the heat was off.. He also wrote an article in a pamphlet that endorsed "Hogs" unlimited synthetic scents and the article covered a method he referred to as "trapping whitetails".. One of the pictures he took of the buck, from his tree stand, when it was alive and prior to shooting it, showed a scent dripper in the foreground and this buck in the background. He claimed the scent dripper held the Hogs unlimited scent.. I have met Mitch and he is the real deal, he is a world of knowledge when it comes to big bucks.. I learned so much from this guy and what I have learned has made me a much better big buck hunter..
@Cuzntime I still have that exact pamphlet. Mine is landscape photo copy on 8 1/2x11 paper tri-folded possibly by hand 😂 You are spot on, regardless what anyone says about this man, this deer legit or not, there is no person who is as studied as Mitch in the whitetail habitat and the herd he observed and the animal he decides to pursue. Have you ever seen his method for collecting sheds in cedar swamps? Ya, nobody holds a candle to this man's knowledge...and if I were to have been asked to name anyone in the whitetail world who would likely kill a buck of this size there is not many other names I would have uttered after first saying Mitch.
I know the guy that owned Buck Fever scents by Hogs Unlimited Scents very well and was well informed about this buck! It was real and Mitch is the real deal!
@@larryfoster2227 tell Kevin hello and he still has fans out here if you still talk to him. I grew up in Elk Rapids, but likely he would not remember me as it has been quite a few years since I have contacted him. He was always gracious with his time to me.
@@slimshady4157 I haven't talked to him myself in a few years. He used to send me gallons of buck fever scents. He was originally from Midland where I am and our parents were close friends when we were kids and remained close til my parents passed. Will he know you by Slim Shady?
@@larryfoster2227 he used to send me his product as well. He and I usually ended up on the phone together for quite awhile whenever I would call to order directly from him. He may remember sending product to "Brian" in Elk Rapids who was a big Mitch fan and was always full of questions whenever I would call! Like I said, he was always gracious with his time and never minded my relentless inquiries! I always wondered if his affiliation with Mitch was detrimental to his business in the long run or if it just became to hard to compete with the big box stores and getting product lines on the shelves at a price you can run a business at a profit or if it is scaling a company to meet the demand, ETC. Whatever it was/is, I hope he is doing well. He is good people.
As a teenager at the time about an hour away I knew there were big bucks and I heard through the grape vine that he didn't give af what people thought from the get go. Hansen team was calling fake from announcement, and rumors of threats coming from them.
Heard that also
It looks odd. The antlers come out of its head strange. Biggest thing: why would he not let them examine the deers scull? He was big on putting his name in books and being called a good hunter. But this one deer he shuts down?
It’s easy to come to the conclusion that this is a fake rack. The most glaring evidence for me, like you said, was that this guys life is dedicated to shooting record bucks and he’s had at least 18 verified and entered into the record books. Then he shoots the world record and decides he just doesn’t want credit for it. If that buck were real, Mitch would do anything necessary to get it verified. We don’t need Sherlock Holmes to put together the pieces for us on this one. Anyone with a bit of common sense knows that he constructed a fake rack and phony recovery video.
Horns grow however they want, not how you think they should
@@jonjones2013 deer have antlers not horns. Please direct us where we can find pictures or videos of other bucks with that odd looking growth pattern.
@@buckstop1031 its hardly an odd rack, it has some curvature outwards in its tines and it's bases sit outward a little oddly but there is no way you can call this deer outlandish, it's much more typical than animals like the hole in the horn buck, the Brewster buck or any other nontypical. I would think that if animals like those are possible this deers antler growth wouldn't be all that outlandish and as the other guy says, there is no typical frame, every deer is different and every deer has its own unique growth. While I'm not negating the fact of whether the deer is real or not but I am saying that your reasoning in my opinion is slightly flawed
@@apollothehealinghunter5328 hey man. Just my opinion. I've dug the internet. I am yet to find a deer in the wild that grew antlers like that. You can find pen raised deer that has unusual and freaked looking anlters, but none from the wild. Texas has some that are wide like his buck, but not spaced on the scull like that buck. If am wrong, I'll eat humble pie. I just don't see wild deer growing antlers anything like that.
I am sceptical. If you look at the way the antlers come out of the deers head in the recovery video, they appear to come out at more of an upward angle. Whereas, in the pictures of the deer after recovery the antlers seem to almost come straight out to the sides. I could be wrong but the antlers just don’t look the same from the video to the pictures.
