I'm trying to put together a collection of Roger's articles from Bowhunter and other magazines. Does anyone have a list of what volumes that he contributed to?

One from his son Ron. You can contact Ron Rothhaar on facebook and ask him.

I don't look up to to many people but Roger Rothhaar was one I did. I never met him but I did talk to him numerous times on the phone. He was a gentleman and one heck of a bowhunter. One time I called him and told him how much I enjoyed his books and a few weeks later he sent me this autographed picture in the mail. This picture hangs in my gameroom now.

Cool, Roger was an original member of the PBS too.

I always ask myself “what would roger do” when setting up an ambush. Helps me think things through.

Justin

Met him and his wife decades ago in Wellsville, Pa. Bought a book from him and had a nice chat. Both of them were very nice, kinda like good country neighbors.

I was fortunate enough For him to deer hunt with me three years and bear and caribou hunt with several times. If on listened to him you would of gained a wealth of knowledge. I sure miss his friendship

LLC

I often think of Rodger and these questions pop up in my mind. when it comes to great bowhunters Roger has always been one of my heroes. I wish I could have spoke to him for a few minutes.

1.How close was his average shot for all those big bucks.

2. Was he a stickler on Arrow tuning with those big Snuffer's and bows that were on the heavier side?

3. This question doesn't really matter much, but I've always wondered how many different bows he used on all those big bucks and if he was somewhat of a spendthrift when it came to arrows. His quiver looked like it contained a combination of different looking arrows.

I'm friends on facebook with his son Ron. Here is one of the pictures Ron posted on his facebook page.

Very impressive collection.

Roger was a great man and a friend to many. He 'walked the walk & talked the talk' ... a finer person I never knew and I always held him in high regards. He came from a 'class' of respectable bow hunters I have been proud to have known.... Good Luck on your quest Bob on the articles search!

Many of his articles were incorporated into his first book In Pursuit of Trophy Whitetaila.

I have always admired Mr. Rothhaar, and his awesome Snuffer broadhead. Thanks for sharing those great pictures, Frank!

That last picture is my favorite. I couldn't care less what game he killed.

He was a good Ambassador of archery.

Thanks Frank. Cool pictures.

lwander, I’ll answer your question.

1. Don’t know if Roger kept track but I’d say under 20 yards. I was fortunate to call him my friend for 50 years and was there on a lot of those bucks.

2. He definitely was a stickler on arrow/bow tuning. Always was shooting broadheads daily during season and before. He was an advocate of 60/120 four fletch where one of the feathers was aligned as a cock feather. Also burned his feathers into a 5.5” banana shape.

3. Basically, he used three makes of takedown bows, Assenheimer that he designed after his favorite Jack Howard Gamemaster Jet broke, Habu and Black Widow. Of course there were many sets of different weight limbs over the years from 70+ down to around 45#(the black limbs in the big 8 point picture above after shoulder surgery). Probably the Black Widow MA III accounted for the most. The Black Widow and Habu were 64” and the Assenheimer was 66”.

Thanks Kelly, I really appreciate your answers. I ended up with a few dozen 145 old stock Snuffer's. I've been struggling a bit making them fly just right, but I'm going to keep at it. Steve

What was wrong with his shoulder?

Was the snuffer his own design ? A good friend of mine always used the sniffer, with very good results. Best of luck finding his articles.

Yes, the Snuffer was Rogers design and for a lot of years he produced them along with his family.

Snuffers are not difficult to get to fly straight. They need to be mounted straight and have enough feather and spine.

Steve drop my a Pm and we’ll get you straighten out.

Kelly in Dan Bertalens bowyers book his nephew said he used 4x4" feathers.The pics above look like parabolic's.

The earliest article so far is from June of 72. Titled "Last Chance Bear ". I should have started on this on the winter.

I was saddened to hear of Roger's passing, but not until now did I know of the passing of his wife. I had the pleasure of speaking with her on the phone back in the Spring of '82. Very nice lady. I had ordered a dozen Snuffers from him and hadn't heard from him in 3 months. Turned out that my order had become misplaced in a pile of papers on his desk (could happen to anybody), and she assured me that he'd send me a few extras to make up for it. Couldn't have been nicer. May they rest in peace together. Fine folks.

Bernie, never knew or saw 4" feathers on any of Roger's arrows. Even 5" he didn't use much until the last few years. Still used 4 fletch ever since I met him in 1969(I know long before that too) and always burned them in a sort of high back banana/parabolic combo. One can see his feathers very painly in the attached picture. Also someone above mentioned something about mismatched arrows,etc. but that never was the case. What you were seeing is painted shafting. Roger, and I learned it from him, would spray paint the foreshaft with grey primer so he could easier see the arrow in secondary vision.

