This handsome horselike antelope is uniform fawn-grey with a pale belly, short decurved horns and a light mane.

It could be mistaken for the female sable antelope, but this has a well-defined white belly and lacks the roan’s distinctive black-and-white facial markings. Apart from the presence of horns in both males and females, they have a horse like physique with stiff manes and asinine ears.

With a shoulder-height of 120-150cm, they generally weigh between 250-300kg. These antelope live in small herds of six to about 30 animals. The bulls join the herd only during the rutting season; old bulls are often territorial bachelors.

Hunting The Roan

...A Few Things To Know

Herds of Roan are very stable and associations can often last for years. When bulls want to join the herd the dominant bull will defend his cows. These challengers are met with the clashing of horns as well as pushing and shoving. Sometimes these clashes may appear very serious, however serious injuries rarely happen and the brawl ends when one of the bulls surrender. Still these animals are very dangerous, and a hunter should be weary not to get too close to the backward sweep of a roans mighty horns.

The roan prefer to graze in wide open grassy areas where they are in the habit of scattering while feeding. They will however readily revert back to browsing when grass becomes scarce. The roan is very dependent on water and can often be found near a watering hole.

When hunting Roan bring a large caliber rifle because the Roan is a heavy, tough and aggressive antelope. A roan antelope that has been hit can be very aggressive, therefore a certain caution is advisable when following a wounded animal. To hunt roan it is recommended to take up the trail of an old bull at a waterhole and follow it. Roan antelope occur in Namibia almost exclusively in flat, thickly bushed terrain, and are therefore very difficult to hunt. The legal minimum caliber needed would be a .270 but a .30 caliber would be much better for hunting the roan.

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