I agree
You guys forget, that 3 trusted CBM measurers handled and scored that buck. Photographs and videos are easy to fake. First hand accounts are not
@@johnallen5996 correct me if im wrong, they studied the antlers as the buck was for the most parts, taxidermied on a mount.......... thus leaves the skull cap stitched up under Clay.... i believe this is where the issue lies. whilst not on topic per se, in Australia when I was Younger, a 'well known' australian hunter by name Doug Read refused to Score one of My Large Sambar Heads because it was "mounted" already..... in fear of Modification- Looking back it would be something he would of read about years ago with this controversy of Said Rompala buck.. the irony with my Head is that it is Naturally very Narrow-- so if one was to modify -it would be most certainly noticeable between Photos directly after it was killed, an the current state of antlers on the now 10 years Mounted Legend..... Always told them I would shoot another, much larger........ that day hasnt exactly came yet as the methods used to score deer can make some, or break some.... fkc the Scores until itsa big one eh ;)
@@HillDogTV Deer and Deer Hunting magazine run an article in 2017 titled, “was the Rompola buck real”. It’s a good read an can easily be found in a simple google search. I still have doubts myself wether it was real or not.
Looking at those deer that he killed before the deer in question they look like they share characteristics in regards to the width and way the antlers look at the base going outward, I think it could be legit
It’s definitely is legit.
And it's been reported that he's killed more similar racked bucks since.
but he entered all those others into the books. He wanted that notoriety until Milo challenged him on it, then Mitch tucked his tail and hid like a true coward (and liar)
@@20byrdRompola was THREATENED with a lawsuit from the Hanson BACKERS that if the deer wasn't going to be or had not been officially entered in the books and judged a world record that if he continued to promote, claim or let others claim it as a legitimate legal world record that they would sue him for the damages it was causing THEIR business..from my understanding. And he didn't want any part of this drama wise or financially...as to why well if this is in fact what took place..people can make their own minds up too such. IDK.
Has it ever dawned on you that perhaps the racks look the same because the same guy made them. LOL! Mitch is a taxidermist. Any taxidermist can make a fake rack of any size and shape you want.
Heard the mount ultimately "burned" in a fire 🔥
I just hope at some point we get some new information or those old photos surface
I believe it. It looks like there were other deer he'd killed with that main beam configuration - genetics-wise. I saw....it's my regret buck....but i saw a buck with that crazy straight out-the-side antler configuration while hunting the old Waggoner Ranch near Vernon, Texas. It presented me two shots as it moved from thicket to thicket, but i didn't take it because the main beams were just straight out and there was nothing else, and through my scope nothing looked broke off either. I got a really good look at him. They were just massive main beams on the biggest, grizzled old deer I've seen before or since. The longhorn buck. From memory, which not always that accurate, I'd say it was wider than the Rompola buck. I regret not shooting that deer now because it was so old and big and distinct, but i was young and wanted that typical 8 or 10. I ended up with an OK 8 on the next to the last day, but that deer haunts me.
Hunting regrets are a part of the sport I think. I've seen 2 beautiful albino deer 🦌, one when I was a kid living on base at Ft. Dix while roaming around the wood's without a gun, and it wasn't Hunting season anyways. Then when Hunting mule deer out west I saw another albino. It wasn't a record breaker or anything, just a nice symmetrical 5 point. It was so beautiful through my scope that shooting it never crossed my mind. I just felt lucky to have seen such a beautiful animal surrounded by gorgeous scenery. I can still picture it if I close my eye's and think back to the mental video 📹 and picture that my mind recorded...from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 🤠
He actually posted those racks that look like the record after
Fred Goodwin killed a big buck with the same characteristics in his rack. It was killed decades before this deer. You can search with Fred Goodwin buck online and easily find it. I see guys that post that it can't be real because antlers just don't grow that way. That's B.S. because there are numerous other bucks on the internet that have the exact same characteristics. They haven't seen them, so they automatically accuse someone of fabricating a rack.
One of my biggest deer came from an island that as far as I know hasn't been hunted. I got out of the boat and had curious does come out of the woods to see what was going on. I setup a ground blind and waited about 3 hours. A 160" 12 point with a drop tine came out chasing a doe. The Ithaca 37 did its job.
Smells fishy hey bud
You can tell from the recovery video the horns were altered. They were moved further down you can even see it made the brow tines further apart
I never knew about this before and that is really interesting!!!!!
Where is Columbo when we need him!! 🤦
I used to work with a Vietnam vet in the state of Pa, part of his index finger is missing, shot off during the war. One day he brought in 3 pics, of 3 different deer he has killed with a bow. The "smallest" of the 3 is the only one he had scored, it's GREEN score was 192"!! A friend of his brought an official "measurer" to his house unexpectedly... that's the only reason it was ever scored. He had no interest in just how big they are... Personally I believe the biggest of the 3 is pushing 200". The deer look almost identical, all killed in the same area.
Yeah right....shot illegally probably. Did he have tags proving he killed them in bow season?
