Do does keep their 6 month old fawns with them through the breeding phase of the season? I haven't noticed it as much until this year, but all of my resident does have kept their fawns with them the entire year. I was under the assumption that during the rut, they would kick their fawns off. Do they reunite after breeding? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

yes and they will pair back up as soon as she (doe) has breed.

*bred

Female fawns stay in the same area they were born and raised many times for their entire lifetime as long as they have plenty to eat and are comfortable with the human traffic in the area. The male fawns eventually migrate to new areas as they get older for breeding purposes but also because they group up in the summer with other males that have come from other areas. Testosterone is the biggest migration factor of the males as they get older.

The doe will ditch the fawns while she goes with the buck to breed. That's one of the reasons you'll find fawns by themselves during the rut. Once bred, the doe will pair back up with her offspring and go back to being a family unit. At some point during the spring, she will run her buck fawn off/he will seek a new area so the opportunities for in-breeding are diminished.

I see twins alone at the feeder or food plot when a does is hung up with a buck, I don't think the little ones want to be around an aggressive buck. I have also seen bucks enter the plot with fawns in it and the nubb'in bucks seem "curious" and many times will approach the buck, the fawn does, seem to keep their distance. For a fawn, this is the 1st time they have probably seen an aggressive buck.

I don't believe a doe runs off her youngsters. As said by the others, the young does usually become part of the "herd", young bucks I see stick around sometimes for a year, then move off when the "urge" hits them.

X2

I've read, and it seems to make sense for prey animals, that doe will run off their yearlings before giving birth to new fawns to lessen the attraction of predators and competition to food sources. If true, the older doe you see running together most likely grouped after being run off by their mothers, with the cycle continuing each season.