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Rompola Buck Update

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1simplemann said:
I can't remember all the details but I think there was an article in D & DH magazine. MR publically claimed to have arrowed the Missouri state record when he was 13. A big Non Typical over 200". He claimed he killed it w/ a Little shaver BH. I forget what year. He told this same story to Gene Wensel at a seminar they both were at before MR claimed to have killed the WR. However, according to GW, MR's story was fishy to him then. GW remembered the Little Shaver BH and that it wasn't made until the year AFTER MR claimed to have killed the Missouri State Record.. The reason that part of the story sticks in my head is because I've actually seen the Little Shaver. My mentor still had some in his archery box and showed me some back in early 90's. That BH was the 1st replaceable blade BH on the market. It used Schick replaceable blades. He said they were junk and that he lost some deer with them. He went back to his Zwicki's. Anyway, I met GW in 1999 at the local bow shop where I worked part time. MR's buck was a really hot topic then. GW said he was just like the rest of us in that he wasn't sure or not if the buck was real or not. He did say that he had the opportunity to meet MR once and relayed to us the conversation He had w/ MR then. Back then I just took it as maybe either GW of MR got his years wrong. In my mind the deer was real and I wanted so bad to believe it was legit. The funny thing is that is no mention of MR in the Missouri State record book for any year, typical or NT. Also from what I remember of the story, The mount was supposedly destroyed. Sound familiar? Also there are no pics of it either. What a coincidence!
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Multiple destroyed state record mounts feels a lot like "my super hot girlfriend goes to a boarding school so you guys will never get to meet her"
 
BackSpasm said:
Multiple destroyed state record mounts feels a lot like "my super hot girlfriend goes to a boarding school so you guys will never get to meet her"
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Yup.

John Eberhart's record book bucks mostly live in a sporting goods store. If you wanna go see one, you can do so.

Mitch Rompola's buck lives in the "Beyond" section of Bed, Bath, and Beyond headquarters. Right next to bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, and all the money made by people who sell Mary Kay cosmetics.
 
Swampwalker said:
Oh yeah, that rack looks fake too. Need an xray? Oh the haters will love that pic. :smirk:
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One could argue that he did in fact luck into a state record for his first buck, and then all the press, the photo shoot, the newspaper articles coupled with the feeling that he would never be able to top the first buck he ever killed, did in fact "ruin" hunting for him while simultaneously achieving him a level of recognition and importance than he had ever had in his life. You could see how someone would go down a path.....
 
BackSpasm said:
One could argue that he did in fact luck into a state record for his first buck, and then all the press, the photo shoot, the newspaper articles coupled with the feeling that he would never be able to top the first buck he ever killed, did in fact "ruin" hunting for him while simultaneously achieving him a level of recognition and importance than he had ever had in his life. You could see how someone would go down a path.....
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Stop with making sense.
 
Now that you mention it that would be pretty tough for a kid once the excitement wore off. It would be great at first but then you'd have the pressure of not shooting another one smaller along with the high unlikelihood of actually beating you past personal best.

I've heard of several people who shot a big one because daddy or grandaddy set it up for them as a little kid and then they quit hunting after that. My wife's cousin was like that. His grandad set him up to shoot a 150 at about age 10 and he lost all interest after that one deer. He said he'd never be able to top it. Grandad thought it would light a fire under him and it put out the fire instead.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
Now that you mention it that would be pretty tough for a kid once the excitement wore off. It would be great at first but then you'd have the pressure of not shooting another one smaller along with the high unlikelihood of actually beating you past personal best.

I've heard of several people who shot a big one because daddy or grandaddy set it up for them as a little kid and then they quit hunting after that. My wife's cousin was like that. His grandad set him up to shoot a 150 at about age 10 and he lost all interest after that one deer. He said he'd never be able to top it. Grandad thought it would light a fire under him and it put out the fire instead.
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Kinda like what happened to me. The first deer I ever shot was back in 1977 and it was a 10 pointer that scored 146 3/8". It was one of the biggest anyone in my small town had ever seen as far as antlers go and I've never been able to top it. It ranked 29th in the state at the time when the Maine Antler & Skull Trophy club first started keeping records back in the early 80's. Last time I checked it ranked like #248 and that was quite a few years ago.
That deer had the exact opposite effect on me. It turned me into a deer hunting junkie. I can't ever get enough of hunting whitetails and especially with archery gear. Funny thing is I have 2 grown son's both who have shot 1 deer and neither of them has much interest in hunting at all. My wife, my daughter and one of my grand daughters on the other hand hunt with me every year.
 
BackSpasm said:
One could argue that he did in fact luck into a state record for his first buck, and then all the press, the photo shoot, the newspaper articles coupled with the feeling that he would never be able to top the first buck he ever killed, did in fact "ruin" hunting for him while simultaneously achieving him a level of recognition and importance than he had ever had in his life. You could see how someone would go down a path.....
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Perfect definition of ... a reach.
 