So many world record antlers were discarded decades ago because people hunted for meat, people didn’t have the money to mount them and people knew it was normal to kill huge bucks.
Well done this is quite interesting, thanks for sharing
I've always found this story fascinating. So mysterious and intriguing. I wonder if Mitch Rompola is still alive?
He is
Yes I am. And to tell you the truth, this buck is the smallest buck ive killed in 20 years. Ive got 7 others that are bigger than this one
@@dpwhitaker7088 If you think that was Mitch, I got some ocean front property in Wyoming for sale and 35 million bucks in my 5th Swiss bank account you may be interested in as well.
Yes he is
@@smithn.wesson495 Thanks Mr. Wesson for your reply. I too have ocean front property but mine is in Montana and is not for sale. You might consider developing your beaches with your 35 million. I have really enjoyed the revolvers you have produced. Well done!
Based on that picture of the deer after it was recovered, that deer looks ancient. I've seen a buck firsthand that was known to be 9 years old and that thing didn't have a nose as long or ears as big as the Rompala buck. And given his track record of finding and killing big deer, I think it's entirely possible it's real
Absolutely
You think their noses and ears keep growing with age? No emojis on this keyboard, but I'm definitely face palming with my eyes rolled. Wild whitetails rarely reach 9 years old. And if they do, there is a strong chance the antlers will be in decline. Watch the Exodus Gear podcast on the Rompola buck. It sheds more light on the facts. I remember vividly when this circus started. According to multiple taxidermists, Mitch has affixed more than one rack to a doe's head prior to this supposed new record.
@@Killada3pt Like I said I seen this firsthand. My dad and uncle hunted this buck since it was 4. And it never went downhill. By the time that my uncle got it, it had 10 inch bases and a head and neck so big they had to mount it on foam larger than what was normally supplied for a whitetail
@@jrod4717 10" bases, eh? You talking about the H1 or the bur? And you missed the point on the snout/ear length part. Deer snouts and ears don't continually grow until they die. Your original comment implied that they did. Snout/ear length literally has nothing to do with age other than immature deer will have shorter ones on average. As far as Mitch's knack for finding and killing big deer...I think a lot of his big deer are questionable as to how "real" they are. Good con men are good at conning their friends as well as strangers. Do I "know" Mitch is a complete phony? No. Is everything he's ever claimed when it comes to hunting highly questionable? Hell yes it is. He easily could've had that rack x-rayed and silenced the critics. He did not. He was even offered $10,000 just to have it x-rayed. Not to get it certified, just to have the damn thing x-rayed. And the official scorers that measured the rack did their measuring after the rack was put on a form and the cape sewn on to keep them from seeing the complete skull plate. I don't care what you believe, but there are facts that can't be denied. And very few "facts" prove the kill to be legit.
@@Killada3pt bro all I said was I think it's possible. Why are you so invested in this? You admit you don't know for sure either way. So why bother getting worked up about it
I'm with Mitch, northern Michigan is home to giants that live deep in the nasty stuff and are very good at avoiding people. Deer up here are totally different than down state city deer. Deer down there are use to seeing and smelling people, not the same up here. They sense anything is outta the ordinary they're gonna. I've seen some of the biggest deer of my life living up here. Ask anyone who lives up here and spends time in the woods. They will all tell ya the same thing, Go shine some fields at night this time of year. It won't take long to change your mind about Michigan not having huge bucks. The guys saying we don't, are the same guys that Hunt 3 or 4 days à year, 75 yards from the truck and leave 45 minutes before dark.
@2EZ OUTDOORS EXACTLY!
You missed the part about the corn pile lol. Agreed. Big deer are smart
I hunt Michigan, I've seen, photoed, and hunted, giants. They stay with me year round in my head, I battle every day trying to come up with a plan to hunt a buck I've been hunting for 4 years.
here in PA its the exact same. We refer to them as swamp bucks. They sit in the thick stuff and live in the swamps, where its hard for humans to reach. We've only had one swamp buck come out of the swamp and appear on cams, an 11 point.
Lol... u are clueless.
My old man found the sheds of a 12-point whitetail here in Virginia on a piece of property that he had been leasing for about 15 years at the time the following year he shot the buck that produced The Sheds they were identical down to a quarter inch
Do you still have them?
@@Mr_Twiglesworth unfortunately no they were lost in a fire in storage shed along with many other Racks .. might have a few photos I'd have to look and see . i will sher if I find.. ..
I remember this story. Being a northern Michigan hunter I have always wondered about the outcome. I've lost interest as of now.
Do more people in Michigan believe Mitch or no?
@@primer3458 it was so long ago. If I had to guess I would say that most do not believe him.
Some of the other monster bucks he shot down had racks that were the same shape, just wide and sitting right on top of their heads. Not as monstrous as the buck in question but still very nice. They look like the same genes.
