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Tmayer13
PMA Member
As a former Michigander this deer brought alot of drama. I have heard every story know to man about this deer and hunter. I want to believe the deer is real so I do. I also believe the rack was never destroyed in a fire. I truly believe this guy just hates people and attention. He didnt want the attention on his hunting area. But there is no doubt this guy was/is a Grade A Whitetail killer.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Ask Skip he’s a old Michigan guy! He used to see a lot of world class bucks in Michigan!
From an outsider looking in, I am sure they could have determined if it’s was legit .. fairly easily ??
From an outsider looking in, I am sure they could have determined if it’s was legit .. fairly easily ??
Mitch legit killed alot of GIANT deer in Michigan. He was a crazy man.... sleeping in hollow trees for days on end, etc.Ask Skip he’s a old Michigan guy! He used to see a lot of world class bucks in Michigan!
From an outsider looking in, I am sure they could have determined if it’s was legit .. fairly easily ??
Oh goodness!!! Dude lived 10 mins from my me when I lived in traverse city.
Few things…
1) I spent countless time looking at trophy books at archery shops & hunting stores in N MI. They had them kinda like “family albums” …. Out of thousands of bucks - there were a % of mature bucks. In N MI I never saw one that could grow past 160”. 140” was more like “top end”. The nutrition, winters, lack of food, poor sandy soils, lack of crops, low quality browse timber all limited the size of the bucks. Maybe, I mean MAYBE I can recall a buck hitting 180” in 20 years of watching N MI. I don’t believe for one second the potential is there to grow a state record & a world record. What he shot…. He got the state record up there 10 years prior. Then later he shoots world record. Both of poor nutrition poor quality forest (& i think??…. PUBLIC LAND). Sorry, there’s no way. When mature bucks go 115-140” with the occasional 150’s - no way, I don’t buy it. That isn’t proof but never get me to buy it.
2) I never met Mitch. Could be a great guy. Could be a dirt bag. Not my place to judge. I can tell u being in that community…. He’s had a lot of issues with the law. Stuff like “filming up lady’s skirts with camera on shoe at the mall” is one that comes to mind when locals talk about him. He’s had “a lot of issues” according to law & locals. I don’t know him but that rap sheet makes me question a lot. I’m not the judge though. Don’t wish Ill-will upon the guy. I do think his family had a high fence deer pen down south for whatever that’s worth. None of this is proof- but interesting context
3) I saw a statistician from MI do the math on chances of shooting a state record & world record. It was hilarious. It was like 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000. Or something wildly insane. Not proof but funny.
4) the “he’s a great hunter”…. MI is filled with maniac mature buck killing machines. Dudes that are probably better hunters than anyone in iowa I could dream up. Dudes that do find mature bucks. & somehow these magic hunters kill them consistently - which is insane craziness for MI!!!! When a small yet “large amount of guys” (like in the 100’s) do live in MI & do kill mature bucks consistently- what do they score??? 125-160”. U MIGHT find a guy that got one that’s 180’s+ & that’s in S MI & still rare. So few mature bucks but
Dudes that find them- they score maybe 120-150” on high side. For dudes in MI to find a deer with genetics & nutrition to grow 180’s is just not realistic. Unless it’s S MI. & that’s once in a lifetime. Most that see mature bucks don’t go over 150”. I just dont buy that he finds state & world record & does it in the worst part of state. Nope, I don’t buy it. FWIW- my brother shot the “biggest buck shot in MI” for that year- few years before Rompola buck…. that’s the whole state …. It was 174”. I’m sure someone else shot one bigger but none that were registered that year. Nice deer but no where close to 200”. & that’s whole state!!!! A 180-200” deer in MI is like a 270-300” deer here in iowa. To shoot 2 of them…. Come on.
One schmucks vote for: I don’t buy it!!!
5) sorry… last one…. U catch world record bass…. They inspect it!!! (Or heck, check walleyes & give lie detector tests on fish tournaments)…. All they wanted to do was X-RAY & inspect it. That’s when he pulled it. Which is very standard. “I don’t need to prove anything” ahhhh…. “Ya, u do, this is standard & required”. He vanishes. C’mon!!!!
