Do you really think it is good for 1 to 1 1/2 buck to be the majority breeder deer in a heard? Same goes for does. The same goes for does too, shoot to many and all your 1 1/2 year old does are breeding and it causes hight motallity rate in fawns..
Actually it makes NO difference. Mortality in fawns happens due to weather and food availabilty. Offspring of 3 or 4 year olds would die just as quick if the winter was too rough and food hard to find. If you mean mortality due to miscarriages, this can't be proven either. As in human females, it is more likely that a female will be fertile at a younger age, than at an older age, plus miscarriages are also more likely in older ones. For years most states had no antler restrictions whatsoever, yet did it decrease the herd? Nope, if anything the herds kept getting bigger and bigger. Now many states tell hunters to shoot a doe or two or three instead of that small buck. This HAS decreased the deer population, and dramatically in some areas.