Mitch probably didn't want to publish the record because he didn't want to declare what county and area he hunts in. A lot of these are generational, and he probably didn't want a bunch of people crawling over the area
He was making them in the Garage...he fabricated the other racks with similar geometry knowing it would lend Credibility to his monster buck that was to come.
@@dusty1498 and you have proof?
@@nicholasmapes most hunters are that way. The main swamp he was hunting, no one else ever had access too. It was the southern part of airport property that was landlocked most the way around it and his property has a creek running through it that goes into the airport swamp. He was the only human in it let alone hunting it. Just recently a different hunter shot a huge P&P buck out of the same area that looks exactly like the Rompola Buck! Same shaped rack, looks identical. I suppose Mitch made that rack too. It was scored too, it’s real. Shot down in 2021
@@americanagothic7851 spot on. You are familiar with the area and where he lives. That is for sure not his only spot tho. Not sure where he shot the record at but he does spend time else where in the relative vicinity. He has been being followed for years...when the hunter becomes the hunted, you adapt, he has talked since the 1980's-early 90's about what most would think are outrageous tactics and lengths he would go to in order to assure he was not found out, he is as elusive as the deer he hunts...makes sense really tho~ Mitch for sure is the GOAT 🐐🐐🐐
DANG! I was just thinking about this Buck?!? I was wondering if he’s in the books yet? He’s not entering this Buck until the Hanson Buck gets beat. He was done wrong b/c he hunted hard ALL YEAR. He thought of ONLY Deer
Need unsolved mysteries to come back and cover this.
Or those ppl who hunt Bigfoot might have some insight as well
They don’t cover fiction. Rompola is a greasy con artist that got caught in his lie
That would be like winning a gold medal and them asking for one last drug test and saying nah not worth it
Im not sure I believe the width, length of that main beam. Certain gene pools can get passed along. While true, I think he may have bagged one similar and put this current rack together.
My dad was an accomplished taxidermist so I've seen hundreds of shoulder mounts. The skull on the Rompola mount is so jacked. And the idea that Rompola didn't get it certified tells us all we need to know.
Boy.. some of you who belive this is legit need to read up a little more.
I've always thought this was a legit deer and an oddball guy. My only question is if it was shot in Traverse or elsewhere. Perhaps raised in secret and fed well?
His family apparently had a deer farm in Missouri. It’s possible he was horse trailering farm raised white tail to the area to kill as wild. It’s also probable he was piecing racks together and adding them to skull plates on mounts to fool people.
@@samgardner4667It's not apparent because no one has ever able to tell where in Missouri the fictitious deer farm is or was. That's just one of the many lies that the haters were spreading.
Had a guy call into the office one day claiming that he saw the exact rack from that buck in a magazine article the year before Mitch shot it. Allegedly, it was a set of sheds found on a deer farm in another state. Never could find the article he was talking about.
Sounds like you gotta track that magazine article down lol
What office? That context might make your comment make more sense.
@@Killada3pt Exodus Outdoor Gear office
Yeah, yeah, yeah that's all BS. I personally saw bigfoot carrying that rack while he rode his unicorn down Michigan Ave.
@@jk-kr8jt you too! When I talked to the bigfoot, he said I was the only person to ever see him! Afterwards we shared some beef jerky, hopped back up on his unicorn 🦄 and went back into the woods...lol...from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 🤠
How can I recommend some for you to do a video on them
Years ago there was a picture on wall at my hunt club with a guy holding like 150” 8 point , when I inquired about it they started laughing and said it was a huge doe and the guy was holding the antlers to make it seem real in the picture. When I saw mitchs picture I caught a flash back of what that fake picture I’d seen of a doe with a set of horns on the wall
I shot a 141 inch 8 point Check out the video
@@hunkersquad iv never shot a 8 point I will this year but up until now iv been a cull killer I don’t like taking lives that have purpose so this year with the 3 ik I have good breeding genes still be around even if I shot one but iv already got a 7 point who had a cow horn with spikes on it which was a first for me
Deer dont have horns
@@cwstewartjr1973 cappa
When someone puts up $10k just to have the rack examined and X-rayed and you still turn it down? 🤔 I would be asking questions too…
Unless money means nothing to that person.
@@jtd662 then he should have kept this kill out of the spotlight
@@timmebruer5205 imo the hunting industry itself brings the spotlight a lot of times. But then again take a look at the Johnny King buck the owner has fought and whined about the score. All because of fame and money! Same reason Hanson went after Rompola. I feel bad for the next person that shoots the next world record.
@@jtd662 blah blah blah. It's as fake as Pam Andersons boobs
@@jtd662 I just feel like even if you turned the money down, if it was a legitimate deer, I would have no problem someone confirming the skull plate. That’s just me.