On a few rare occasions he used 3-5.5" high back banana/parabolic feathers. Also someone above mentioned something about mismatched arrows,etc. but that never was the case. What you were seeing is painted shafting. Roger, and I learned it from him, would spray paint the foreshaft with grey primer so he could easier see the arrow in secondary vision

I was with Roger when he killed that big hog in LA. It was a legit upper 300# hog, can't remember exact weight but I know it wasn't 400#. The people that owned the land we were hunting on said that hog was unkillable because it always knew when a hunter was sitting there in the blind. So one day I helped Roger put up a ladder stand downwind where the boar was scent checking the bait. Does that sound familiar to anyone :) Knowing what wind was expected that evening the ladder stand was placed just south of the trail the hog used to scent check the bait about 40 yards from it. It was a NW wind that night so in effect there was a parallel scent stream of the bait to the trail and Rogers scent stream was south of that where the hog didn't travel.

The boar showed up like clockwork just before dark, circled till he got the scent stream from bait which told him it was clear. Walked right past Roger broadside about 10 yards away. Guys Roger very rarely ever missed the easy close shots. Almost got full penetration and the boar went about 70 yards. He was using a 52# @ 29.5" Habu, 160 grain Snuffer mounted on a 125 grain steel broadhead adapter on a Carbonwoods 4000 shaft.

Here is another picture showing the fletch and grey painted shafts. Before the Carbonwoods he used Arrow Dynamics Nitro Stingers, which are what is in the quiver here.

Here is an example of the 60/120 four fletch that Roger came up with so that he was essentially shooting cock feather in. This way no feather hits the shelf when the arrow goes thru paradox like what happens when using the more common 90 degree four fletch or the standard way of shooting 3 fletch.

This 60/120 four fletch is done with the 3 fletch indicator on your fletcher, not the four fletch. There is a real good explanation of how we do that on my old website, www.arrowskp.com

Wonderful photos, guys. Many thanks for sharing the photos and the memories of a great man.

Great thread and thanks Kelly for all the pics and stories I for one enjoyed that, one of my hero's!

Kelly thanks for all the details.Did he have much trouble with the deer jumping the string with so much feather?Judging by the barn pic it doesent appear so.LOL

His sons Ron and Ryan get on the leatherwall every now and then, maybe they'will weight in.

The 4 fletch instructions seem cumbersome to follow as you read them and try to apply them to the craft, however, it is really simple. I did 3 arrows a few weeks ago as a practice and they turned out perfectly and fly even better. Give it a shot!

justin

I tried 4" / 4 fletched arrows at my buddies archery shop back a few months ago and they flew real nice.

Nothing complicated about doing the 60/120 four fletch. It’s nothing more than putting on a hen and cock feather. The slight difficulty is in the order one does it and that’s only if one uses a Bitzenberger type fletcher because the cock feather gets in the way of the frame while trying to install the hen feathers.

So don’t put on the cock feathers first. Here’s what you need to do. Install the nocked shaft like normal. Then if you are a right handed shooter turn the nock indicator to the left(counter clockwise) to hen position. (If left handed shooter do the opposite by turning the nock indicator to the right-clockwise.) Put on one hen feather, then take shaft out of jig, rotate 180 degrees and reinsert the shaft. Put on the other hen feather.

Now turn the nock indicator back to the cock feather position and install cock feather. Then take shaft out and rotate 180 degrees and install final feather in the cock feather position. Voila, you have fletched 60/120 where the cock feather acts like cock feather 3 fletch where ther is no hen feathers striking the shelf upon release like in the traditional cock feather out.

If you have turntable nocks you don’t need to do above steps . Just put on two hen feathers, then turn arrow over and put on two more hen feathers. Then turn your nock so that one of the hen feathers acts as a cock feather in like above picture.

So why do it this way? Well when shooting cock feather in towards the sight window the hen feather will be positioned out away from the shelf. In the standard cock feather out way ones nocking point has to be raised until there is no deflection from the hen feather string shelf. When shooting cock feather in there is no hen feather striking shelf so one can use a lower nock point. The lower ones nock point the higher the arrow tip is. I know we are only talking fraction of an inch(in my case it was 3/8” inch) but it all help plus I feel the arrow flight is significantly improved.

Jack Howard was the first to describe shooting cock feather in his Bowhunters Catalog way back in the early 1960’s. He used a shooting machine in testing to prove this theory’s merits!

I put zero stock in the big name hunting celebrities. Guys like Roger are the ones that get my respect.

Bought one of his books long ago. It arrived signed and all. Think I read it 15 times.

I recall a quote from Roger that I believe is in one of his books. He was once asked. Why in this age of technology do you still use a recurve? His reply was... "A compound never guaranteed a kill, and a recurve never prevented one". Great answer !

