I believe it is no secret, that I preffer to shoot does over little bucks. I will shoot as many as 12-15 does a year. I have shot 4 already this summer on crop damage tags. Where I live here in Michigan, we have a herd that is very badly out of wack as far as buck/doe ratio goes. You ask why I would shoot does, well for the simple reason, I am good at it. I do most of my hunting with the bow. I find a big mature doe to be just as hard, if not harder to kill than most bucks. As was mentioned earlier, a doe has to keep watch for herself as well as her fawns. I also have stated many times over how I grew up in the heart of the deer yards here in Upper Michigan and have seen first hand how a big mature doe will kick the crap out of her own fawns as well as matre bucks to keep them away from a food source. I agree with QDM. However let me state that I do not push for QDM for the soul purpose of growing big racks. I am a "MEAT HUNTER" through and through. I pass an average of 6-8 bucks every year and have on many occassions arrowed a nice fat 155 pound doe while she fed beside a young 105 pound buck. I believe this helps the herd as well as my family and it also does something to help teach the young buck to be more aware and hopefully harder to kill for someone ho is willing to shoot him. As for shooting a doe with a fawn, I have done it on many occassions and I have also passed them when they have had fawns with them. I look over the situation before I make up my mind to shoot. For one, am I in an area that is overrun with does, is the fawn a late born fawn and still has spots, is the fawn nice and fat or is it thin and gaunty. If more people took the time to know the creature they hunt other than it will feed here and maybe bed here, but really get to know the animal there would be a lot less grief amoungst hunters and anti's as well.
Now let me explain, yes, your deer both bucks and does are comming from the does on your property or in your hunting areas. Knowing the life cycle of whitetail deer, and what makes them click isn't that hard to figure out. Most people give a wild animal way too much credit for being able to think like a human, thus the Walt Disney mentality of the anti's. Deer need basic things to servive, food water and shelter. Now steps in man and his way of thinking. For those that do not harves does you are hurting the wellbeing of the deer herd. Any given area can only maintain so much game before it is overgrazed and the animals die off. Again steps in man and supplements the feed and the deer live through another winter when they should have died. A doe, believe it or not can determine the sex of the fawns she will have in the spring. If the area is overpopulated she will have more buck fawns if the area is underpopulated more doe fawns. HMMMMM why is that, well it goes back to the safety in numbers game. You see deer are really a social animal and why you see does in large or small groups is because they travel in family groups. A doe will run her buck fawns off the following fall, right about this time as a matter of fact. She does this to ensure he will not try to breed her during the rut. Now on the other hand she will allow her doe fawns to stay in her home range, thus adding to the safety factor of safety in numbers. By killing the does, both young and old and passing on the younger bucks you help to balance the herd as well as fill your freezer. One more very important thing to mention for those of you who can not find it in you to kill a doe is this, you are killing your bucks without even firing a shot. How is this possible you say. Take a look at the ody of your buck you kill in mid to late November. He has been chasing does now for almost a month in most areas. Don't just look at him with his hide on, but take a look at him with the hide off. This is where the truth of the story is really told. Why do you think a buck looks so nice in early October, all nice and fat and in his prime. Yet in late November he appears to be like weight lifter who concentrated more on his upper body than his lower. Another words, he is all shoulders and neck and not much for the rear end. Tjhe reason for this is he has rutted so hard chasing does trying to fulfill what he is genetically programed to do, breed. Now through in a herd that is overpopulated with does and the buck now runs most if not all of his winter fat reserves off and stands a big chance of dieing during the winter. Any of this sinking through to those who will not shoot does and yet shoot little bucks "because they do not have big bucks in there areas". Maybe just mabe you are killing them with your kindness to the does you will not shoot. Every deer hunter, at one time or another here in the states dream about going to Canada to hunt the huge bucks that roam the big woods. Ask anyone who has been there and they will tell you they hunted hard for a week and didn't see many deer but what they did see were big in body. Do yourself a favor this fall and help out the local deer herd by doing your part to harest as many does as your state will allow. As for me I have 6 doe tags in my pocket as I type and a card to get another one and with Michigans liberal license quota this year I am sure I will have another dozen before I am tired of processing veison.
Best of luck to all this season and may it be your personal best and safest on record.
God Bless and Happy Hunting.

LIVE TO HUNT,HUNT TO LIVE.