Sable Antelope Hunting

Sable antelope are highly sought-after trophy animals of the hippotragus genus.

Sable Antelope Trophy Minimums

Hippotragus niger niger (Typical Sable)
RW Minimum	RW Record	RW Measurement Method	SCI Minimum	SCI Record	SCI Measurement Method
41⁷/₈"	55³/₈"	7	90"	97¹/₈"	1

Hippotragus niger roosevelti (East African, Roosevelt's Sable)
RW Minimum	RW Record	RW Measurement Method	SCI Minimum	SCI Record	SCI Measurement Method
33⁷/₈"	44³/₄"	7	61"	92⁷/₈"	1

Sable Antelope Facts

Habitat and Requirements

The sable's preferred habitat combines savanna woodlands and grasslands during the dry season.
Sables are considered grazers and feed on grasses, herbs, and foliage.
Most sable antelope must drink water every day or two and also visit salt licks on a regular basis.

Social Structure

Herds of females typically have 15 to 25 members and tend to share the same home range.
Female sables are very aggressive and as a result, there is a female hierarchy system based on seniority.
Sable antelope are most active during the early morning and late afternoon.
They are not excessively wary, often running a short distance when startled, then stopping and looking back.
When closely pursued, they can run as fast for considerable distances.
When wounded or cornered, sable antelope viciously defend themselves with their sabre-like horns. The fight or flight distance for sable antelope seems to be smaller than for comparable species.
Old bulls are believed to be territorial.
When fighting, males males drop to their 'knees' and engage in horn wrestling. Fatalities from these combats are rare.
Maternal herds are led by a dominant male.

Gestation Period

After a gestation period of around 9 months, one offspring is born.

Sable Antelope Gender Identification

Colouration is the most obvious difference, with females and young being bright chestnut to dark brown and mature males being chestnut to jet black.
The semicircular, ridged horns are found in both sexes, although they are smaller in females.

Sable Hunting Methods

Walk and stalk in the likely habitat.

A Good Sable Trophy

Horn length with thick bases will make a good trophy. A sable's horn length can only really be judged from side view of the animal. However if you do look from the front and actually see the horn tips flaring out, it should be a great animal.

Sable Antelope Hunting Shot Placement

As sable antelope shot placement is similar to other antelope plains game species, go to Shot Placement On Plains Game.

Sable Antelope Pictures

(Place cursor over photographs to enlarge)

Sable Bull

Recommended Reading

A Certain Curve Of Horn: The Hundred-Year Quest For The Giant Sable Antelope Of Angola by John Frederick Walker tells the story of one of the most revered and endangered of the regal beasts of Africa: the giant sable antelope of Angola, a majestic, coal-black quadruped with breathtaking curved horns more than five feet long. It is an enthralling and tragic tale of exploration and adventure, politics and war, the brutal realities of life in Africa today, and the bitter choices of conflicting conservation strategies. A Certain Curve of Horn traces the sable's emergence as a highly sought-after natural history prize before the First World War and follows its struggle to survive in a war zone fought over by the troops of half a dozen nations and its transformation into a political symbol and conservation icon. As he follows the trail of this mysterious animal, Walker interweaves the stories of the adventurers, scientists, and warriors who have come under the thrall of the beast, and how their actions would shape the fate of the giant sable antelope and the history of the war-torn nation that is it's only home.