So well known it needs little description. Recognized by its long legs, moderately long and well-haired tail, and antlers in males. Summer coat is reddish brown to tan, with white in the face, throat, and belly. In winter, they are grayish to grayish brown, and this second coat tends to be thicker, with modified, insulating hairs.
Fawns have spots.
As breeding season approaches in late summer, the velvet starts to fall off and males rub trees to help it along and to polish their antlers. Whitetail antlers are made of long tines and typically have no palmation like fallow deer antlers. Males also attract females with scrapes, basically an area that they have scraped away the leaves, urinated in, and left marks from other glands nearby. After breeding season, the antlers fall off and are used for their calcium and other minerals by deer as well as rodents. Whitetails are found throughout most of North America.