How many other Boone and Crockett records had their skull plates x-rayed?
Better question is how many of them were already sewed up in a mount when they got measured
Well, he brought all that attention to himself and then he didn’t finish with the proof necessary to substantiate his claim. Why? You have to call this deer a Fake based on his actions.
I believe him! I hunt hard and don't need any of that BC recognition! There were too many who saw it and handled it to not see it was fake. Who mounted it? I don't know if Mitch does his own taxidermy. If not, that guy would be a good source!!
Your so full of crap if you killed a potential WR you’d tell the world immediately
I'm not sure what to think . But that picture of him posing behind his buck , those main beans look straight as an arrow , then when you see it mounted it appears to not be as straight as in the first picture. But an ex-ray would put this baby to rest forever , I have to believe its phony for the simple reason he refuses to permit that from taking place .
The Rompola Buck was examined for hours by Boone and Crockett professional examiners. It's real beyond any reasonable doubt.
Horse shit~
No it's not.
Not until its proven its not. The fact that he has other records discounts him saying he doesn't hunt for record class deer for notoriety.
I’m going deer hunting first time this year
Its not difficult at all to have your deer officially scored if you so truly desired....its not rocket science.... the fact theres so much controversy in the first place tells me its more fake than real. Some of yall are saying Mitch didn't want the fame, well based on this video he did. Why else would you have a team calling it a world record? Seems like he tried to boost his outdoor career but it went sideways. Having a deer officially scored on a shoulder mount is ridiculous.... yea I get it, there are real giants that are killed by farmers who don't care bout records but the difference is, they aren't claiming records and putting it on magazines and tv.... Fake until proven otherwise...
20k to prove it was real and he wouldn’t do it? Where there is smoke there is usually fire.
If you look at all his trophy photos, they look odd. Sure seems like a bunch of does with antlers placed on their heads.
I have seen some of those photos. One showed of a buck with antlers so white they looked like they were bleached.
The story that just won't die. In the end, it just would have been so easy for Mitch to have this verified. But he didn't. Where there's smoke there's fire.
Some people don't deal with smoke or fire Stop hating
@@jonjones2013 Zero hate. Don't look down on Mitch or any other human being for that matter. Not into the big buck jealousy game. I am sure he's one heck of a hunter. Still doesn't change my belief in what happened here.
@@jonjones2013 No one was hating
@JAA Outdoors Do the official scorers and dnr and biologists who handled the deer not count as verifying the authenticity? I am curious if the Hanson buck was ever asked to be x-rayed or "verified" as this deer has been. And how many other record book bucks has Milo harvested? Oh, just one on a fluke drive they saw the deer enter a wooded patch and could surround the deer before doing the drive.
@@slimshady4157 I’m sure milo would have no problems x raying his buck. Especially if he was offered $20,000 to do it like con artist Rompola was.
There is an option not explored in this video I think is possible. His family owns a deer farm in Missouri, that kind of thing was in its infancy in the late 1990s but there is a similar looking buck called “wide load” in a deer farm in PA. We know steroids had already been used by humans in I believe the 1970s (look at Arnold) it’s not beyond the realm of possibility of a farm raised deer pumped full of growth hormones that was killed In Missouri then brought up to Michigan, had photos staged etc then “shot” during bow season.
I heard the same story from my uncle who lives in cedar, MI and he would see Mitch from time to time in the tavern. Also this buck was shot very close to the little airport up there. No doubt Mitch is a Michigan legend for his bucks but on this deer I have to call BS
That is a lot easier said than done...kill a deer in a state that is 12-15 hours away...drag a deer of that size, dead weight, not dressed out, into a cedar swamp, go home and get a video camera, stick an arrow into this deer that has been dead how long? And stage the recovery...lol Why not just go shoot a world record deer. Sounds easier and far more plausible than the scenario you propose. THEN, add on top of that, like you said, that kind of thing was in its infancy in the late 1990's, the value of that deer alive far out weighs any amount of money Mitch could have afforded, PLUS, deer enclosures are tightly monitored, visited and TB tested by dnr/dow often. That deer could not have been kept a secret in a pen.
Kinda weird how the buck was laying. Usually they run with the blood trail not against it as it shows him walking up to the deer head first
@@slimshady4157I agree 100%.
he killed the Michigan state archery record in 1985, not sure how long he held it
Not sure if it was legit from them either given this story
@@reddawng43x91 🙄
I believe in circles… so because of that I feel the attraction of water is the idea of the feeling of innocence from the gravity of Uranus minus the rings but bring said…. what was the final score?
