solocamcan

I don't like deer drives myself, not because I view it as right or wrong but because if somebody asked me all about the "hunt" on a particular deer...what would I say? "Well I stood on the edge of the timber, my friends walked through the woods and scared him to me"

To me hunting is all about stories and strategies. And that just isn't a good story and it would be the same story and strategy every time.

Todd1700

He's a fraud if he's not actually killing them where he says he is or even killing them with a bow. He's also a fraud if some or all of the racks are synthetic fakes or cobbled together from sheds remounted onto a dead deer head.

LOL! Yeah to heck with people that actually know him and have interacted with him. Lets base what we think of the man on internet urban legends that have zero basis in reality. Many of which are legends that he himself started.

This is the most laughable myth about him. He has loooong been a seeker of the spotlight. Went around speaking at hunting expos. Submitting stories to hunting magazines. Always making lots of wild boasts. For example he claims to have killed the Missouri state record buck with a field tip when he was 14 years old. Of course no one can back that story up and no official record of such a deer exists. He had his own website called RompolaWhitetails.com or something like that. With the deer in question he had lined up multiple sponsors, scent company, bow company, etc, who were going to pay to use the buck in their advertising. He was going around to hunting expos and selling pictures of the deer and telling everyone that it was the new world record. Yep, quite the recluse huh? In fact here's a photo of him where he was caught in full spotlight dodge mode. Pay no attention to those trophies he's holding. Just because he's posing with them in hand for a photo doesn't mean he cares about them. LOL!



Oh, are you aware that he started telling people he was pursuing the now infamous would be world record buck 2 years before he supposedly killed it? He was even showing people photos at hunting expos and various events that were supposedly photos of the deer when it was still alive. Of course every photo just showed the head and neck jutting out of some bushes. In other words it was a shoulder mount strategically placed to hide the lack of a body in each photo. Oh, and the buck had the exact identical same rack in those photos as it did two years later when he supposedly killed it. Cause as we know racks of that size stay exact the same size across 3 different growing seasons.

But it gets better? Back in 1993 he approached a guy I know at a banquet in Traverse City, Mi (cause you know those total recluses don't miss a banquet) he claimed back then to be on the trail of yet another world record buck. A claim he would repeat again in years to come with the infamous would be world record and in exactly the same way. As he would also do again with the next supposed world record he showed my friend a photo of the deer supposedly alive. My friend says it was a very poorly done full body mount of a deer. Remember Rompola is a half @$$ed taxidermist and does a lot of his own mounts. Problem is that he isn't that great of a taxidermist and much of his work looks pretty bad. So did this. My friend said it was glaringly obvious that it was not a live deer. Glaringly! The mount not only looked bad but the horns were different. One side was a normal color and the other was a faded white kind of like you would see with a shed antler that had been faded by the sun. When my friend pointed these facts out he said Mitch quickly shut up about the deer and slipped away.

But what about Mitch himself? Is he the kind of guy that might try something dishonest? Well when he was working for the post office he stole thousands of dollars worth of food stamps out of the mail. A crime that would have landed him in prison for years if not for the intervention of a family friend with powerful influence in the legal community. He was also arrested later on for using a small hidden camera to film up women's dresses at a mall. Yep, what a swell guy.

Yeah and that's a problem too. The area he hunts around Traverse City, MI is not known for big bucks. Poor genetics, poor food sources and very high hunting pressure. I don't care how good a hunter you are you can only kill what's out there. Your skill level doesn't make the deer grow bigger in your area. And I don't for a minute concede that he's actually a great hunter. A statistician computed the odds of Rompola killing that many B&C caliber bucks in the Traverse City area as astronomical. It's the kind of place where a 170 class deer is as rare as a unicorn.

Oh lord, not the you're just jealous defense. LOL! Then why aren't I and all of Rompola's critics bitter and envious of all the other people who have killed world record animals? Hmm? Why don't I hate Milo Hanson or Mel Johnson? Why are people only jealous of Mitch? That is laughable. If I can get you to jettison only one defense of this fraud, for Gods sake let it be that baseless one.

Rompola has a standing offer of 20,000 dollars just to let the rack be X-Rayed. He refuses. The only excuse offered by his defenders for his refusal is the "he's just a recluse that doesn't care about money or fame" line of BS. The only problem is that the mans actions throughout his life do not support this claim. He has very much sought to be in the spotlight of the hunting community and reap the fame and fortune it would bring. Strip away that defense (as the actual evidence of his life does) and you are left with no honest reason the man would not let this rack be examined thoroughly. I mean think of it. Proving all your worst critics wrong and collecting 20,000 dollars in the same deal. Only a man with something to hide would pass a deal like that.

Murdy

I grew up in northern Wisconsin where driving deer was legal, and we engaged in our share of it. I'm no longer a fan. It generates a lot of bad shots at running deer. I probably would try to take my best guess at where the deer would eventually come out, and try to wait him out.

