I finally found the article I was looking for. It was in the March 2008 Deer and Deer Hunting magazine. The title was “Buck-To-Doe Ratio: Too Many Does or Too Many Deer?”. The writers main point was that high buck to doe ratios were basically rhetoric and that there are not high buck to do ratios in most areas.

The writer referenced an article from the 1955 Journal of the New York State Fish and Game Journal by C.W. (Bill) Severinghaus. Mr. Severinghaus found that on average 109 buck fawns are born for every 100 doe fawns and that the highest a buck to doe ratio can get is 2.26 to 1 for a pre-hunt area. Pre-hunt meant after the previous year’s harvest, plus last year’s fawns being adults, plus this year’s fawns.
The writer used Severinghaus’s findings and gave the following example: Suppose you start with a fall population of 100 bucks, 100 does, and 100 fawns. If we assume 50% buck fawns and 50% doe fawns, and all bucks (antlered- not fawns) were killed and no adult does were killed the adult sex ratio would be 3:1. That is 50 antlered bucks and 150 adult does. Those 150 adult does would produce at least 150 fawns and the adult sex ratio would remain at 3:1, as long as the production remained at least at 1 fawn per doe.

So, let’s look at a few different scenarios:

Scenario 1- assumes that your property has 100 bucks, 100 does, that every adult buck will be killed, that no adult does will be killed by hunters, cars, or predators, that each adult doe will have 1 fawn, and that fawns will be 50% bucks and 50% does.

Year 1
Pre-fall (before hunting season) - 100 bucks, 100 does, 100 fawns
After season - 0 bucks, 100 does, 100 fawns
After fawns become adults – 50 bucks, 150 does, 0 fawns (3:1)

Year 2
Pre-fall (before hunting season) – 50 bucks, 150 does, 150 fawns
After season – 0 bucks, 150 does, 150 fawns
After fawns become adults – 75 bucks, 225 does, 0 fawns (3:1)

Scenario 2- assumes that your property has 100 bucks, 100 does, that every adult buck will be killed, that no adult does will be killed by hunters, cars, or predators, that each adult doe will have 2 fawns, and that fawns will be 50% bucks and 50% does.

Year 1
Pre-fall (before hunting season) - 100 bucks, 100 does, 200 fawns
After season - 0 bucks, 100 does, 200 fawns
After fawns become adults – 100 bucks, 200 does, 0 fawns (2:1)

Year 2
Pre-fall (before hunting season) – 100 bucks, 200 does, 400 fawns
After season – 0 bucks, 200 does, 400 fawns
After fawns become adults – 200 bucks, 400 does, 0 fawns (2:1)

Scenario 3- assumes that your property has 100 bucks, 100 does, that every adult buck will be killed, that no adult does will be killed by hunters, cars, or predators, that only half of the adult does will have 1 fawn, and that fawns will be 50% bucks and 50% does. This scenario is probably not typical because 50% of does would not miss out on getting bred.

Year 1
Pre-fall (before hunting season) - 100 bucks, 100 does, 50 fawns
After season - 0 bucks, 100 does, 50 fawns
After fawns become adults – 25 bucks, 125 does, 0 fawns (5:1)

Year 2
Pre-fall (before hunting season) – 25 bucks, 125 does, 62.5 fawns
After season – 0 bucks, 125 does, 62.5 fawns
After fawns become adults – 31.25 bucks, 156.25 does, 0 fawns (5:1)

Scenario 4- assumes that your property has 100 bucks, 400 does, that every adult buck will be killed, that no adult does will be killed by hunters, cars, or predators, that each adult doe will have 2 fawns, and that fawns will be 50% bucks and 50% does.

Year 1
Pre-fall (before hunting season) - 100 bucks, 400 does, 800 fawns
After season - 0 bucks, 400 does, 800 fawns
After fawns become adults – 400 bucks, 800 does, 0 fawns (2:1)

Year 2
Pre-fall (before hunting season) – 400 bucks, 800 does, 1600 fawns
After season – 0 bucks, 800 does, 1600 fawns
After fawns become adults – 800 bucks, 1600 does, 0 fawns (2:1)