This is awesome. Buck hunting mysteries and history
Look just my opinion and putting a disclaimer out there. I have been on the best dirt in this country and in Canada Only place I ever saw that grew freaks of nature was one place in Illinois I won't mention here. Anyway I'm very very skeptical of big non typical especially. Illinois Iowa Ohio all stand out to me. I have really thought for a few year...hum self it seems like someone is seeding these hills? Maybe they drop off the worthless ones that will never be that 450 inch buck. If you track back sometimes you find there are people around with relationships with deer Farmers in other states. Very very hard to grow 200 inch anything in the wild with so many external factors. I have even been told stories about the Amish buck🤔. I know if a deer who put on 80 inches in one year as a 4 year old. I know of more 200s than I should and people tell me stuff. I have shot a 200 typical that I could not find and it came from an area that was like a zoo. Point here is ..rompola deer does not look real to me. Shot if I had access to throw away bucks I'd let them lose but only to breed up the genetics. Most of the ones I know about are or were fed a diet of heavy protein. I just remembered something❓ back some years I looked at a farm in Ohio had a small river on east boundary. Walked it and it was ok had some old oil tanks and well pumps in it. I did not buy the place and kept looking. But was told about what was going on next door hunting wise I think the giant non typical was killed on that farm next door? So it was there when I looked at that place...no indication of that kinda potential deer there. Within the last 5 to 6 years there was an Ohio typical that would go 230 net...of course crickets but true. I have been to milos house in Saskatchewan and saw the real world record close up . My friends know him and we talked for several hours about more than just that deer. He had another booner on the wall that looked small compared to the record buck. I think he shot it with a Winchester model 88? I have the same rifle I inherited from my father. Milo was very open and if Mitch was the same way this bs would not still be talked about.
That's crazy I live in traverse city Michigan and never heard this story
Love it up there. Got a bunch of family up there
What year were you born Damian? 😂🤣 J/k...Old man joke. My daughter was born the year Mitch shot this deer. Living in Elk Rapids I have known about Mitch and his success since the '80s so of course I took great interest in this story. There is A LOT to be known that most never will that leads me to know the story to be true.
I don't necessarily disagree that in most cases a rack isn't identical to the prior year, but I've been after a giant for 3 years and he's had nearly identical racks in all the pictures I've got.
I’ve seen more “record bucks” killed that never get submitted. The hunters don’t want to lose their hunting areas. Don’t blame them.
I remember when that deer was shot. My family has a house not far from where it was harvested. It was the talk of the area. My grandfather knew Mitch and spoke vee highly of him. For several seasons multiple very large deer were harvested in the area but none ever that size again. I refuse to believe that a hunter of Mitch's caliber would fake something like that.
Why wouldn't he take the 10k then.
@@mikehunt6160 because it is fake
@@poopmcgee3826 I agree Mr poop
Well he did!!!
How much to lease your land 😂
Faking something like that and submitting it is a huge risk, especially if there's prize money involved. Anyway, I've seen resin racks that look, feel and sound real.
I believe to this day Mitch tagged the World record. To this day I believe Milo or his group paid him not to pursue the record. Mitch may be the best trophy buck hunt to ever live
Or lived in the best trophy buck area to hunt
That's exactly what I believe happened. He was paid big money to keep it out of the books but the buck is still allowed to be pushed as "the unofficial world record" because pictures and eyewitnesses existed.
Sounds like Milo was mad that he couldn't make money off of a #2.
He was threatened to put out proof or be sued. He couldn’t prove it so he shut his yap. Rompola is a con. No doubt about it
Nah, Mitch entered all his other bucks into the books, he wanted all that fame as an "elite bowhutner". When Milo challenged him on he "world record" Mitch tucked his tail and went into hiding, like a true coward (and liar)
I have to say though, the milo hanson buck looks way better aesthetically.
I read a former b&c scorer was told that from higher up about another buck . Think it might have been the King buck. He was asked would you want a buck like that or the Hanson buck to represent b&c
The thing is everyone is different, and I can tell you right now that hunters can be some of the most annoying and jealous people I’ve met. Some people want to boast and show everyone they can how big of a dear they got and others just tend to mark one and then move on to the next. Especially with a person like him who literally revolved his whole life around deer and was more or less a recluse maybe he just didn’t feel like dealing with so much drama
Answer these questions… 1) How many state records are walking alive each year? 2) How many 200” deer are walking alive in Traverse County each year? 3) Are the oldest bucks always the ones with the biggest antlers? If yes, all ya gotta do is be a master hunter and you too can be like Mitch, right? 4) How much ground can one man hunt in a year? Answer those questions and if you can’t piece it together I’m afraid no one can help you understand.
I'm a taxidermist and I believe this buck was a manufacturer fake. I believe this was a case that he had done this before and got away with it. I believe when the he realized was going to be found out he and the buck disappeared. If I shot a legitimate world record buck I would shouting it from the mountain tops! All that talk of him being humble and that is why he dropped from public view is bs!
it's a old deer but refusing to have it verified is definitely a red flag, I'd say it is fake.
