www.deeranddeerhunting.com
Thing is, there isn't any new info. Opinions, innuendo, bad photos, no photos. I get it. I don't fault anyone their opinion. That's all I got. But... that's all any of us have.
And the cherry in top of the ridiculous sundae is no, you cant put a tape on them.
Understood. That's why I play. Never achieve perfection. Sure fun pretending though. I'm glad you don't and won't. Courses are crowded as is. But you , as in I, are still adding our two cents. With all due respect.
Exactly. People can say anything. A lot of people can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk? MR did a lot of talking but when it came time to walk the walk he took his ball and went home.
I read the same article. It was why I was in his corner for a lot of years. It was the numbers pointing the other direction that flipped me the other way. I'm curious as to what your opinion is on the numbers posted up recently. Did you listen to Deer Hunter Podcasts? How do you explain the irregularities in the photos on all of his deer? You have to admit that if you look closely there is some weird stuff that doesn't look right.It may be that Mitch never intended to enter his buck in the books. (He had had a falling out with the record keeping organizations. A spokesman for Pope & Young said Rompola had been "removed for cause" after the group's board of directors decided, "he was not the type of individual we wanted representing our organization.").
There's nothing that says a person can't have a rack measured for the fun of it. (Where it became problematic is Hanson's camp didn't like it being called the World Record and demanded an official measuring).
But, the skull plate actually had been inspected, if we take folks at their word:
According to the first D&DH article, three official antler scorers put their hands on the Rompola Buck’s rack and all three declared it was a 100 percent legit rack. One of those scorers was Gary Berger, a then 59-year-old Michigan resident who was an official scorer for the Boone and Crockett Club, the Pope and Young Club, Commemorative Bucks of Michigan and the Longhunters Society. He had more than a decade’s worth of scoring experience at that time. Berger and two other Michigan scorers — Lee Holbrook and Al Brown — spent nearly two-and-a-half hours scoring the Rompola Buck. Afterward, all three men declared the deer not only legit, but also announced its score was higher than that of the current world record (Milo Hanson Buck).
“The rack was very impressive the first time I saw it, and nothing has changed the second time I saw it,” Berger told D&DH in 1999. “I saw the skull plate and how the antlers attach to the skull plate. I’ve seen a lot of skull plates and a lot of horns attached to skull plates. Everything looked real to me, and I know some Michigan DNR people have seen it. A lot of people saw it after he killed it. Many dyed-in-the-wool hunters saw it. I felt it. I inspected it. It’s real.”
Holbrook had been a P&Y and CBM scorer for more than a decade as well, and he echoed Berger’s comments.
“When we scored the buck, it was partially mounted, with the skin cut up through the skull plate so we could inspect it,” he told D&DH at that time. “The rack is real. I touched the skull plate and examined it, and there was no evidence of anything wrong. I’ve seen repaired racks and sheds attached to heads by taxidermists. I’ve seen that many times, and know several taxidermists who are very good at it. On this buck, there’s no evidence of that whatsoever.”
Brown also vouched for the deer’s authenticity.
“I know there is no foul play in this,” he told D&DH, adding that he saw the deer the day after it was killed. “I would like all these critics to see it and analyze it for themselves. There must have been at least 15 to 20 people who had seen that buck at Mitch’s [house] before I even got there. Everything about this deer is on the up and up.”
Was the Mitch Rompola Buck Real, Fake or Something Else?
Nearly 20 years have passed since a Michigan's Mitch Rompola set the whitetail world on its ear by producing a 12-point buck that netted over 216 inches.
I think it's a perfect example of people that have tried to pull the wool over people eyes. If you don't like that one then just look at the hunting industry. The list is long of discredited hunters who tried to fool people that they were "great hunters". Noel Feather, Spook, Don Lewis, etc.Mitch Rompola to Bernie Madoff.
www.northamericanwhitetail.com
Excellent read. This is some new insider info that I've never heard before. The article Sheds new light on the story from a guy that I would trust his opinion. GW is one of the most respected authorities on big WT's in the country.I think Steven Rinella of MeatEater is working on his own documentary about it. Not sure what's the progress but he mentioned on the Joe Rogan Podcast that his father knew MR. So hopefully we get new info or account at some point.
One point that really make me lean toward fake/suspicious are the accounts of MR's personality. The people who defend him are saying things like 'he's humble, didn't do it for the attention, etc', but his actions does not reflect this. He enter bucks into the record books before and gave interviews before all the ruckus. he went to trade shows and multiple times claim it was biggest buck AND has sponsors setup to profit from the buck. Only when it got too much attention and fact checking did he became a recluse.
So quick questions, when did the practice of X-raying antler became a thing? So did any of his other bucks ever got x-ray?
I just think he never thought that it would get that much scrutiny, and when it was clear that the jig was up, THEN he is a recluse.
This article is really convincing too.
Fact or Fake: Record Whitetails - North American Whitetail
Record whitetail trophy racks can be awe inspiring, when they're the real deal. Here are more tales of separating rumor from reality & methods to prove them.
www.outdoorlife.com
So quick questions, when did the practice of X-raying antler became a thing? So did any of his other bucks ever got x-ray?
Fact or Fake: Record Whitetails - North American Whitetail
Record whitetail trophy racks can be awe inspiring, when they're the real deal. Here are more tales of separating rumor from reality & methods to prove them.
I’m certainly no expert, but when it comes to a new world record and all that comes with that, I can certainly see the value in an X-ray in cases where there is any doubt that the rack is legit. If I had the new world record, I‘d probably have it xray’d without being asked just to cut off any doubters. Although you didn’t specify what solvent you were referring to, as a potential new world record holder, I might be reluctant to put solvent on the rack and potentially damage or discolor it. XRay on the other hand is totally non invasive and can’t damage the rack.
Hot off the press. The latest chapter in the saga, with the author defending the buck as real.
SPOILER ALERT: You may want to read the article before you read…or don’t read my comments
IMO some of his arguments are kind of weak. Such as citing a 174 6/8 buck killed in the county as proof that a 216+” buck could exist in that county. IMO, there’s a geometric difference between a 174 and a 216. Pointing to the fact that Mitch had not entered several other record bucks as a reason for the non-entry. I would offer that none of those bucks were the absolute new world record either. Again, a significant difference. Citing the agreement with the Hanson legal team as proof that they believed that the buck was real, when my understanding is that it was specifically to stop the buck from being alluded to as the new world record without proof that it actually was. Whichever side of issue you come down on it is an interesting saga to follow.
Mitch Rompola Buck: The True Backstory on Why the Deer Was Never Entered as a World Record
The Mitch Rompola buck is one of the most controversial whitetails of all time. Here's why it was never entered in the record books.
Who’s to say the retrieval was that day? Maybe he planned this weeks in advance. Gave the deer a shot of non-rigor morris potion?
