The Rompola Buck

[Maverick1]

Mitch’s son, Kevin, has posted on bowsite on this topic. As recently as 2018 or so.

 

[131north]

I would tend to believe it was real. Mitch was a weird dude who went to extremes most hunters wouldn't. I believe as the story goes he hunted that buck for years. As for the perceived abnormalities, if that monarch was roaming the woods, battling off challenges from rivals, with a rack so wide that there was practically nothing to defend his head & ears, anything is possible. I can't defend an argument that the rack was totally fabricated, other than to question why if you were fabricating it would you do it in such a way that invites scrutiny. I think what you got is a guy who was dealing with some issues in life but clearly found peace in the woods, like many of us do. He shot an absolutely ridiculous buck, but suddenly the solitude he enjoyed was gone. Soon, the place where the buck was killed would be discovered and overrun. His previous indiscretions already cast doubt on him, so he was faced with a decision. Lose the record, and credibility, but preserve the thing that gave him the most joy, or lose his sense of peace and fight the critics to claim the record. We know he killed several other huge deer after the infamous buck, so I guess we know which one he picked.

 

[SaddleUpPartner!]

I would ask this to those who think it’s fake, how the heck would you attach fake antlers to a deer? And as mentioned above, you’d have to keep it quiet for decades. I think the most likely scenario of a fake is that the deer was shot on a ranch. I can’t prove it that and he’s had a past of shooting other big bucks so I think it’s probably legit.

 

[131north]

I would ask this to those who think it’s fake, how the heck would you attach fake antlers to a deer? And as mentioned above, you’d have to keep it quiet for decades. I think the most likely scenario of a fake is that the deer was shot on a ranch. I can’t prove it that and he’s had a past of shooting other big bucks so I think it’s probably legit.

There was one conspiracy theory I heard that made sense - he accidentally broke the skull plate handling the antlers. That would have invalidated the record and been a pretty embarrassing thing to admit to.

 

[will4554]

I have been told the deer is real by someone who knows Mitch personally and is a far above average hunter himself.. I fully believe it's legit. Mitch is a weird guy, there's plenty of information about him out there. But he had/has tactics that would be considered extreme by even the most hardcore folks. I just think the scrutiny wasn't worth dealing with. Being a celebrity in any sense seems really stressful to me personally. I don't blame him for not wanting to deal with it.

 

[Bwhana]

The circumstantial evidence points to a fake, but the fact remains that if it is a fake, he likely had some help from someone else or three, and the fact that no one has come out in 20 years and said so is also very telling. Serial killers can't keep quiet that long and one would think a faked deer would have come to light fully by now.

The other thing that cannot be ignored is the number of big deer he had taken prior to that one. You could easily argue that he was one of the best mature buck killers ever, if not the best, so it was not a stretch for him to have done this one legitimately too. Unless the Hanson buck is topped and Mitch talks and proves his with real evidence, this will remain the deer version of the grassy knoll.

 

[CooterBrown]

Has he killed big deer since then?

 

[Plebe]

Torch Lake Musky:

Transitioning to Traverse City for work, I of course was aware of the Rompola story and hopeful for good hunting. TC is also famous for its smallmouth bass fishery, but I lacked a boat to chase an 8lb dream. I found myself instead fly fishing for the first time and learning the craft with no lofty goals for trophy fish.

But I grew up hunting Musky before I ever deer hunted and as kids we were hauling in fish bigger than we were while fishing with dad. So it was a huge story to me when the state record was caught in Torch Lake, not too far away.

Below is an article covering the story. Everything about the catch is air tight, and on the up. What I enjoy most is the angler's sentiment in the final lines:

"I am happy to have caught a big fish, but very disappointed that it didn't swim away," he said. "If it had, it would still be out in the lake and this would just be a fish story."

I'm sure there are those who'd comment that its an easy thing to say when you've a bird in the hand. I'm not one of them, and I appreciate the reverence of that statement very much.

Not suggesting that Mitch was of similar mind, the facts don't support that at all.

But, that statement recognizes that a record is enjoyed by an individual, but a legend invigorates a whole community. Indeed a story can be even bigger than a trophy, and the Rompola story has certainly excited a community of sportsman who hang their hats on hopes and dreams. So it is that, despite my interest in the facts of this buck and this hunter, I feel that, in a way, learning the truth of the Rompola buck, fair or foul, would be somewhat of a loss to the hunting community.

State record muskie caught in Torch Lake

Rapid City's Kyle Anderson had an hour to fish before work when he hooked a 50-pound, 8-ounce Great Lakes muskie.

www.mlive.com

 

[Topdog]

So let me ask you guys this... on what legal grounds was Hansen and company able to pursue a lawsuit essentially requiring Mitch to enter his buck or sign off saying he wouldn’t, I understand Hansen was losing revenue due to the story of it possibly beating his deer, but one would think if Mitch said back then go pound salt I’m not signing anything what could Hansen do? Under what obligation is one under to enter bucks, so what if people claim it to be a world record, hard to believe that could force litigation.