Well who mounted it? Where is this guy in the story?
A true freak of nature, congrats. !!!!!
If you look at a couple of his other bucks the frames all have the same genetics & look very similar. It's probably the area he is hunting hold these genetics
I am from Michigan and I can tell you that there are areas in the state that are largely inaccessible and without a doubt could include the next record. That being said, if you could successfully take a deer in there then you would have to get it out. There are shallow water cedar swamps that those monsters live in and never come out. Michigan has some really excellent gene pools and I have seen some really big bodied deer in the upper that really challenge the way you think about whitetails. I have a lot of respect for this guy because it takes a special commitment to lock on to a really big buck like this. The guy just wants to do his own thing and not be bothered with notoriety. After all, it is about the hunt unless you are one of those puss gutted slobs that pay for your deer.
Where is the rack today?
New recovery video just released. Very compelling. The buck is real
Link?
I say congrats on such a beautiful buck.
This deer just keeps popping up. I live 35 mins south of Where he shot that deer. The deer up their are absolutely dinks but now that we have APRs it much much better. Either way we will never know, when all these dnr and scorers held it and say it’s real? Why wouldn’t he have just had it scanned etc. very strange.
I live in and Hunt in Traverse City, Im glad you are hunting here shooting dinks, leaving the monsters for others.
Cause it’s fake. That’s why
Any shed antlers from this deer ?
They bullied him into not getting it officially entered ! This doesn't talk about the defamation of the accusations he placed a deer ranch deer onto public land then killed it! I remember back then that Hansen paid him on the side to not enter it. Hence it isn't recorded that he was paid to not enter the deer as the new worl6record!
He was asked to x ray it. In fact he was even offered large money to x ray it. He wasn’t paid not to enter it. He was threatened to be sued if he couldn’t prove it. He couldn’t prove it so he went into hiding like the fraudulent scum he is.
I personally know the guy that shot the Hansen buck and it was shot right outside my hometown
I am a taxidermist and I'm going to tell a fact. A deers ear can not hang that way unless it has been separated from the neck.
Ok, im just wondering… all this talk about the rack etc, yet no one asks, WHO took that famous cover photo of mitch and that buck? Surely if it was a person that snapped that photograph, chances are that he or she helped mitch load that deer into some kinda vehicle and held that deer too and probably examined it and for sure took a photo with it…. Not saying the deer is real, or fake… just lookin for an alternative source besides Bill Bailey that MIGHT have some further insight to cement the validity of this trophy.. Food for thought If this has been answered, i haven’t read or heard about it.. Ive been hooked on this deer since it made 1999 issue of Texas trophy hunters in a small Little blurt on the magazines second page or so Fact of the matter is though, only Mitch knows the entire truth, we will probably never know
200 point typical WI bow buck was just beaten last year. Shot 100 yards away from my bosses treestand when he was at work! Saw trail cam pics of it walking around. 😆
I saw one like that today 11/23/22 that has a 26" spread . Oh yea I could care less about what Gordon thinks.
Trust, but verify…. This guys is a liar until he allows examination of the skull. Just imagine if evidence like this was presented in court, “I did this and I have it at home, but you can’t see it”
Guilty until proven innocent
I'm 50. I remember this story very clearly when it happened. Apparently lots shady ethics surrounded this guy. Where there is smoke, there's 🔥
He taped a camera to his shoe and went to the fair and got caught filming up womens and little girls skirts...sounds like an upstanding guy
He gave that deer more width than anything in the original video and pic
I’m just gonna put this out there if you look at the other deer that were killed or any buck you can clearly tell that 99% of bucks antlers and right above there ears and they go up at a small slant and that 99%of deer and the one percent is the Rampola buck, now with that I also can tell that some of the deer that rampola killed had similar racks but the rampala rack also had a huge gap between the bases of the antlers. That’s my take on this case so I bieleve it’s a fake rack because he also didn’t want to have it exrayed
I know Mitch and the rack is fake. We almost fooled Eve it he cracked under the pressure.
I completely agree with so many of these post. People today are consumed by media and brain washed. People hunt and fish to enjoy time in the outdoors and it’s not all about a score it’s what makes the person happy. I have at least 3 deer pushing 160s ever have never had an interest in scoring them because who cares, I’m thrilled about them and that’s all that matters. The man killed a giant along with several others get over it and say congrats.
I agree I have two big bucks that I have no interest in the score when I killed them. The only reason they were scored is because the taxidermist wanted too.
