bert eveything is a "generalization" but in 20 years of seriously hunting whitetails with the last 12-15 of those being DEATHLY SERIOUS mgmt that has included shooting 50 does a year from one of our places in west TN. THE best thing I can tell you is to NEVER shoot small deer. lol now I'm not trying to be funny, I mean it literally. NEVER shoot a fawn or deer that appears smaller than the rest. As good as a doe fawn tastes the risks of it being a button are too large. ESPECIALLY when you realize that there is less than a 1 in 100 chance of survival for bucks past their 4th birthday. So the need to keep EVERYONE of them out there (unless they obviously become culls by 3yrs!) is important.

After the rut starts, yes most button heads will be solo. A good rule of thumb is NEVER shoot solo deer. But I have seen button heads traveling two and three together before so even then its tough. Also, by about the middle of December the button heads hit a growth spurt where they grow too about 3/4 the size of the average does, much faster than a doe fawn. So even then you cant strictly go by bodysize in comparisons to others. Look also for the "roundness" of young deer. Once a doe has fawns and gets older they lengthen in body features (most prominent is their longer noses and "lop ears"). Fawns are always quite "round" with their quarters, heads, noses and spinal columns being more rounded than older deer.

But NOTHING is a substitute for quality high powered optics and just taking the time to make ABSOLUTE sure there arent nubs. And I have seen buttonheads that didnt have nubs, just light "swirlpatches" of hair where their pedicles will grow. So you just gotta be sure visually. Just shooting a deer running through the woods isnt a good idea. You gotta be as sure on a doe as you do with a trophy buck.

But with patience comes wisdom,
RA