 

[Topdog]

Has he killed big deer since then?

For a short time there was a website showing more recent big bucks he had killed, that website has since been taken down, most of those bucks also had big wide racks, if you google the pictures are still floating around.

 

[Plebe]

So let me ask you guys this... on what legal grounds was Hansen and company able to pursue a lawsuit essentially requiring Mitch to enter his buck or sign off saying he wouldn’t, I understand Hansen was losing revenue due to the story of it possibly beating his deer, but one would think if Mitch said back then go pound salt I’m not signing anything what could Hansen do? Under what obligation is one under to enter bucks, so what if people claim it to be a world record, hard to believe that could force litigation.

I’m guessing defamation

 

[boyne bowhunter]

So let me ask you guys this... on what legal grounds was Hansen and company able to pursue a lawsuit essentially requiring Mitch to enter his buck or sign off saying he wouldn’t, I understand Hansen was losing revenue due to the story of it possibly beating his deer, but one would think if Mitch said back then go pound salt I’m not signing anything what could Hansen do? Under what obligation is one under to enter bucks, so what if people claim it to be a world record, hard to believe that could force litigation.

They were basically saying put up or shut up. There was enough controversy surrounding it that they were demanding a technical inspection including an x-ray which, for whatever reason, Mitch refused to agree to. Since it left the question open and they were losing revenue from their claim to the world record they sued to push the issue.

 

[Plebe]

They were basically saying put up or shut up. There was enough controversy surrounding it that they were demanding a technical inspection including an x-ray which, for whatever reason, Mitch refused to agree to. Since it left the question open and they were losing revenue from their claim to the world record they sued to push the issue.

Yes, x-ray had never been required of previous book bucks which is an alleged reason Rompola put his foot down.

 

[CooterBrown]

Brings back memories of that time and the disappointment in the way it played out. This is big reason I am not a fan of keeping records for animal harvests and don't care much for those that tout them too much. Milo's world record was killed on a man drive and cracked the antler in the process. Mad skills displayed there to take that one! Another more recent story with similar motives was Marc Anthony. At least I got one of his ghillie suits before they quit making them, best ever! Big antlers are like getting more $ - killing giants does not turn you into someone else, they just let you show more of who you already are.

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.northamericanwhitetail.com

This article defiantly puts doubt on it being legitimate.

 

[boyne bowhunter]

I grew up in Traverse and, living just an hour north at the time, I remember all the controversy well. There were all kinds of wild theories and accusations being tossed around at the time. I don't have a horse in this race and honestly don't know what to believe but I can say, that if I were Mitch, I certainly would have considered taking the path he chose. Nobody needs that kind of grief.

 

[Arrowsquirrel]

I would tend to believe it was real. Mitch was a weird dude who went to extremes most hunters wouldn't. I believe as the story goes he hunted that buck for years. As for the perceived abnormalities, if that monarch was roaming the woods, battling off challenges from rivals, with a rack so wide that there was practically nothing to defend his head & ears, anything is possible. I can't defend an argument that the rack was totally fabricated, other than to question why if you were fabricating it would you do it in such a way that invites scrutiny. I think what you got is a guy who was dealing with some issues in life but clearly found peace in the woods, like many of us do. He shot an absolutely ridiculous buck, but suddenly the solitude he enjoyed was gone. Soon, the place where the buck was killed would be discovered and overrun. His previous indiscretions already cast doubt on him, so he was faced with a decision. Lose the record, and credibility, but preserve the thing that gave him the most joy, or lose his sense of peace and fight the critics to claim the record. We know he killed several other huge deer after the infamous buck, so I guess we know which one he picked.

This makes more sense than anything else.

 

[Topdog]

This article defiantly puts doubt on it being legitimate.

Of all the stuff I have read over the years, his views are the most compelling to making me think it could be fake, but I still really don’t know, that’s why I find this so interesting....

 

[BackSpasm]

It comforts me to know, when the final chapter of this story is written some day, they will say the mystery was finally solved, the case finally cracked open.... on saddlehunter.com

But for real this has always been super interesting to me and I love how fired up people get.

 

[Tjraley2]

It comforts me to know, when the final chapter of this story is written some day, they will say the mystery was finally solved, the case finally cracked open.... on saddlehunter.com

But for real this has always been super interesting to me and I love how fired up people get.

Surely we can flex the muscle of saddle hunter nation and get Mitch to talk, right?! Or at least let us get our hands on those antlers!!!

 

[Topdog]

I have no idea if the buck is real or not but one thing for sure the story is definitely a trophy, I think most would admit the thought of a lone archer stalking through thick swamps without fancy camo or gear possibly arrowing a world class animal, without food plots or an expensive lease..... well that gets one thinking it could be any of us someday. That is the allure to all of this if you ask me.