Topgun 3006

Todd17000---The biggest share of what you've posted can be taken darn near word for word off internet sites by guys that don't believe he's done what he's done, including the dude that owns the record collection containing a number of the top heads. He has a lot of money on the line and all of his articles are mere conjecture on his part and some of it concerning using a form of dye on the antlers, sewing fake antlers on the head of that dead buck out in the field, etc., is a bunch of hogwash. Yes, Rompola is a weird dude that was in trouble a couple of times with the PO and hidden camera stuff, but there is no way all those racks on his wall are fake and you're the first I've heard saying so. I've had property east of where he hunts since 1973 and the genetics may not suggest that an area can produce big bucks, but there are some real good ones around and I've seen a couple myself outside the short two week rifle season we have up there. One that a guy did take back in the 80s that lives right down the road from my property made B&C, but I can't remember the actual score. We'll just agree to disagree with this whole thing since there is no proof it is and no proof it isn't what's in the photo.

Bocajnala---If I had seen that Hanson buck, I would have tried to figure out a way to use the wind and see if I could slip in for a shot by myself. I would not have done what they did, but I wouldn't argue that many, including yourself as you stated, would have done a drive.

gonewest

Topgun you make me laugh. You get on a soap box and beat your chest on how your the ultimate hunter who's killed more deer than all of us all by 100 percent legal means and a law abider on every thing in the book and yet then you open your mouth and back a well know liar, violater, con man who couldn't be farther from a true hunter. Just because he has throphies on the wall doesn't mean he took them legal. I WONDER if his relative owning a deer farm had anything to do with the size of deer he shot in an area where NOBODY in 150 yrs has ever shot one. I guess you never took a statictics class. Anddon't start this crap that I'm a violator. All I said was like someone else if I'm hunting on my own land and can identify a big buck through my scope and know that I'm not going to shoot someone else I'm taking the shot. And so would 99.99% of hunters I don't care what you say I think and know now that your full of crap.

Topgun 3006

Laugh all you want! Todd lives in Alabama and is making all kinds of statements about what we have way up here in upper MI. Now you come on with statistical BS that is just that and I imagine you live a long way away from here too, LOL! FYI, over the years since I started hunting up there back in the early 70s in the general area we're talking about, I've seen a number of bucks that are as good as the ones that are on Rompola's wall and to the best of my knowledge none of his others have been questioned as true trophies, while Todd now appears to be saying they are all fakes. Unforunately, none of the ones I've seen were during legal hunting hours or even during the legal hunting seasons. Even the one magazine that was quoted earlier with articles that were cutting down that big buck did not, to the best of my knowledge, dispute all the other big bucks the guy has killed. Yes, the guy is weird and has had scrapes with the law, but until he's found guilty on all the BS you guys are talking about all of it is pure conjecture. As far as your statement about knowingly shooting beyond legal hunting hours, whether it's on your own property or not, as far as I'm concerned that pretty well invalidates anything else that comes out of your mouth or that you post on a hunting Forum if you would knowingly violate a law and then come on the internet and say so---NOT TOO SMART! End of discussion here, as I don't care to have my character assassinated by someone that doesn't know me from a can of paint and I'm not going to get tossed from here for getting into a stupid argument with you. I'll let my unblemished 30+ year career speak for itself and if you don't like my opinions that's fine, but don't come up with all the garbage like you did in that post as it's very close or possibly is a rules violation of this website! Please find one case of where I've ever bragged about numbers of deer or animals I've killed on this website because I don't count what I shoot, but total numbers over 60 years are up there pretty good and I've also never touted myself as any kind of a great hunter. It's more through many years and many days in the field that have resulted in some good numbers. Passionate about the sport yes, but not a braggard by any stretch of the imagination. It's ones like you with a post like that that is causing people like RR and fritz to leave this site. I'll sick around, but not to argue with the likes of you!

gonewest

I'm from Mi and know alot about the Rampola saga. The more you boost about yourself the more I think you are a ARMCHAIR hunter.

Todd1700

First, I do not recall saying that they are all fake. But it's absurd to say that they couldn't be. For all you know they certainly could be? The guys family has land in Missouri. Some could be from down there. Or created from sheds he picked up down there. There are a lot of good hunters in Michigan. Check and see how many have killed even one B&C buck near Traverse City. See how many you can find that have killed two in that area. But Mitch has killed 12 there? With a bow? LOL! I was born at night but it wasn't last night my friend.

The very guy who kept Mitch out of jail for the food stamp arrest spoke about Mitch and his hunting skills. He said Mitch hunted the same club that he did for years and never killed anything of any size. He said the biggest buck Mitch killed was a 5 point which he hit way too far back and was very lucky to find. He said the general opinion among the hunters in that camp was that Mitch was not much of a hunter. Then he said that Mitch leaves their club and started hunting alone. All of a sudden he is killing a B&C buck every year now that's he's hunting alone with no one to see what's going on. I guess he was just sandbagging those guys in the club for fear they would learn his secrets. LOL!

solocamcan

This thread (disagreement) has run its course guys.