Unless you're talking about gun hunters here, I see no excuse for a bowhunter accidentally shooting a button buck for a doe. I know when i hunted East Texas, I hunted the thickets and most of my shots were under 20 yards. With the close ranges and the use of binoculars, no bowhunter should be shooting buttons. Now gun hunters on the other hand.....

I pulled this right from the Michigan DNR website...

How to Identify "Button Bucks"
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Each year many hunters harvest buck fawns, commonly called "button bucks" on antlerless deer licenses. Though perfectly legal, harvesting these deer reduces the number of bucks for the future. By learning the difference between adult does and buck fawns and observing these suggestions, hunters can make a conscious choice on whether to harvest a buck fawn.

Do not take an antlerless deer that appears alone. Adult does rarely travel alone. Button bucks do travel alone.


Wait until several deer are together; then harvest one of the larger antlerless deer.


Look at body shapes of deer. Adult does are different in shape from juvenile deer. The mature doe is rectangular in shape with a long neck and face. Fawns are square shaped and have a short neck and face.


If two juvenile deer are without an adult, one probably will be a button buck. Normally the young male is larger than the female and may be mistaken for an adult doe because of its larger size. Look at the head of the deer. A doe's head normally is more rounded on top between the ears because a buck's head is flattened by the base for the antlers.


Look closely with binoculars for the antler bases on button bucks.


Wait until the deer are standing or moving slowly. It is easier to identify sex and age when deer are not running or moving fast.


Shoot with good visibility. Poor light or heavy cover make it difficult to determine sex and age.

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hope this helps...

I lived and hunted in south Texas. you can tell. And the guy who let the deer lay should of been thrown off for wasting that deer, not for making a mistake.

Check for a "belly horn" ...

Better yet don't shoot little deer , wait for bigger ones that are far more easy to identify .

I like the little ones, tasty and taking the little ones is in my opinion better for the herd because they don't eat the limited brouse for years before being harvested.

Just another dumb opinion

Thanks for attempts to answer my question.

Mike from TX--You're right, NO excuse for a bowhunter. Yes, I'm talking about gun hunters. My buddy and I, are the only bowhunters on the lease, and we get hammered for it. (in the process of looking for a new lease).

Rob/PA Bowyer--Yes, it is amazing that there are hunters that have trouble telling the difference. However, I do believe that when these 3 mistakes were made, the hunters truly believed that they were shooting does when they pulled the trigger.

cardeer-- I agree 100%!

I was just trying to find another way for less fortunate hunters to be able to tell the difference. These fellas do not get to watch a lot of deer so they may not be as good at noticing the obvious diffs between the two.

I guess no one has heard of the "eye ring thing".

Thanks Again!

txmarsh...
The reality, like you say, is that many hunters can't tell the difference like the rest of us. Most of us have learned in some way or another, that if you don't know exactly what you're shooting at, 100% of the time, you just don't shoot. It's hard to accept for some, but unless you know for certain what your target is, you're guaranteed to kill an animal that is at some point, not what you bargained for...
Too many people operate under the "Ready..... Fire.... Aim" principle.
Time, patience, and experience will ensure that none of your buddies kill a button buck by accident. In the meantime, the best they can do is watch, observe, and not squeeze the trigger until they're sure it's a doe.

Agreed!

Up here in Connecticut it is easy to get into bad habits of not looking close since at least one of your tags for all seasons is a buck or doe tag. Two years back I was out in early rifle season to fill the freezer so I wasn't being picky, first deer was going down. Just past opening time it was still pretty dark and I heard a noise, looked that way and there was a big deer with his head obscured by some brush. Looked through the scope and had a perfect center of chest shot and took it. The whole affair didn't last 20 seconds. Turned out to be a 142 point 10 point at 200 lbs. Real bummer that I diddn't get the rush of seeing the rack ahead of time. Then again may be I was lucky so I diddnt get buck fever or something like that!

I myself like shooting big FAT mature does. You can definetly tell between the big and little ones w/out a doubt. The first key for me is the size of there snouts. The younger deer have a real defined smaller face. JM2C.