I've got one of his books Whitetail Magic, signed with a very nice mention....I read it many times, wonderful read...I learned a lot from him and I've been hunting deer 40 years...Roger Rothhaar in my humble opinion was, is, and always will be the best deer hunter that ever lived...jeff\snake

Anyone care to try this:

What made RR such an incredible deer hunter? If it wasn’t having a great place to hunt, what was it?

Justin

In my opinion Roger would have been considered an incredible deer hunter even if he only killed basket-rack 8 points. If you've read his books you'll know he paid attention to every detail and put a lot of thought, time and effort into understanding deer.

I think there were two reasons why he was able to consistently kill monster bucks. One was what I mentioned above - his ability to understand and pattern deer. The other was because he hunted where the monster bucks lived.

I have always had the utmost respect for Roger and how dedicated, knowledgeable and successful he was.

Spent a week in 1986 Bear hunting with Roger in Canada. Super guy, funny, great shot and extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his deer hunting.

All week long...between laughter I tried picking his brain as much as possible. some things made sense to me and at times I felt I was lost listening to all the info. One thing I did pick up and have used successfully was determining primary and secondary scrapes.

Knowing I'm a ground hunter...we spoke about paying attention to the wind more and if possible, have a few natural blinds setup in the area in case the wind was wrong. Oh yeah....he LOVED Mountain Dew!!

"What made RR such an incredible deer hunter? If it wasn’t having a great place to hunt, what was it?" - the same thing that makes for any great hunter (or bowyer, or shooter, or musician, or...), persistence and the ability to apply critical thought.

Roger lived 24/7/365 for 50+ years doing/thinking/analyzing nothing else but bowhunting mature whitetail bucks. He did nothing else, didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't fish, didn't gun hunt, didn't bowl, didn't well you get the point. And yes, one can not kill big bucks consistently if one bowhunts where they do not exist!

Persistence. Making very few mistakes. Always playing the wind. Don't miss.

Persistence.

I like his approach. I try to do similar, solve every problem with a good solution. You don't have to be perfect, but you can't have success by just hoping...

Well I finished going through my collection of Bowhunter and came up with 12 articles by Roger ranging from June of 72 till fall of 93.

I believe he also double served his bow strings and shot bare finger too. Is that right?

YES HE DID SHOOT BARE FINGER, NOT SURE OF THE DOUBLE SERVE THOUGH.

Actually, he triple served his bowstring above and below nocking point so he could shoot bare fingered. He was shooting that way when I met him in 1969.

What kind of shoulder injury did he have?

Torn rotator cuff.

Thanks

Roger sure made that camo sweater popular in the day. Always enjoyed his writings.

I tried the for fletch that Kelly recommended, and I wish I would have known about it 40 years ago. I'm getting perfect arrow fight with the big Snuffer's.

"Four" fletch rather.

I never shot a Snuffer but I bet they make a huge hole

Here is a photo of Roger on our Bear hunt...we were baiting our sites and having fun.

Thanks all enjoyed reading your forum. Miss him alot.

I lived down the gravel road from Roger in Albia. He was a good one. Had a lot of fun watching him chase poachers up and down the gravel.

He was a classic,,,, not what you see today,,,, I met him so many times at different shows, while his wife was always knitting, while he talked.... He had patience and info for everyone one,,,, what a nice man

Yep he was my friend also and one of the true l legends so much knowledge I still use from him not just on deer but life knowledge. i truely miss him. Those of yds that were lucky enough to go in the woods with him came out with a wealth of knowledge he is truely missed

Roger hunted several farms in his part of ohio. He scouted like not many would today. He'd sit in a tree stand and watch areas in mornings in early fall and summer to find the large bucks. Sometimes a farmer that knew him would call n tell him of a nice buck he saw. Alot of the farms he hunted anyone could hunt by asking. So until he moved out of ohio to his own farm he had no better hunting spots than any of us in good trophy deer states could have. He was smart, he knew deer, he made a point to not take a shot unless he was sure of a kill, and he put in more time hunting and scouting than anyone I ever knew. Thats how he killed big bucks. A guy ask him that question when we were standing around bs'ing at a pbs banquet in W. VA. He laughed and said , don't miss them once you find them. He said you get 1 shot so don't take it till its right.

Thats the thing i remember about him most the built up serving on his string and shooting bare fingers .i watched a video of him shooting and he was a good shot.i like to shoot bare fingers to but it sure slows my speed down as i dont shoot the heavy bows .

I hunted Bears with him and his son Ryan a couple of time in Canada. Good people and great fun to be around.

Back in 1983 when I was selling archery equipment out the back door of my business in North Iowa Roger set me up as a dealer for Snuffer Broadheads that he was making, we talked many times over the phone and in the mid 1980s Iowa Bowhunters had as quest speaker at the fall shoot and I finally meet in person and that was a real treat.

