I putted along on my ATV and two of my German shorthairs alternately ran on the path or in the underbrush to either side. Our destination was the creek, where a fallen tree had created a nice cool-off pool for the dogs. As we neared the area, I spotted a lone doe standing in a thicket of young maple and white pine trees.

Her body language was unusual - she stood with tail hanging limply, sway-backed with a belly. She looked over her shoulder with an expression I can only describe as beseeching, "Please, leave me alone." I called the dogs and putted off in the opposite direction. I'm guessing she was about to give birth.I looked back. She was in the same spot, still watching me.This is the time of year when the Pennsylvania Game Commission reminds us to leave young wild animals alone. A doe may leave her fawn or fawns for eight hours.Wildlife that becomes habituated to humans also can pose a public-safety risk. A few years ago, a yearling, six-point buck attacked and severely injured two people. The investigation into the incident revealed that a neighboring family had illegally taken the deer into their home and fed it as a fawn, and they continued to feed the deer right up until the time of the attack. It is illegal to take or possess wildlife from the wild. Under state law, the penalty for such a violation is a fine of up to $1,500 per animal.So if you find a fawn, leave it alone. With the advent of DNA studies, we know a lot more about fawns, and deer reproduction. Most of us long believed that the most dominant buck, the king of the forest, did most of the breeding. But that isn't the case; in fact, does are bred by a number of bucks, of all ages.Here's what the studies, done on wild populations of deer in Texas, Michigan and Oklahoma, discovered. Bucks and does were captured and DNA samples were taken. Some of the findings:In the study, the does gave birth to 37 sets of twin fawns. In eight of those sets, the fawns had different fathers.In the three studies, about 30 percent of the mating was done by yearling bucks.The biggest buck of all three studies was a 4 ½ year old with a rack that scored 146. He only bred one doe. One 10-point buck that scored over 150 inches didn't breed any does. A 5 ½ year old buck with a rack that scored 126 bred 16 does.In summary, yearling bucks mate some does, but old bucks do the most mating. The average buck only mates one doe per year, but older bucks may mate three or four.Why don't mature bucks do all the mating? It's just not probable. A doe stays in heat for two to three days and a buck stays with her during that time. The majority of does in an area will be bred during a two-week period.