Just heard that PH Rolf Rowher was gored by a buffalo in the Selous yesterday afternoon. He has been evacuated to South Africa. Don't have much details but apparently got a horn up his thigh and main injuries are to his legs.

Take care out there!

I think it's time for Rolf to hang it up. That's two or maybe three in the last couple of years.

Our most sincere best wishes for an easy and fast recovery!

Hope for a rapid and full recovery! Sounds like the injuries were only to the legs, so maybe a full recovery can be expected if there is no tendon or bone damage.

Didn't Rolf also suffer a severe leopard or lion mauling just a few years back? Be a shame to continue a string of mishaps like that--would use a 600 OK as a backup,

Dak

I've only met Rolf a couple of times-a real gentleman. Here's to good health very soon.
Brice

Rohwer was mauled by a lion several years ago. He shot the lion with a .458 Win. Mag. using a 500 grain Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet as it charged him.

His bullet struck the lion in the chest, but did not stop the lion's charge. So, the lion pounced on Rohwer and gave him a good going over before finally crawling off and dying.

Rohwer later sued Federal, claiming that its defective bullet failed to expand and stop the lion and thereby caused his injuries. Of course, any DG hunter knows or should know that, regardless of his chosen bullet, a non-CNS hit cannot be relied upon to stop a charging lion, but Rohwer obviously hoped to get to a sympathetic jury with his claim.

I am happy to say that Rohwer lost his lawsuit - it did not even survive a motion to dismiss. Our legal system still works, sometimes.

I am sorry to hear he was gored by a buffalo. I wonder if he is still using Federal ammunition?

Here is a link to a report of the case:

Rohwer v. Federal

OR a 458....jorge

Mrlexma: Thanks for the link. Interesting reading.

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:
OR a 458....jorge

Lay off the 458 Big Fella. Even I know a 500gr projectile in 458 would be too hard for them Lions. . .
don't I? Now if he hada used those new Hornadys?

I find it distasteful that he tried to sue under the circumstances given.

I don't know the man, and hope he recovers fully, but I wouldn't care to hunt with him. Knowing nothing more than what I read here he doesn't sound very good at his job, or incredibly unlucky. In either case I don't want to be at his shoulder when things go wrong.

It will be interesting to hear the details of the goring. Maybe I'll change my mind.

I don't hunt to have exciting stories to tell my buds. I want a PH or guide that does his job well, minimizing the risk, then I'll do my part.

My hunting stories are usually bang-flop. The exciting part to me is how you set up the shot. The results of a poorly hit animal isn't exciting to me, it just sounds embarrassing.

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
Rohwer was mauled by a lion several years ago. He shot the lion with a .458 Win. Mag. using a 500 grain Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet as it charged him.

His bullet struck the lion in the chest, but did not stop the lion's charge. So, the lion pounced on Rohwer and gave him a good going over before finally crawling off and dying.

Rohwer later sued Federal, claiming that its defective bullet failed to expand and stop the lion and thereby caused his injuries. Of course, any DG hunter knows or should know that, regardless of his chosen bullet, a non-CNS hit cannot be relied upon to stop a charging lion, but Rohwer obviously hoped to get to a sympathetic jury with his claim.

I am happy to say that Rohwer lost his lawsuit - it did not even survive a motion to dismiss. Our legal system still works, sometimes.

I am sorry to hear he was gored by a buffalo. I wonder if he is still using Federal ammunition?

Here is a link to a report of the case:

Rohwer v. Federal

Worth the cut and paste


Big Game Hunter Fails to Bag Expert Testimony of Defect, Causation

A big game hunter mauled by a lion within seconds of shooting the charging animal has no claim against a bullet manufacturer for defective design or failure to warn, a federal judge in Minnesota ruled Nov. 18 (Rohwer v. Federal Cartridge Co., D. Minn., No. 03-CV-2872, 11/18/04).

Expert evidence the plaintiff presented regarding the behavior of wounded lions was "sheer conjecture," the court said. In addition, he failed to demonstrate either that the product was dangerous or that the defendant had superior knowledge of any danger that would give rise to a legal duty to warn.

Bullet Failed to Fell Charging Lion.

Rolf Rohwer, a big game hunter, led a Tanzanian lion-hunting safari in August 2000. During the safari, a participant shot a lion, wounding its paw. Recognizing the threat a wounded animal posed, and the inhumanity of allowing the animal to suffer with a non-lethal wound, Rohwer tracked the lion for three hours, intending to kill it.