1simplemann said:
I can't remember all the details but I think there was an article in D & DH magazine. MR publically claimed to have arrowed the Missouri state record when he was 13. A big Non Typical over 200". He claimed he killed it w/ a Little shaver BH. I forget what year. He told this same story to Gene Wensel at a seminar they both were at before MR claimed to have killed the WR. However, according to GW, MR's story was fishy to him then. GW remembered the Little Shaver BH and that it wasn't made until the year AFTER MR claimed to have killed the Missouri State Record.. The reason that part of the story sticks in my head is because I've actually seen the Little Shaver. My mentor still had some in his archery box and showed me some back in early 90's. That BH was the 1st replaceable blade BH on the market. It used Schick replaceable blades. He said they were junk and that he lost some deer with them. He went back to his Zwicki's. Anyway, I met GW in 1999 at the local bow shop where I worked part time. MR's buck was a really hot topic then. GW said he was just like the rest of us in that he wasn't sure or not if the buck was real or not. He did say that he had the opportunity to meet MR once and relayed to us the conversation He had w/ MR then. Back then I just took it as maybe either GW of MR got his years wrong. In my mind the deer was real and I wanted so bad to believe it was legit. The funny thing is that is no mention of MR in the Missouri State record book for any year, typical or NT. Also from what I remember of the story, The mount was supposedly destroyed. Sound familiar? Also there are no pics of it either. What a coincidence!
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Maybe you're mixing up 2 different stories? The 200"+ non-typical you're referring to was apparently shot with a field point (accidentally), and there are indeed pictures of it (or at least of the mount).

Screenshot_20230325-093616.png
 
OspreyZB said:
Maybe you're mixing up 2 different stories? The 200"+ non-typical you're referring to was apparently shot with a field point (accidentally), and there are indeed pictures of it (or at least of the mount).

View attachment 83077
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Osprey,

You could be right. I'm 53 and that conversation was 24 yrs ago and the actual kill was 60 years ago so who knows what the exact details were. I'm just relating them as I remember them. In fact that conversation was held in NJ which I see you are from. I used to work at The Sportsmen's Center in Bordentown. Every year they put on the Bowhunter Jamboree. That year Gene Wensel and Miles Keller both gave seminars. They seemed like good average guys and weren't "stuck" on themselves. In the back room, behind the scene, Buck Fever Scents were hawking synthetic scents that had MR and the buck all over the bottles. They were selling them for $50 for 2 bottles to the public I think . They gave the employees some free bottles. I got some and still have them today. Anyway, I showed them to GW. GW was highly skeptical then and pointed out some inconsistencies in MR''s various stories over the years including the part about the Little Shaver BH. This was coming from a respected hunter who had actually met and talked w/ MR. He didn't say that he thought for sure that the MR buck was a hoax just that he had his doubts. At the time, I was all in on the MR buck being real so I discounted GW's opinions. Now, I've flipped opinions. For me, there's too much smoke for there not to be a fire.
 
woodsdog2 said:
The update is the Richard P. Smith information. A very credible outdoor writer.
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Ummm, ok. The original thread contained a link to an interview with Randy Rhoads, dated 2/2/2023.
The "update" from D&DH contains the following information:
A guy that knew Mitch, who wasn't involved in the scoring, never put his hands on it, hasn't seen him in more than 20 years, who was "ticked off" and "pissed" because he was never approached about the situation. Doesn't seem like much of an update there.

The "update" from Richard P. Smith, appears to be from 3/13/2023.
So this "update" contains "new" information about a scoresheet....and, is that it?:
"a score sheet for the deer has mysteriously surfaced on social media. It’s unclear if the scores filled out on that sheet are legitimate" and this scoresheet "was recently posted on the Mitch Rompola Fan Club Facebook group".

"Gary Berger, one of the three original scorers, eventually responded to my requests for comment on the score sheet.

“All I know is that’s not my handwriting,” he said."

And " It’s unlikely that this scoresheet is the original one that was completed by the panel of scorers."

And, finally, "Based on what I had reported on the buck previously, I believe that it’s a replica of the original, reprinted on the modern B&C score sheet template."

That is the update? If so, I really do not see any new information presented.
 
Seems you guys are really invested in this subject. Good for you. I know, we're kinda in between seasons. Carry on while the popcorn is being buttered. The inter web is a wonderfully educational and entertaining tool.
 
Maverick1 said:
Ummm, ok. The original thread contained a link to an interview with Randy Rhoads, dated 2/2/2023.
The "update" from D&DH contains the following information:
A guy that knew Mitch, who wasn't involved in the scoring, never put his hands on it, hasn't seen him in more than 20 years, who was "ticked off" and "pissed" because he was never approached about the situation. Doesn't seem like much of an update there.

The "update" from Richard P. Smith, appears to be from 3/13/2023.
So this "update" contains "new" information about a scoresheet....and, is that it?:
"a score sheet for the deer has mysteriously surfaced on social media. It’s unclear if the scores filled out on that sheet are legitimate" and this scoresheet "was recently posted on the Mitch Rompola Fan Club Facebook group".

"Gary Berger, one of the three original scorers, eventually responded to my requests for comment on the score sheet.

“All I know is that’s not my handwriting,” he said."

And " It’s unlikely that this scoresheet is the original one that was completed by the panel of scorers."

And, finally, "Based on what I had reported on the buck previously, I believe that it’s a replica of the original, reprinted on the modern B&C score sheet template."

That is the update? If so, I really do not see any new information presented.
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The Rhoads interview was clearly on one side and the Richard P. Smith article was more than just an updated score sheet and was certainly on the other side of the spectrum. He (Smith) spoke of his involvement with the original story and his research on it..... technically, people speaking up now about it again and offering other and more recent information whether it be on one side or the other is still an update is it not?
 
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