The biggest buck that maybe never was

A northern Michigan hunter named Mitch Rompola is sitting in a tree stand waiting.

When the sun rises, Mitch watches two big bucks spar below him; the deer smash their antlers together violently. But Mitch doesn’t shoot. This isn’t the buck he’s looking for; he’s waiting for a massive whitetail he’s been tracking for three years.

Then suddenly the deer stop sparring and run away. Something even bigger is coming. And then, Mitch sees it – his massive buck.

He pulls back the bowstring and releases an arrow. The arrow strikes. The buck wanders a short distance. Then falls and dies.

“God, I knew he was big,” Mitch said during a video he recorded while recovering the animal. “Look how wide he is. A good size deer too. Holy criminy.”

The buck is so big, people start saying it could shatter the world record for whitetail deer. All Mitch has to do is submit the buck’s score.

But he doesn’t. He just goes silent. And instead of becoming a famous hunter, Mitch Rompola becomes an infamous one.

To hear the full story, go to the Points North episode. You can also listen on Spotify.