A fawn has a similar reddish brown summer coat with white spots on its back and sides, which gradually disappear within three to four months. A male fawn develops hair-covered bumps at the front of his skull as he grows during the year. These bumps or buttons are the beginning of antler growth, and further development starts the following spring, when the buttons enlarge with a velvety covering of skin. The antlers grow with this skin covering, called velvet, until August when a hormonal change stops the process and the antlers harden to a bone-like consistency. The velvet drys and the buck removes it through vigorous rubbing on small trees and shrubs, which also hardens the antlers.
Antlers remain hard and polished until they are shed in late winter.
The remarkable process of antler growth is renewed in the spring and the cycle continues throughout the adult buck's life. The buck produces its largest set of antlers when it is about six years old. By early November a male fawn weighs about 81 pounds and a female fawn about 73 pounds. Yearling bucks average 140 pounds while does weigh about 15 percent less. Older bucks, with good nutrition, can weigh as much as 250 pounds or more.