He killed gaints in a place there are no giants. No neighboring properties are seeing or killing the caliber deer he's been killing. Just because he's a great hunter doesn't mean just because he moved to traverse city giant deer will appear on his property. In a place there is no giant deer getting killed. He submitted plenty of bucks to the record books to show off his bucks. So don't tell me this man all of a sudden didn't want the attention after is so called record buck. His family owned a deer farm in Missouri. He was charged with mail fraud. Was arrested for video taping up girl skirts. The guy is untrustworthy. He backed out after he found out the buck had to go threw examination to be a legit world record. Out of the history of bucks being recorded in Michigan there was only 6 that had a 25+ inch spread. All of a sudden mitch shows up in a place there's no big deer and records 6 bucks with a 25+ spread before even so called killing his record deer. The guy is on b.s . Has the same sickness to be better than everyone just like the 2 walleye fisherman that got caught cheating. When the story is to good to be true it is most likely not true.
I disagree. Harvard’s wildlife preserve in Huntington Texas has a six point buck that was 26 -/2” in between his tips two years in a row with a tape measure through the fence I use to feed him apples . Two of us measuring his horns but I don’t know how to measure correctly so the bow was wide and I didn’t get that measurement. Big six point two years in a row almost identical to the year before
My grandpa was a Green Beret in Vietnam and has always been an avid hunter. In Michigan too. I 100% could see him acting like this. He hunts because he loves it, not because for records. I know for a fact that the last thing he would want is to be in the news with controversy attached to his name. For Some people, especially veterans, this kind of behavior is not abnormal.
I Have a Uncle That literally lives in the woods He stays in old abandoned houses he lives with no electricity eats what he kills he has several record bucks.. Also has a record snapping turtle that weighed close to 300lbs he ate it to. He doesn't care to have the recognition just wants to be left alone. I go by to see him every month or so. Haters just can't accept that somebody is a better hunter than them. Long live Mitch.
It's true my boss shot a 12 point a years back north of the county this one was shot at and the neighbors had dnr go to his house cuz "he'd been hunting it for years" and "that guy poached it" guy was just jealous and dnr said it happens every year everything checked out and he was on his way. Just egos in this industry really or lazy people who don't do the work
@@michiganmadeoutdoors9699 I still would not be called a liar and then disappear!!! I would shove it up there u know what!!!
I’m saying real but I was suspect on the way the rack is a first but the video he made recovering it made it look pretty legit for me.
I have saw bucks from year to year that look almost exactly the same. One year prior it might have been 25 in wide . Not 30. That would be hard to see in a pic.
My father was a studio taxidermist for 55 years. He told me that it was undoubtedly a farm deer, and if it wasn’t a farm deer then he worked his ass off to fake it. Personally I don’t care if he shot it on a farm. But I do think the guys a liar. All the too-wide racks he shot lol! Im a Michigan native. Sorry I live in the area of Michigan (southwest corner) that has the biggest deer according to the department of natural resources, and I have never seen out of all the guys that brought my dad deer to mount, one that looked anything like that. That deer would look fake if he had said it came from iowa. I don’t care where he says he shot it unless he shot it on the deer farm that damn thing is fake this is the only two options.
Nathan killen out of Virginia was a world class taxidermist and big buck hunter, and said most of the pics of with his deer were actually does.
What's deems it a farm deer?? The deer farmer woulda snitched on him by now anyways
@@jonjones2013 exactly. @Justin Adams do you understand the value of that deer alive on a deer farm? It is far more than Mitch could ever afford to pay and worth far more than any farmer would be willing to let Mitch just "have" and not promote the farmers ranch and herd.
Deer dont get that freakishly big in northern Michigan bro. If u were from here (michigan) you would know they just dont get that big up there that consistently like he claimed lol. Plus he owned a deer farm in Missouri 😂
@@justinadams159 I grew up in Elk Rapids, 17 miles north of Mitch's house. I have seen his collection of sheds. I know the general areas he hunted. You just don't know what you don't know. Never have you met a person with more documented time in the habitat learning and understanding the herd. Yes, there are deer that freakishly big in N.W. MI. You have not put the time in to speak intelligently on the subject if you think that all of his deer are fake or any were actually does with antlers somehow attached to their head. That is funny
I live way up in the u.p and I'm quoting an old finlander when he said that there used to be good hunters, now there are just people with good spots. That being said mitch seems like tge real deal. It takes twice the energy to cover up a lie than to just get out there and do it
Here’s a guy who is attempting to become the world’s authority on hunting whitetail bucks. He writes hunting articles, takes pictures of all the big bucks he shoots, endorses products and even has his name in the record books. He shoots what is potentially the largest whitetail buck of all time, proceeds to show it off for a short time and then virtually disappears? Really? My thoughts are that it was a farmed animal and he was afraid the truth would be revealed. This would have ruined him and labeled him as a liar and a cheat for the rest of his life. He made a mistake and had to correct it.