Awesome read guys. Thanks for the stories about Mr. Rothhar.

Roger Rothhaar. I think a lot of us honed our deer hunting teeth on his original articles in Bowhunter Magazine in the early 70's with is In Pursuit of Trophy Whitetails. I got the book after that and read it many times. Surpised that Ryan hasn't checked in to this thread, I'm sure he has stories.

Damn, That buck has to be 300#, look at his hind legs Tucked up!

What was he shooting for poundage shooting bare fingers

Heavy weight bucks was another traight Roger loved. He could get the big boys. I can't remember the weight or size of a Hugh black bear he found in saskasawan but he waited days before the conditions were right before he went in What a bear. One of you guys probably know and remember the details

Love the camo!

This is a great thread, Ive got a couple of his books , both signed with a nice message, and he enclosed a few pics that I will always treasure, when I find myself losing focus or drive I always turn to Rogers books as well as the Wensel’s He killed some unbelievable deer and was really a common guy that lived for big buck hunting

That's a Bob Fratzke, Winona Knitting Mills vest. I till have one of their sweaters that I wear each year. I bought it new in 1978 and it has a few repairs, but still wears just fine. ;) Quiet as any piece of clothing you can get.

He was the sole reason I even considered changing archery tackle. Glad I ran into Whitetail Magic when I did. A compound hunting buddy bought it just to learn more about old bucks. While that was interesting, his tackle is what really got me.

I would say what makes you great well there are a number of things.

Being in the right place at the right time.

Then I say Lord guide my arrow straight so that its a clean kill and no wound or chase.

Thank you Lord for the ability to shoot straight and the opportunity.

One of the greats resting and looking down on the pups to see what we are doing and how we are doing and talking about it with others?

yes , no , maybe?

Here is a ground photo(where it actually was) of the hanging buck. Actual live weight was 284#.

Roger always shot bare fingers ever since I met him in 1969 and I'm sure before that. Even 70# plus and down to 42# at the end. He triple served the string above and below the nock area. He worked with his hands all the time plus all the shooting. Actually get the cleanest release without any finger protection. Tried it for awhile but I've got pansy fingers.

I believe Ryan is on a hunting trip so am sure he'll check in after getting back home.

Here's a dandy.

Another one.

Sorry, I fixed it.

Whitetail Hunter extraordinaire! I remember reading long ago that Roger shot bare-fingered and I tried it shooting 68-71#s back then. I was only good for a few shots...after that I thought I'd take the skin off if I kept shooting...also, no double or triple serving. I actually killed a nice buck bare-fingers, not by choice, I had misplaced my glove in the wrong pocket and here he came.

I have a good friend who's killed a couple hundred Whitetails in his mid 70's now who has always shot bare-fingered. Big ole hard working calloused hands...tough!

Great thread on good ole Roger!

Excellent thread.

Awesome thread!

I also hope Ryan jumps in here. He looks and is so much like his dad

Hey Kelly what buck made the 1000 club of rogers was it six or ten

Man you have to love it. He wears old worn out camo. I think it is great. He proves that it is what it is. You do not need all of that fancy stuff. Just a bow and arrow and knowledge of the deer. We can all get the bow and arrow but the knowledge well that is wear Roger was the King. Rest in Peace.

Don’t remember the exact scores but his top six bucks score well over 1000 points, total. Includes two B&C typical(over 170) and one B&C non typical(over 220).

Forget how many score over 160, like 15 or more.

Babysaph is right on.....It's the Indian, not the arrow. Awesome thread! I've enjoyed it. Certainly, he was one of the greats.

Very nice thread. Eternal be his memory. George

I need to correct some of my previous statement made early this morning. Was doing it from memory and in a hurry. Just went thru some pictures and on the back of the following bucks picture Roger wrote the following. "01-01-16, 5x4, Gross 173 5/8", Net 164 5/8". Kelly-This is my 19th buck that nets over 150" and my 8th that nets over 160". Not bad for an old Turd!"

He was using a Black Widow Silver Anneversary Autumn Oak handle with his custom Jack Howard grip and 64", 48# @ 30" MB limbs that he reduced the weight to 42# @ 29.5", his draw. The arrows were 30" bop Blackhawk Carbonwoods in the 3000 size(same as others 500 size) with a 50 grain brass insert and 160 grain Snuffers mounted on 100 grain steel broadhead adapters. Total arrow weight of 540 grains.

This is the first buck he killed in the same season as mentioned above. 10-4-15, "Sledrunner"(note bean tips), he named a lot of bucks, 4x4 gross 150", Net 148", age 6.5 years old, weight 270 live. Roger wrote, "We had to gut him just so Tracy and I could get him into my truck. Fat as a butterball-I trimmed 3 one gallon freezer bags of fat off his carcass. Birds are eating well!"

