For most of my hunting life I have preferred to shoot does. Specifically does with but one fawn because they are almost always < 3 years old. Once a doe reaches 4 years old around here she starts to drop twins annually. Generally, the 3 year old and younger does are much better eating. The last six years I have been working a neighborhood over population down and because of that, most of what I am killing have been the large older does that have (or had) two fawns. As I get into late December and with a tag yet to fill I will shoot younger does. Most of the does I shoot are wet. I hit one doe with my car a while back and guesstimating age by teeth and condition of the meat I guessed her at somewhere beyond ten years old. She was wet and but for the chops and tenderloins the meat was so coarse and tough she had to be almost completely grind meat.
A big fawn is my first choice, followed by a yearling (1.5 year old deer) followed by a 2.5 year old doe or a yearling buck. I shoot just for my table and make no apologies for doing it that way. Shooting fawns I get 100 lb deer and hardly affect the population since fully half of our fawns never see their first birthday.
At least 80 % of my does have twins. And most studies conclude that 90 % of the twins will be one buck and one doe.
And the older does are better mothers thus providing a higher fawn survival rate in the herd.