Rohwer spotted the injured lion at a distance of approximately 60 meters in tall grass. Confronted by Rohwer, the lion charged along a winding path. Rohwer waited until the lion was approximately seven meters away before firing a single shot that he claimed hit the lion's left clavicle. The animal absorbed the impact and continued to charge, pouncing less than a second later and mauling Rohwer. The lion then walked away, lay down, and died of its wounds. Rohwer was airlifted to a hospital.

To shoot the lion, Rohwer chose a Federal Premium 500 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet manufactured by Federal Cartridge. In nearly 40 years in his profession, Rohwer claimed to have killed more than 100 lions, including four charging at close range. He had never before used a Bear Claw bullet to shoot a lion.

Rohwer sued, alleging the bullet was defective because it was manufactured with a hard casing which, he claimed, does not expand when used on thin-skinned animals such as members of the cat family. The bullet used to shoot the lion was not recovered, and the animal's carcass was not preserved, although members of Rohwer's hunting party examined it and averred that the entrance and exit wounds appeared to be the same size.

Before this litigation, Federal Cartridge had not received any reports of a Bear Claw's failure to expand. In an effort to approximate a lion's skin, the company's expert conducted tests by firing bullets from the same batch as that used by Rohwer into a box of wet newspapers covered with saturated elk skin. The bullets in the test uniformly expanded as designed to, and the entrance and exit wounds were the same size. Federal Cartridge moved for summary judgment.

Expert Evidence was 'Sheer Conjecture.'

Viewing the facts of the case in the light most favorable to Rohwer, Chief Judge James M. Rosenbaum of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota dismissed his claims for negligence, design defect, breach of warranty, and failure to warn. Under Minnesota law, these claims are merged under a single theory of strict product liability.

To prove his case, Rosenbaum explained, Rohwer had to establish a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the Bear Claw was in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous for its intended use, show that the defect existed when the product left Federal Cartridge's control, and show that the defect was the proximate cause of his injury. Assuming Rohwer could establish the second element of his claim, Rosenbaum said he nonetheless failed to establish any issue of fact on the rest of his prima facie case.

Because there was no direct evidence available, Rosenbaum said Rohwer could prove a product defect by circumstantial evidence, but only if the jury "would not need to engage in speculation." Rohwer attempted to prove the Bear Claw was defective through expert testimony concerning lion behavior and the location of the animal's wounds, but his evidence "misses the mark," Rosenbaum wrote.

In Minnesota, Rosenbaum explained, plaintiffs cannot establish a products liability case through res ispa loquitor, but must introduce "something more" than evidence that an accident occurred to prove defect and causation. Although the "something more" may be expert testimony, such testimony must have sufficient factual support, the judge said. "It is never enough that [the evidence] suggests a possibility. The evidence in proof must justify sound and honest inferences," Rosenbaum wrote, citing Peterson v. Crown Zellerbach Corp., (209 N.W.2d 922 (Minn. 1973)).

Here, Rosenbaum said Rohwer's proffered evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to create a triable issue as to whether the Bear Claw failed to expand: he presented no evidence of a history of the bullet failing to expand; the bullet expanded in all tests conducted by both plaintiff and defendant; and there was "an entire paucity of proof that a mushroomed Bear Claw bullet must cause a larger exit hole. As such, same-sized entry and exit wounds are fully consistent with proper expansion and will not allow a jury to infer defect."

Rohwer's expert evidence concerning the behavior of wounded lions, "… particularly behavior after a paw shot when the animal is in full charge, is sheer conjecture," Rosenbaum wrote. The lion's behavior could be attributed to a bullet defect only if Rohwer presented precise evidence of the bullet's path in a manner that eliminated variables associated with shot placement.

Such evidence was absent here, since the only evidence of the bullet's path offered by plaintiff was completely contradictory--Rohwer claimed to have hit the lion on his left side, Rosenbaum explained, while witnesses claimed the bullet entered the lion's body on the right. "On this evidence, a jury can only speculate as to plaintiff's experts' theories on the subject of bullet expansion," Rosenbaum wrote. "Plaintiff cannot show either defect or causation."

Turning to Rohwer's argument on the failure to warn, Rosenbaum found Federal Cartridge had no legal duty to provide a warning. Rohwer failed to demonstrate either that the product was dangerous or that Federal Cartridge had superior knowledge or any danger, the judge wrote. Rohwer offered no studies, tests, field reports, or evidence of bullet-failure incidents other than his own. "His duty to warn argument," Rosenbaum explained, "devolves into a simple 'I say the Bear Claw bullet failed to expand. Therefore ipso facto I should have been warned that it would fail to do so.' "

Federal Cartridge had no duty to warn as a matter of law, Rosenbaum ruled, "and based on the evidence adduced by plaintiff, no reasonable jury could find defendant's bullet was defective or caused plaintiff's injuries. Accordingly, the complaint must be dismissed."