Second buck from 2015/16 season. 10/30/15, "Notch"(note ear), 5x5, Gross 160", Net 157".

Roger hunted every day that the season was open, never missed unless it was absolutley pouring rain. Even then, if it stopped during daylight he'd rush out and get in a stand or blind.

A legend

Yeller, was this the bear you are thinking of or the "red" one? Both were over 20" skulls and being spring bear were in the 400# range. Roger was a large man, close to 300# and he's not sitting 6 feet behind this bear either. He full size mounted both of the bear, wish I had a picture of them.

What is unigue about this one are the arrows Roger used. I made him a set of custom wood arrows and he used one to kill this bear. Other than his very early years, the only time he used wood arrows. Until the latter years where he used carbon, aluminum was always in his quiver. That's a Habu bow.

Oh, and he killed other things, too. Jack Howard Gamemaster Jet recurve, 65#@ 29.5", 2216's.

But big whitetails were his thing. This is the big Non Typical he killed in the middle of a cornfield in Illinois.

What distance was his effective shooting range? Thanks

This is one of the greatest Leatherwall threads in my opinion!

Also how high did he like to place his treestands.

AGREE Homey88 ;)

He was deadly up to 30/35yards. Most were shot at 20/25 yards and under.

He set up his tree stands not real high, probably 10/12 feet or so. He preferred multi trunk trees and set up on the opposite side of the trunks so they shielded him from the bucks approach. Then took the shot after the buck had passed, ie quartering away.

In the later years he used ladder stands which were 10' or 15' high to the seat, 2 or 3 sections.

On another note Roger was a Master Taxidermist bar none. In the barn picture above everyone of those deer plus lots more bucks, bulls, bears, moose, muskox, etc were mounted by him for himself and Ronald and Ryan, plus some for friends.

This is the buck that started it all! 8 point, 184#, Ohio.

In the barn picture the three bucks that appear white were from 2016/17 season. They were the last ones he was working on before he passed-had not mounted hides on them yet. It always took him till the next year to mount previous years bucks.

Regarding his equipment, he used only 4 brands of recurves over the years since the buck that started it. First was his favorite and best shooter in his opinion. Jack Howard Gamemaster Jet-it just melted into my hand and pointed so naturally, he once said.

Next was the Assenheimer, of which was patterened after the Jack Howard Gamemaster Jet. Roger dropped the Jet out of a tree and a limb broke so he knew Donnie Assenheimer who had woodworking experience and with his machinist background they got together to build a Gamemaster Jet takedown. Using the good limb for a pattern the created a limb mold. A set of limbs were made and mounted on the Gamemaster Jet handle(Ryan still has this handle and the first sets of limbs built-they had white glass) from his broken bow. Basically cut the limbs off, made threaded inserts and mounted the recently made limbs to it. It was an istant hit as far as Roger was concerned. These first versions shot just like the Gamemaster Jet.

Then Roger and Donnie had a sort of falling out period, Donnie decided to change the handle shape and angle limbs mounted so he could make them easier. Also, he shortened up the recurve portion to make them easier to build, too. These later Assenheimers do not shoot like the first ones.

Then Donnie came up with a handle very similar to the Gamemaster jet, Roger made the fixtures for bow building and the takedown inserts and the Assenheimer was born.

Then Black Widow came calling(about the time Ken Beck bought BW) and Roger used them all the way till the last. along the way Chris Cox was befriended by Roger and he helped Chris design and build a bow simialar to BW. Roger shot them on/off over the years until the got too heavy of draw weight. He really liked the Habu but said it was a touchy bow to shoot-needed a perfect release everytime. If your release was perfect the Habu was golden.

Kelly, I've seen photos of his ladder stands where he would use camo or burlap netting about knee high on the sides and front of them. His set-ups were no doubt thought out to the smallest detail.

Another thing about his ladder stands was extending the foot platform back towards the tree, in fact lengthening it. Then the seat portion was made to flip up against tree so if standing ones back was next to the trunk, effectively hiding oneself. Hopefully I'll take a picture of one of mine after season opens here and post it later. One year Roger and I modified 15 ladder stands to this configuration.

Regarding his arrows. He was meticulous about them, fletched them himself with a Jo Jan Multi Fletcher that he tweaked the helical of the clamps to increase it. They were almost always 4 fletch, 60/120 style as explained earlier, usually red and yellow, or sometimes orange, mostly aluminum but he did use Microflite's in early years and carbons in the latter years. From as long as I can remember he spray painted the fore shaft with light grey primer so the shaft showed up better in his peripheral vision for lining up the shot. Yes, everyone has to see the arrow in secondary vision in order to consistently hit what you are "aiming" at!

