this is all that matters, you left the woods confident you made the right decision based on what you want. Thats what hunting is suppose to be about. No need to apologize.

that is true thank u for making that point

It all depends. If you know you are somewhere that you have the opportunity to take a deer for a few months to go, I'd let her walk. I have shot many does with fawns (I call 'em yearlings) but usually wait until November. No reason why, I'm kind of a softy and let the fawns grow up a little more. Plus, Id rather wait for a little cooler weather to shoot a deer unless its a nice buck.

The fawns def. can make it on there own. Ive had two in my backyard that have been running around without a mother since July. They still had spots but mom had never been seen, pretty sure she met her match with a car. They have never missed a beat. Had plenty of spots and were living off the flowers and bird feeder since then. A little button buck and a doe.

There was actaully a study done where biologists tagged 34 button bucks, 19 with there mothers, 15 that were orphaned. At the age of 2 1/2 all 19 button bucks that grew up with there mothers had moved outside of there home range. Out of the 15 button bucks that were orphaned, all but one at age 2 1/2 were still in there home range. I don't say go out and orphan any doe with button bucks, but if you run into a doe in October November that has 2 button bucks, that might be a good deer to take. If anybody is interested I still may be able to find the study on the internet.

i give free passes to momma with fawns, especially if still spots. idk why either..opening day last year i had 2 fawns both nursing on mom 20 yards from me and i never released an arrow. kinda cool just watching nature. but when gun season rolled around couple months later.....backstraps for me! i say hunt anyway that u want, as long its safe,ethical and u have fun...

Or survive predators, myself I would rather take the fawn if I was going to drop the hammer.
No moma gets the hammer in my book.

If I see a nanny doe with her little one and it has spots on it I will lit her walk, now on the other hand if one comes through with a yearling I wont hesitate and if I can ill take the yearling out with me also.

whack em and stack em!

I had the same thing happen to me, sorta. My first deer, I was 12, was a button buck. He was following mama on some ice, and I hit him in the spine at about 5 yards, while he was on the run. He slipped on the ice, and could not get up. He was just sitting there, balling baaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaa, it was scaring more deer away. My uncle, gave me the knife, and told me to "shut him up," which pretty much broke me.

if that study is true in a month when i c them again that doe will be down

I won't shoot a doe that has a fawn or fawns with her, spotted or not. Just my preference. There are plenty of other does to shoot. I usually target yearling does ( 1 1/2 yr. olds ) with my bow. The yearling does, at least where I hunt, have not had fawns yet, so I don't have to worry about the issue of killing a doe that has fawns.