By the time our rifle season rolls around in PA most of the doe shot are carrying embryos. Part of the reason for a doe season is to prevent too many fawns from being born in the spring as a population control. Most hunters don't notice the embryos when they gut the deer. I have shot several big mature doe that were still lactating in November after Thanksgiving. Better to kill a doe while pregnant than to kill ones that are still nursing. I am sure the lactating doe I killed were no longer nursing but simply had not gone dry yet.