Of course, he used His Snuffers and mounted them so that the V of two blades was pointing up. He also used this V to align up the arrow on game although not purposely. His arrows were 30" BOP and his draw was 29.5". Shooting broadhead tipped arrows was a year around thing with Roger. As was taking a few shots before going on stand.

Roger always shot split fingered with a very deep hook(beyond first joint), anchored first finger behind corner of mouth and held the bow pretty much upright-no cant at all. I attribute this to his very early NFAA days when he was a very good shot at targets. He never shot a compound and never held anything against one who did. He didn't like the release and sights used on them, tho.

He also created his own "Judo" point by taking a field point, drilling a hole thru it about half way back from tip and inserting an 1.25" roll pin.

Good stuff here, nice to see.Thanks

Great read!

Love this thread! I was lucky enough to become friends with Roger. I read his early writings and was amazed at how far ahead he was in big buck whitetail knowledge. People are still writing articles today about stuff he wrote about in the 70's. I hunted him down and called him and that was the beginning of our friendship. Don't want to give the illusion that we were super close, just two whitetail fanatics that spoke on and off for 10+ years. He was always gracious with his time and sharing his unbelievably deep knowledge of all things bowhunting. I can still hear his lovely wife Jane after answering the phone yell to Roger "It's Craig from NY". I treasure the conversations I had with the Master.

This thread keeps getting better and better!

Great thread. All other whitetail hunters are second IMO.

Yes Kelly. That's the bear. Roger and I were stump shooting late summer of 92. Along with some looking around at areas in Illinois. He hunted late winter of 91 with me. So he said go over to that large rub on that hackberry. He took a couple pictures and said I have get you in my new book and laughed then couple years later his last book came out and the pic was in there. Lol. Later that season I more than Roger we had a almost tragedy That is for a later time

This thread is fantastic!! Keep it going!!

Roger was "The Man" back when I was about 16 or so. His books and magazine articles (and big buck pics!) fueled a fire in me that will last a lifetime. The fact he did it with a recurve is icing on the cake! I always appreciated the fact that when many of the so-called big names in bowhunting were often surrounded by doubt and controversy that Roger kept his nose clean and put in the time and effort to, as they're so fond of saying these days, "get it done".

Is his bow upside down in some of those pics or did he like to carry his arrows with the fletchings pointed up instead of down?

I always noticed that too peej

I'm getting ready to hop on a plane in a couple hours. Flying on 9/11??? Yeah, our youngest son lives in Australia but has a home in Redmond. OR. He flies in each summer and holds our grandkids hostage (7 and 5), so my wife and I are forced to fly out to see them. Roger and I started corresponding in 1970, if I remember right. He was living in OH and I was in Vermont at the time. After calling each other a few times we realized our telephone bills were getting out of hand. So, with each of us being "frugal", we started sending each other cassette tapes. He'd send me one, I'd listen to it and write down questions he asked me and/or a statement he'd make that I wanted to clarify, or ask his opinion on. We did that for several years. Like I said, we were both "thrifty" so after listening to each others cassettes we'd just tape over the last one and send it back to each other. What idiots we were! Ha. What I wouldn't give if we'd have each bought a new cassette and saved the used ones for posterity. I actually did have a few of them but lost them in our fire in '99. Probably five years ago I did find one that wasn't in the storage shed that burned to the ground. I think it was from '74. At the time Gene and I had a single shed whitetail antler that a friend found west of Kalispell, MT that measured 104"?? ( I can't remember exactly but it was definitely over 100" typical shed and a potential world record typical. There's a picture of it in one of my brother's books but I don't have time to reference it right now. Anyway, I sent it to Roger to drool over. When he returned it to me, apparently he was impressed with the fact I would trust sending an antler like that to him, through the USPS no less! Ha. I also still have a single-spaced, three full page typed letter he sent me that didn't get lost in my fire. In it he mentioned he and Jane just had a new baby and "he seems like a good little booger and was sleeping through the night already" or words to that effect.. (Ryan). At any rate, I thought you guys might enjoy this trivia. I've always considered Roger as good as they come, both as a person and a bowhunter. He was as good a white hunter that has ever walked the face of this earth... ever! BW

Yes the bow is upside down in some of those pictures. Don't know why for sure other than it shows off his arrows that way. otherwise the deer would hide the fletchings. No biggee!

I meant "whitetail hunter" near the end, not "white" hunter. I could get into trouble with the politically correct these days with typos like that! bw

Great history there.