Few things…
1) I spent countless time looking at trophy books at archery shops & hunting stores in N MI. They had them kinda like “family albums” …. Out of thousands of bucks - there were a % of mature bucks. In N MI I never saw one that could grow past 160”. 140” was more like “top end”. The nutrition, winters, lack of food, poor sandy soils, lack of crops, low quality browse timber all limited the size of the bucks. Maybe, I mean MAYBE I can recall a buck hitting 180” in 20 years of watching N MI. I don’t believe for one second the potential is there to grow a state record & a world record. What he shot…. He got the state record up there 10 years prior. Then later he shoots world record. Both of poor nutrition poor quality forest (& i think??…. PUBLIC LAND). Sorry, there’s no way. When mature bucks go 115-140” with the occasional 150’s - no way, I don’t buy it. That isn’t proof but never get me to buy it.
2) I never met Mitch. Could be a great guy. Could be a dirt bag. Not my place to judge. I can tell u being in that community…. He’s had a lot of issues with the law. Stuff like “filming up lady’s skirts with camera on shoe at the mall” is one that comes to mind when locals talk about him. He’s had “a lot of issues” according to law & locals. I don’t know him but that rap sheet makes me question a lot. I’m not the judge though. Don’t wish Ill-will upon the guy. I do think his family had a high fence deer pen down south for whatever that’s worth. None of this is proof- but interesting context
3) I saw a statistician from MI do the math on chances of shooting a state record & world record. It was hilarious. It was like 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000. Or something wildly insane. Not proof but funny.
4) the “he’s a great hunter”…. MI is filled with maniac mature buck killing machines. Dudes that are probably better hunters than anyone in iowa I could dream up. Dudes that do find mature bucks. & somehow these magic hunters kill them consistently - which is insane craziness for MI!!!! When a small yet “large amount of guys” (like in the 100’s) do live in MI & do kill mature bucks consistently- what do they score??? 125-160”. U MIGHT find a guy that got one that’s 180’s+ & that’s in S MI & still rare. So few mature bucks but
Dudes that find them- they score maybe 120-150” on high side. For dudes in MI to find a deer with genetics & nutrition to grow 180’s is just not realistic. Unless it’s S MI. & that’s once in a lifetime. Most that see mature bucks don’t go over 150”. I just dont buy that he finds state & world record & does it in the worst part of state. Nope, I don’t buy it. FWIW- my brother shot the “biggest buck shot in MI” for that year- few years before Rompola buck…. that’s the whole state …. It was 174”. I’m sure someone else shot one bigger but none that were registered that year. Nice deer but no where close to 200”. & that’s whole state!!!! A 180-200” deer in MI is like a 270-300” deer here in iowa. To shoot 2 of them…. Come on.
One schmucks vote for: I don’t buy it!!!
5) sorry… last one…. U catch world record bass…. They inspect it!!! (Or heck, check walleyes & give lie detector tests on fish tournaments)…. All they wanted to do was X-RAY & inspect it. That’s when he pulled it. Which is very standard. “I don’t need to prove anything” ahhhh…. “Ya, u do, this is standard & required”. He vanishes. C’mon!!!!
Brandon Lerette
New Member
I know you did not say it but I agree that Michigan is no Iowa. But in Washtenaw County, MI, I know two people who have taken deer over 190".
My neighbor and another gentlemen up the road about three miles. It scored over 200". They are becoming more common as hunters let deer grow older. With that said our Calhoun County farm does not seem to hold mature bucks long.
Our issue there is two fold.
1. Most bucks are only 8 points and it is hard to score more without adding points.
1.A Our Neighbor did take a 160" 8 point.
2. Once we identify one on our land, they just do not stay past the end of November. I am sure it is something we are doing to push them away as they do not show up the next year. We talk to a lot of our neighbors and they are not shooting them.
Southern MI blows away N MI. & “could” rival Iowa as it has the POTENTIAL. No contest. U have tons of potential in: washtenaw, Jackson, hillsdale, van buren, berrien, Kalamazoo, allegan, etc. I’ve been all over those areas. They have gotten better. Genetics & nutrition & habitat are INSANE around there!!!!! What is helping S MI is 2 things…. 1) way more guys passing deer up. More guys forming coops. 2) MI has lost almost a third of deer hunters in last 25 years. That alone is less pressure. I’m sure it still seems like an army - which it is- but MI regs have caused a lot of dudes to quit & thus allowing a bit more for big bucks
Combine those 2 changes with the best area of state = slammers!!!!! Southern tier of MI COULD pummel iowa. Way more perfect cover than iowa has & it’s got same amazing genetics & nutrition. It produces some 200” giants. Imagine how many more it would produce if they moved gun back 14 days, 1 buck rule & took crossbows out of archery season. & id argue that would reverse the trend of masses quitting as well.
Yep- I love the terrain & potential of S MI!!!!! Amazing. As good as it gets. That whole state is in need of “NEW MANAGEMENT”!
