Milo Hanson's world record whitetail
 

The times they are a changin' - Bob Dylan

That could lead...
 

to the retirement of a lot of antler hunters. If the biggest ever gets harvested, in their lifetime, what would be the need to hunt deer any longer.

I don't recognize this book as the largest typical wasn't their a guy here in the states last year who eclipsed that buck but for some reason they wouldn't recognize it ? Also it was killed on a drive that's what takes away from it to me it's not the same feeling as the traditional way to me

The deer that Deer and Deer hunting mag was touting as a new world record was largely non-typical. They seemed to think if they whined enough, B&C would cave in and change the rules - it didn't work - even after they were granted the panel they wanted.

Actually, drive hunting has its origins in antiquity, while sitting in trees over bait is a modern abomination.

Largely Non-typical?

It had two antlers that may/may not share a common base. It is in no way non-typical. Just a controversy over the bases of those 2 antlers.

***IMHO there is some politics going on with the rack being talked about. It is in no way remotely nontypical! It is just so massive that two tines on the right side are close together, but as far as I and many others are concerned, both come off the main beam and it should be declared the new world record. Although there is nothing that says how a book deer has to be killed, other than by fair chase, I do agree that the Milo Hanson buck being killed on a drive where it had nowhere to go but across an open field where there were several guns waiting takes away from the trophy.

Yet another strange post from our friend CN...

Yeah, why come in here and delete your original post??

Better be careful guys or the Super Moderator will come on here and delete you, LOL!!!

Guys,
This guy posts something he"s seen recently in a mag puts it up and sits back and watches us do just what this country is doing, disingrating. Its lib 101 , pull the pin on nothing and watch what happens.
I will not respond to this person any more
daddus

***Yep, he's sort of a pot stirrer and some would even call him a troll. I won't go that far and will just say that "he's a little different"!

Teal's just saying it was largely a non-typical cause he's from Canada. We have all seen the WI bucks pictures and know it wasn't. B&C just doesn't want to admit they're wrong on this on.

I'll muddy the water a little more. Remember this buck? I truely believe it was real. It just so happen it was shot by a very acentric individual.

***That buck was certainly real and I know right where it was killed outside Traverse City and it wasn't very far from the airport. Several reputable people had their hands on that buck shortly after he got it out of the woods and before it was ever processed and verified it was for real. The only comment made about it was that it couldn't have been taken up in that area because it's not known for big bucks. Mitch Rompola is out in the woods every day of the year up there literally living with the deer and has taken an ungodly number of big bucks over the years, all with a bow. He is an oddball, but aren't we all in one way or another!

I'll just agree to disagree with you on Rompola. I have spoke to many people (some famous ones whose names you would well know) that have known and interacted with Mitch for many years. He's a dishonest fraud that runs back and hides behind the "oh he's just odd and different" as an excuse to disengage when ever someone asks him to put up or shut up. I could tell you many stories but do not wish to hijack the thread.

I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested........because I enjoy being outdoors when its colder than a witches ..... in a brass bra, and blowing and snowing and I'm hunting deer or ducks or anything but a case of cabin fever.

He has been booked for a 7 day vacation on me. Let me know if he continues to stir the pot if he comes back. :sign0016:

***How can you call a guy a dishonest fraud that has over a dozen bucks on the wall with a bow that will top 160"? I could care less who you know or stories you could tell because to say that they have interacted with him is baloney because the guy is almost a total recluse who doesn't interact with much of anything but deer in the woods up there. There are plenty out there that might say things like you are intimating, but most of them are probably just envious of the guy's accomplishments in the field.

TG, just curious, why do you feel that it depletes the trophy because it was taken on a drive? Not trying to open a can of worms, just hear your thoughts. I've had lots of big bucks slip out of drives, they get big because they do that.
-Jake

Just my opinion that it's not the way I would hunt for a big buck, but maybe a doe or two just for meat to fill the freezer. The country up there is such that they were able to see that buck go into a small patch of woods, bush as they call it up there. Then from the way the story goes, a bunch surrounded it and only left it one out across the field where at least one or two others shot at it and missed before Hanson killed it. It's just not my idea of how to take a big buck, especially one that is #1 in the world. Give me one like Rompola took, regardless of what some think, because he studies the local deer up there almost every day, knows them like a book, and goes after them one on one. That's the only way you're going to take as many big deer with a bow as he's taken. Good question though and I hope that answer is sufficient.

It does. Had you seen a buck like that go into a woodlot, would you have tried to get some people and chase it out? Most hunters probably would, I would.
-Jake

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

This thread (disagreement) has run its course guys.