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Before we get deeper into the discussion, it's useful to define our terms. A sex ratio is the number of sexually receptive does compared to the number of sexually active bucks during rut (excluding fawns and non-active yearlings). For example, if a population has 100 does and 25 bucks, the sex ratio is 4:1. In an ideal world, you want a sex ratio as close to 1:1 as possible. It is important to remember that sex ratio and population density are not the same thing, and we are not discussing the number of individuals you'd like to see when you go hunting, but rather which proportion of does and bucks is best for the sustainability of the herd.
In the worst-case scenario, a habitat with an abundance of does but very few breeding bucks can result in negative impacts for the herd and the sportsman (Stewart et al., 2011). When does greatly outnumber bucks, there is a possibility that a receptive doe is not bred when she first experiences estrus (becomes sexually receptive) in the fall. When a doe isn't initially bred, she will come out of estrus temporarily, but will experience estrus multiple more times during the rut until she is bred. The problem comes when a doe is not bred until the end of the rut. When this happens, the resulting fawns will be born much later than if they had been conceived near the beginning of the doe's estrus cycle.
These late-birth fawns typically have a lower body mass come winter, and in northern climates, are much more susceptible to winter mortality during severe winters (Bergman et al., 2014). Secondly, as they mature to a harvestable size, they will typically be smaller than other individuals born in the same year class. A late-season fawn will grow up to be an undersized buck.