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey1:
I think it's time for Rolf to hang it up. That's two or maybe three in the last couple of years.

I was thinking just that ... but I guess that it must be really difficult to asume that your body wouldn´t let you live your life as desired ...

Hope he will recover completely soon....

So, did he shoot a buffalo with a 500 grain TBBC out of a 458 WM and it expanded too quickly, and did not stop the charging buffalo.

He didn't win the case where he thought the TBBC failed to expand, maybe this time he could claim opposite and have some success.


I was really just kidding re: the above and don't want to downplay his injuries or the incident. I hope he fully recovers as soon as possible.

Tim

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
Knowing nothing more than what I read here he doesn't sound very good at his job, or incredibly unlucky. In either case I don't want to be at his shoulder when things go wrong.

That's a bit harsh don't you think? There are numerous PH's out there that have gotten nailed by wounded charging DG. Would you not hunt with them? If you hunt DG long enough and often enough, your chances of getting to grips with horns, fangs and claws can be quite high. Stopping a charge at close quarters is mostly due to luck. It does not necessarily reflect on the persons lack of skill or hunting abilities.

Hunting big game is intrinsicaly dangerous. This year two PH's I know well have been run over by buff, one badly chewed by a lion, three mauled by leopard and one got a swat from an ele cow - and we still have two months of hard hunting to go! Also these are not complete stats for the year as I have herd of a couple of other maulings on PH's I don't really know, never mind that ele's have killed two clients and one tracker so far...

I had a nasty run in with a lioness. She absorbed 2 .458 and two .375 bullets as she came on and finally died riddled with fire from my .41 and John's .44. We were running backwards and shooting and she died on top of my rifle! John hit her with what looked like a perfect shot with his .458- but the bullet actually passed over the lung and slipped out under the shoulder blade without doing any damage. A solid from my rifle went through her from end to end- but passed between the lungs- It would have killed her but didn't stop the charge. The other two shots broke a hip and a shoulder but were not imediately lethal hits. It was a good wake up call!

I've hunted with PHs that have been nailed, but they didn't sue the bullet maker. No, I wouldn't care to hunt with this guy. I wonder if he will sue his hunter or tracker over this latest incident.

I would like to hear the particulars on what happened.

Because of the lawsuit, I would never even consider hunting with Rolf Rohwer.

In fact, shortly after he first filed it, I emailed him and told him just that, and urged him to drop the lawsuit if only for the sake of his business, and to salvage whatever he could of his reputation, but of course he didn't do that.

He must still be getting his share of bookings. I wonder, though, how many hunters who book with him realize that he tried to blame Federal, and brought legal action against them, for his own mistake?

I am also curious to know the details of his latest misadventure with the buffalo.

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
Hunting big game is intrinsicaly dangerous. This year two PH's I know well have been run over by buff, one badly chewed by a lion, three mauled by leopard and one got a swat from an ele cow - and we still have two months of hard hunting to go! Also these are not complete stats for the year as I have herd of a couple of other maulings on PH's I don't really know, never mind that ele's have killed two clients and one tracker so far...

I had a nasty run in with a lioness. She absorbed 2 .458 and two .375 bullets as she came on and finally died riddled with fire from my .41 and John's .44. We were running backwards and shooting and she died on top of my rifle! John hit her with what looked like a perfect shot with his .458- but the bullet actually passed over the lung and slipped out under the shoulder blade without doing any damage. A solid from my rifle went through her from end to end- but passed between the lungs- It would have killed her but didn't stop the charge. The other two shots broke a hip and a shoulder but were not imediately lethal hits. It was a good wake up call!

So where was the 9.3x62 when you needed it?

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
Because of the lawsuit, I would never even consider hunting with Rolf Rohwer.

In fact, shortly after he first filed it, I emailed him and told him just that, and urged him to drop the lawsuit if only for the sake of his business, and to salvage whatever he could of his reputation, but of course he didn't do that.

He must still be getting his share of bookings. I wonder, though, how many hunters who book with him realize that he tried to blame Federal, and brought legal action against them, for his own mistake?

I am also curious to know the details of his latest misadventure with the buffalo.

Roher has a good reputation as a Hunter. Most of his clients are from Europe and I doubt he cares one wit for the opinion of anyone on AR. Most of his clients probably never even knew about the suit.

He does have a tendency to blame others for his problems but has suffered his share of misfortune, including getting thrown in jail in Dar for protesting his removal from a leased hunting block in the Selous. He was removed, despite a signed lease, so the owner could hunt a hunter and his entourage who wanted about 20 Buff, 5 or 6 Lions and a half dozen Elephants. All on a full 28 day safari.