Hey Barry, you and Gene aren't too shabby yourselves. ;))

I met Roger in the early 80’s when I stopped at his house in Oceola, Ohio. I spent quite awhile talking with him and admiring his trophies. What led me to his house of course was also his basement producing snuffers. He made a believer out of me when he put 3 other sharp broadheads on the end of an arrow and told me to push them thru a deer hide he was holding. Then he put a snuffer on the end of it and with a smile on his face said “Now try this one.” It went thru like the hide was butter. Needless to say I was a believer right then and there. Back then I was shooting a 60 pound bow and the 1 1/2 snuffer which made a 1 1/2 hole was a devastating machine, had 1 head that I should have retired, I lost it on the 8th deer when the arrow broke. I am down to 50# now, and still use the 145 grain snuffer that makes about 1 3/8 hole. I can’t say enough about Roger and his snuffer, and the legend he is. And yes I still have some of the Big Snuffers that he gave me. Thanks Roger and Rest In Peace.

after reading his articles for many years in PBS Magazine, I met him on a bear hunt in Saskatchewan near Carrot River. My buddy, Phil and I spent a week in camp with him and his oldest son, Ron. He was great story teller and a wealth of information. He helped me with some shooting while there and recommended I try Habu bows....he was impressed with performance and attention to detail used in them though he liked his handles a certain way.

I used his snuffers some but after they changed hands I had a few with inconsistent heat treatment on them...so stopped...but he was a great hunter, great inventor, and a great man to all that called him friend or mentor.

His books pretty much tell you what you are asking...and Kelly has filled in quite a bit more. And as mentioned..>Ryan and Ron are around sometimes....

keep em sharp,

Ron Herman

Phenomenal Man- no doubt Great post, thank you!

After my last post on Roger I got a few pms asking about the almost tragedy with Roger and I. Back in 91 Roger called me to see if he could come in for a late season hunt with me. That part is a rather funny story for later. Fast forward to late summer of 92 we met up we're we were going to hunt the season together. Come October 21 I took off work to meet Roger in a small town in Illinois we He was retired so he could hunt the whole season. After meeting many farmers and introducing him to farmers we went back to our room. Next morning he wanted to go to a particular farm he liked I told him I was going to another. I had to put a stand up when I got to the tree. After placing the stand I got in it and it gave way when I hit the ground. My right wrist completely shattered and my lower back broke I was paralyzed from waist down I knew I was screwed no one knew where I was I'd call for help every five minutes After trying to crawl for five hours I heard my farmer friend and Roger hollaring for me. Roger couple hours earlier had found my truck and was waiting for me to show up around noon he was taking a leak and thought he heard me he went to farmer and they found me. So he may of saved my life. So he always has a special place in my heart. I have few funny stories but that's for another day. Let's keep other stories coming. Great thread

What Yeller said. Keep the stories coming.

Here’s one for ya Kelly. Roger would be willing to share any of his knowledge and you would always get more than you asked. I first met him thru Kelly although we had written to each other and spoke on the phone on several occasions. I don’t think our phone conversations were ever less than an hour. I still have several of his letters. One in particular where he sent a detailed drawing on how he mounted a homemade bracket to keep his binoculars in a set position for his eye spacing. Sadly one of my pups got ahold of it and parts are missing. Roger wrote a lot of articles for PBS magazine that have never been in other magazines. He was a huge influence on the way I hunt.

Great Story, Yeller. That sounded like a tragic event, falling and the ensuing paralysis! Glad you have made a recovery, and you are here to share your stories of an incredible Bowhunter!

Just curious as to whether Roger and Paul Schafer ever met? To be a fly on the wall if that ever took place!

Here is one of my favorite reads in my hunting library! A classic!

If I remember right reading one of his books, he shot 4 fletch, 5 or 5+" feathers... Lots of big feathers for his big "Bisciut Cutter" broadheads...

In Masters of the Barebow Vol. 1 DVD Roger Rotthhaar explains how he shoots, his bow, his arrows, what fletching he likes, how he doesn't wear a glove or tab and triple serves his strings, etc.

So here's kind of a fun story I had with ol Roger. Like. I said in earlier post Roger back in 91 ask if he could come in after Xmas and do some late hunting with me. Well you never say no to this opportunity We had planned on hunting most of 92 together. We had met several times and talked a lot. So when he came in I had my hunting buddy rapper come with us. We showed him around he said he would like to try this one area. Later that evening when we met back together he told us he shot a buck. We were pumped Roger rotthhaar had shot a buck with us. We knew of his history he said may be liver so we waited til next morning. He wouldn't tell us how big. Down played him. We said sure well next morning we got on blood trail. Snuffers leave a good one. Rapper and I were like kids at Xmas. We looked up and Roger no where around. Then he yelled over here he had heard blue jays squawking and they were at his buck. We got there and rapper a d me both looked at his buck and at ame time looked at each other then at Roger. He said it's been couple years and I wanted to shoot. We all laughed and said this is great he is human. The 6 or scored about 60inches.

We took few pics. He posed just like the big ones. I have it somewhere down stairs. It was just nice to carry one of rogers bucks out of the woods for him. One of my best hunts

Roger was a fellow Ohioan until moving away. I was privileged to have been acquainted with him. Not as much as I would have liked but distance, time, and my career prevented more of a friendship.

