Roe deer

Capreolus capreolus

Group: Big game
Size class: Medium (10–70 kg)
Family: Cervidae

Range

Europe
Asia

Habitat

Forest
Farmland

Range

Countries it is found in

47 countries

Åland Islands
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iran
Iraq
Italy
Kosovo

Range from:ASM Mammal Diversity Database, GBIF occurrence records — read 2026-08-05

Chapter 01

Overview

The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is a small, reddish and grey-brown deer, well adapted to cold, and the most widespread deer in Europe — found from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia and from Scotland to the Caucasus, reaching east as far as northern Iran. It is absent from northernmost Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland and the Mediterranean islands, and in the south it is largely confined to high ground. It is a pioneer species, at home in early-succession country: open farmland, ground above the tree line, and anywhere with food and cover within reach. It retreats into dense woodland or bramble to rest, but is opportunistic enough that a hedgerow will do, and roe in southern Bohemia live in almost entirely open farmland. Populations are increasing throughout Europe and the IUCN lists it as least concern. A roe can live to twenty, but seven or eight years is normal; mortality in the first weeks and the first winter runs as high as 90 per cent.

Chapter 02

Identification

A small deer: 95–135 cm long, 63–67 cm at the shoulder, averaging 20–25 kg, with weights across its range spanning 15–35 kg. Where hunting or predators hold density down, bucks are slightly larger than does; under other conditions the sexes are much the same size or the male is slightly smaller. Bucks in good condition grow antlers 20–25 cm long with two or three points, rarely four. The rump patch is the field mark worth knowing: white and heart-shaped on a doe, kidney-shaped on a buck. Both flash it when alarmed.

Chapter 03

Behaviour

Roe manage risk by lying up in cover through the day and moving into the open at night and at dawn and dusk, when there is less about. A roe scrapes leaf litter aside to make a bed. Alarmed, it barks — a sound much like a dog — and flares the rump patch. Does give a high 'pheep' whine to draw bucks during the July and August rut. The doe often goes looking first and leads the buck back into her territory before mating. Roe are territorial, and while a buck's and a doe's ranges may overlap, animals of the same sex are not tolerated. Courtship chases flatten the underbrush into circles and figures of eight one to three metres across, known as roe rings. Bucks clash over territory in early summer and mate in early autumn; after delayed implantation the doe gives birth the following June, usually to two spotted fawns of 0.8–2.5 kg. Feeding is on grass, leaves, berries and young shoots, with a marked preference for tender grass that has had rain on it the day before — and roe will generally not enter a field that holds or has held livestock.

Field data

Tracks

A photograph of real sign left by Roe deer. Prints vary with gait, ground and how long they have been there — treat this as one example, not a template.

Track photo:Christophe CC BY

On the table

Meat & cooking

Table grade 5 of 55/5

Sold as meat in a legal market
Has a named traditional dish
Published way to handle and cook it
Eaten in more than one country
No known health advisory

Traditional preparations

Rådjursstek: The saddle and haunch are the prized cuts across Europe; roe is the mildest of the European venisons and is usually roasted rare rather than braised. Venison — Wikipedia
Game pie: Shoulder and neck, the cuts that repay slow cooking, go into raised and braised game pies throughout Britain and northern Europe. Game pie — Wikipedia

Sources

Sources: Roe deer — Wikipedia — read 2026-08-05

Cross-reference