Yarding keeps the trails passable during heavy snow and protects the deer from predators, there is always safety in numbers. In the north, they will breed in November and in the southern areas they usually begin in January or February. The Whitetail is less polygamous than other deer, usually a bucks mates with only a few doe. A young doe bred for the first time usually has one fawn after a gestation of 6.5 months. Thereafter she will have twins and occasionally triplets if resources are abundant.
Fawns stay with their mother into the fall or winter.
The fawns are spotted and can walk within a few hours of birth, but they will remain hidden in tall grasses or brush, waiting silently and still for their mother to return and feed them. The young blend in well with most surroundings because their coats are speckled with white. They begin to lose this camouflage after 9 months. The male fawn will begin growing antlers after several months. A doe and her two-year old fawns is a common sight and easy to identify.