Roger and another Ohio bowhunting legend were friends. Roger and Don Assenheimer were both located in central Ohio. Roger and Don closely worked together on ideas. Roger made the Snuffer broadhead and Don made the recurve bows - what a combo. Unfortunately, at some point their friendship became at least strained.

I was privileged to also be acquainted with Don and his wife Shirley. They were very nice folks. Don designed and built some fantastic bows. He made quite a few for me. In my opinion there are many different bows, but none that are truly better.

As a younger hunter, I built the foundation of my bowhunting knowledge learning from articles, videos, books, and personal experiences from four true experts - Roger Rothhaar, Don Assenheimer, Gene Wensel, and Barry Wensel. I cannot imagine a better group to learn from. Thank you guys!

Besides learning more about one of bowhuntings greats, one of the best things about this thread is no negativity! No sarcastic or demeaning comments in a rather long thread! That really says something about what folks must have thought of this man! Does my heart good!

A true “ Patriarch” to what makes a Traditional bowhunter a “Legendary Whitetail Deer Hunter”.

Yes I thought about this long thread also with not one negative comment. This thread I look forward to going to every nite it's even created a.new friend and bring back some old ones. Carcajou. Honey 88 Shorthair. Kelly Barry. I have a few more Roger stories. I'll wait and see if others chime in

Roger was absolutely the best. Life isn't the same without him.

When Roger agreed to appear in our Masters Of The Barebow DVDs Darryl and I were super pumped. We got to visit with Roger, Jane, and Ryan in Iowa. It was an epic adventure for Darryl and me, and we will never forget it or Roger's donation to our project. Love to all the Rothhaars!!

Great Pic Denny

My dad and I went scouting with Bill Burgess, Roger and Ryan Rothhaar many years ago; when Ryan was a little kid. We were shed hunting and checking stand locations around Jackson, Michigan. I remember Roger saying, " It's a lot more interesting hunting for antlers when they are still attached."

We also visited one of Roger's stand sites and Bill gave him some crap about over trimming. Roger replied, " If you want to see deer, go to the zoo. If you want to kill one, you need an open lane!"

I've always agreed with his wisdom.

Thanks Jack, Babysaph, I know you have been in the game with all of us a LONG time! Hope you are well old friend.

Great thread !!! What a stud of a man.

Keep those stories coming Yeller!

This topics just gets better and better, Thanks to all for the contributions!

Yep let's here some more stories

Heres a couple of Rogers bear mounts that were refferenced in some of the threads above.

Mr. Rothhaar was truely an inspiration.

After reading one of his books I switched to the big Snuffers. Shot them on 2219 shafts from 70# SL Darton compound. Every deer shot made it known they did not like the Snuffers when they arrived! Continued with them when I switched to heavyweight longbows and recurves with the same results. Now, after 2 surgeries (I'm not as tuff as Roger) I still use them out of my crossbow. He was an amazing representative for us archery hunters.

I met Mr. Rothhaar in the early 80s at the Tennessee Volunteer Deer Classic in Nashville. He had a booth and was selling his Snuffer broadheads. I stopped at the both and after examining one of the Snuffers said to Mr. Rothhaar: "These are big broadheads - won't they make your arrow too heavy?" I'll never forget his reply: "No one ever missed a deer because their arrow was too heavy!" That about says it all.

Denny,I’ve repeated what he’s said about pruning 100 times over the years!?? I’ve got a lot of time in over the years& will stand my ground on my side of the argument of what not to do on Michigan deer! If there’s a smarter buck than mature Michigan deer, I’ve yet to see one! Zane saw these posts& told me about them. They bring so many fond memories back, it’s so strange how fast it goes by anymore. Hope everyone has a safe& successful year using all the things Roger so unselfishly taught us!

Hi Bill, long time no speak. Hope you are doing well.

TTT

Great thread.

I agree great thread!

Just read the whole thread. Outstanding stories and pictures!! Thanks to all!!

TTT

I usually make at least one trip to IN per year and try to meet up with Ryan for dinner or coffee. Have started a collection of Snuffer 160 and 190 grain heads.

Very cool thread. What a great man and family!

Love this thread!

I met Roger several times at WVBA functions and PBS functions over the years. You will never meet a better guy or better bowhunter. I remember calling and ordering snuffer over the phone, talked with Roger for about 2 hours LOL!

I was one of the Fortunate hunters that got to hunt with my friend Roger three seasons. The knowledge I aguired I still use today. Sure miss my friend. His son Ryan is the exact chip of Roger

Thanks for re-posting this thread. I had forgotten what a great tribute this was to such an incredible Whitetail hunter. I also learned so much from my conversations with him. Time to re-read his books.

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here