His protest caused trumped up charges to be brought against him by the block owner that kept him in jail for the duration of the hunt. The charges were dropped after the hunt. He did manage to move his clients to another area and another PH so no one missed a hunt but I doubt if he was very comfortable in the pokey.

Good luck to Rolf, be it the result of bookings from ignorant clients or badly aimed shots at or poorly concluded charges from the dangerous animals he hunts.

That ignorance of the lawsuit he filed (which, by the way, only adds to the obstacles faced and the prices charged by the manufacturers of the products we hunters rely on for our recreation), has kept his clientele coming back for more, and that he is able to find game and produce results for his - largely European - clientele, is beside the point.

And God bless and reward him for being bumped from his sub or sub-sub let concessions (as more than one suitcase PH has been bumped - but that is quite another story), but losing out by reason of third world injustice, then going to jail, yet still and thereafter getting his clients another - and one would hope, equally productive - area to hunt while he bided his time in the pokey.

Yet another reason NOT to book a safari with any suitcase PH, IMHO.

Still, and notwithstanding all of that, my point is this. He could guarantee a 100 pound elephant AND a 48 inch buffalo, but based on the character he has exhibited through his actions, I WOULD NOT book with him.

And BTW, I did correspond with him, about the possibility of a booking, before sending him the email message described above - which did, admittedly, have the result, or non-result, that Mickey1 has noted.

So where was the 9.3x62 when you needed it?[/QUOTE]

In Bulawayo along with all soft point ammunition Solids do not make much of a satement when they hit lion!

Any updates on Rolf's condition?

More details from The Hunting Report:

“Another African PH has been injured following up dangerous game in Africa. This time it is well-known Tanzania PH and safari operator Rolf Rhower [sic – for some reason, HR misspells Rohwer’s name throughout its report] of Rhower Safaris and Game Frontiers of Tanzania who was gored by a buffalo. We spoke with Rhower by phone from his hospital room in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was in high spirits and said he would be making a full recovery. He was scheduled for more surgery tomorrow, but said he would be back in camp directing hunts in a few weeks.

Rhower was gored on September 4, on the second day of a 28-day safari in the Mbarangandu Control Area of the Selous Game Reserve. He was following up a buffalo his client shot broadside at 25 meters with a 505 Gibbs. After three hours of tracking, Rhower found the animal in a dry stream bed where it charged him, and he shot it again. At the time he thought he had shot high due to the animal stepping down from solid ground to sand at the same moment he fired. But a later examination of the skull showed he shot the animal perfectly between the eyes at the bottom of the boss. Somehow the bullet missed the brainpan by a breath, allowing the animal to continue its charge.

Rhower says the buffalo hit him in the chest and then threw him up, goring him in the back of his thigh before flinging him through the air. He says he has a dim memory of lying face down in the riverbed and seeing the buffalo a ways off preparing to attack again. Thankfully, his tracker, Issa, shot the buffalo at that point with the client’s rifle, and the animal ran off another 400 yards before dying.

Rhower says he will fully investigate what went wrong with his “perfect†shot and will be writing about it in the various publications to which he contributes. In the meantime, he has acquired the services of a South African PH named Klynhans to conduct his safaris. Rhower assures his clients that Klynhans is as preoccupied with honorable and ethical hunting as he is, and that they will be in good hands. Clients and well-wishers can reach Rhower and his wife Carol by e-mail at rhowersafaris@hotmail.com.â€

A broadside shot at 25 meters with a 505 Gibbs. Obviously a case of not enough gun!!!! A 577 or a 600 or 700 Nitro seems to be in order here!
Peter.

Wonder if he was using solids in the Gibbs. Also so much for a head shot turning a buff if the buff's brain is not missed. They are indeed tough to turn. jorge

Ganyana,

Did you say TWO CLIENTS had been killed by elephants???

Can you let us know any details?

Guess I will have to upgun to a 30 x 113mm for my next safari!



Andy

I hunted with Rolf in the Selous, K3 in 2003. A true gentleman he is and I would love to hunt with him again in the future. This goring is the same area as where the lion mauling occured I believe in 2001.

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe in or practice Schadenfreude of any kind.

But I have lived long enough to know in my bones that bad karma does find its way back home, eventually.

I'm glad Rolf is okay.

I just wish he would learn to blame himself only, when he himself is the only one to blame.

But I would surmise that, based on past performance, the jury is still out on that question.

Well, that brings up more possibilities.

How about suing the client that cannot shoot?

Or, the tracker because there was no convenient tree to climb?

Or......

We're all brave on the internet?