Buckscrape
Active Member
That's quite the article, .
Complete with a "score sheet", lol.
.Complete with a "score sheet", lol.
Bucksnbears
Well-Known Member
No dog in this fight but I WILL argue the nutrition thing about growing huge ucks.
One only has to look back at the Breen/Jordan and the Mn sheds found by Grand Rapids to realize it can't be that important.!
One only has to look back at the Breen/Jordan and the Mn sheds found by Grand Rapids to realize it can't be that important.!
jkratz5
Super Moderator
While nothing is impossible, the entire circumstance around this deer make it a huge pile of BS.
People always say that Mitch was a quiet guy that did not want to have his name out there. Yet he had entered many deer into the record books and many described him as a self proclaimed expert whitetail hunter.
They purposely didn’t include the panel that was agreed upon by the CBM to score the deer, instead Rompola himself found his own measurers, friends who he personally knew. The regional director who was to be on the scoring board was also a taxidermist and Rompola purposely doesn't include this guy because he knows that he will be able to see the discrepancies in the mount. When the rack was first inspected by others it was encased in Bondo and the original skull plate could not be seen (in 30 years of being around deer hunting and taxidermy I have never seen this except on replicas, etc.)
The buck from 1985 was also reported by the scorers as being weathered and looking back likely not a deer he harvested. Got away with it once and had the confidence to do it again.
The same regional director mentioned above reviewed the records of that region over 20 years when he was director. Not a single deer scores over 170" except for Rompolas, come on.
Then it just so happens the rack and the previous state record rack burn in a fire once skepticism arose. Maybe this is rumor but if true it smells a little more than fishy.
People always say that Mitch was a quiet guy that did not want to have his name out there. Yet he had entered many deer into the record books and many described him as a self proclaimed expert whitetail hunter.
They purposely didn’t include the panel that was agreed upon by the CBM to score the deer, instead Rompola himself found his own measurers, friends who he personally knew. The regional director who was to be on the scoring board was also a taxidermist and Rompola purposely doesn't include this guy because he knows that he will be able to see the discrepancies in the mount. When the rack was first inspected by others it was encased in Bondo and the original skull plate could not be seen (in 30 years of being around deer hunting and taxidermy I have never seen this except on replicas, etc.)
The buck from 1985 was also reported by the scorers as being weathered and looking back likely not a deer he harvested. Got away with it once and had the confidence to do it again.
The same regional director mentioned above reviewed the records of that region over 20 years when he was director. Not a single deer scores over 170" except for Rompolas, come on.
Then it just so happens the rack and the previous state record rack burn in a fire once skepticism arose. Maybe this is rumor but if true it smells a little more than fishy.
JNRBRONC
Moderator
I really could care less, but recently read Randy Rhoad's account of the story.
scottonbuck
Well-Known Member
This is why I dont shoot big deer, no conspiracy theories about little bucks. LOL
Slick
Well-Known Member
Is there even a question?
I hit Bigfoot last night put a huge dent in the bumper he was crawling away and I jumped on him. All I can say was that was a mistake he put me in a rear naked choke hold and I woke up 3 hours later in the ditch and he was gone. He took my phone as well because I had gotten a picture of him. True Story!!!!!
I hit Bigfoot last night put a huge dent in the bumper he was crawling away and I jumped on him. All I can say was that was a mistake he put me in a rear naked choke hold and I woke up 3 hours later in the ditch and he was gone. He took my phone as well because I had gotten a picture of him. True Story!!!!!
YtailFreak
Active Member
I've questioned the legitimacy of every deer harvest photo I've seen with him in it. Something just doesn't look right in every photo whether it be the deers head, forehead, ears, rack, color, etc. He was a taxidermist and I believe he fabricated the rack on every buck he "killed".
So google has bested me, or I just simply don’t know what I’m looking for- what’s the state records for Michigan other than his deer? I mean- are there legit a pile of 170s? Or is it a pretty big drop off? At least I can find the records in Iowa that I could go- “oh it’s possible since it was close to these scores”. But if there are only 2 over 180 for example, and he has them both. Huge red flag. Back when it all broke I was really young and thought it was fishy then. Everything was just TOO symmetrical, every tine, every curve just was SO close to matching. And I always thought the head looked weird as well.
I can see how a guy could alter the skull plate before mounting the deer, but how did he get the quality in-field pic of it, if that's what he did? That one pic is pretty convincing to me. Dead animals start getting messy real quick once you start hacking on them and shatter their skulls, etc. Any experienced taxidermists on here think a guy could have doctored that deer in the in-field pic?