Whitetailed deer can live to eighteen years, but very few of them survive that long. Does generally live longer than bucks, as bucks suffer greater losses from hunting, motor vehicle collisions, physical injuries and depletion of fat reserves leading into winter, the differences having something to do with the rutting behaviors of bucks.
This young deer can barely be seen amidst the long ferns and saplings in this clearing in the forests of Petra, Maine.