RE: who really pratices?
I think the term " If it's brown, it's down" is a little misleading and doesn't sound very good. It sort of implies that you are going to shoot virtually anything, and as many as you can. I don't think that is the case with most hunters.
I think the the biggest thing that makes a difference is how long you've been at it, how much success you have had, and where you hunt. If you are hunting an area that has a lot of pressure and you just don't see very many deer, you take what you can get when it presents it's self. Also I think if you are new you tend to not be so selective. You just want to see if you can do it or not. Your so excited when you actually see a deer you don't want to let it pass by.
I sort of fall into both catagories. I am pretty new at this really, I'm 37, but just started hunting deer in 2000. I told my buddy the first year I bow hunted I was going to take the first legal deer that came near me. Just to see if I could do it, and how I would feel afterward. I wasn't sure if I would feel as gung ho about it after actually doing it. It just so happened that the first two deer I saw were a 7 point and a 10 point. I wanted the 10 point but it would never give me the shot I wanted, perfect broadside inside of 20 yards. Well eventually the 7 point turned perfectly sideways and stuck it's head in the weeds, so I took the first good shot that was presented to me. It was just luck it was a seven point buck. Had it been a doe the same thing would have happened I assure you. Of course now that I know more about shot placement and the such things would have turned out differently. I had a couple of good quarting away shots I passed on with the bigger deer.
I took a doe last year during bow season, and may take another one this year if that's all I see. I am just bow hunting my back yard pretty much this year. I lost my other property and couldn't pick another one up in time. I know there is a doe and a fawn because they sleep in my yard at night. I will wait a while to see if anything else comes around, but if it doesn't look promising I will take the doe. I am sure I have deer in my area, but I think they are all nocturnal because of all the activity. They are building houses and stuff.
In archery season I will shoot a doe or a buck, I don't really care to be honest. I have tags for both. I am picky in the sense that I will not shoot a really young deer, or a small buck. If it's a buck it has to be at least a 6 point, or I will take a doe. I am not shooting a spike or a 4 point and wasting a buck tag on it. In MI we can get one doe tag a day for $7 on private land. I'm guessing they want the does thinned out.
This is only during archery season though. During gun season I am not allowed to shoot does on the property I hunt. And he would really like it to have at least 4 points on one side. I don't mind because it's a great place to hunt and really close to my house. Besides we have a great time there as well.
Paul