I haven't read this whole thread. I'm likely not smart enough to read it all. I did read the last couple of comments, one about fawn size.
I can't prove that deer have smaller fawns when they are young and larger as they age, but it stands to reason. Cows do that. Cows have their lightest birth weight calf for the first one, then they get larger until the cow gets about 8 years old, then birth weight starts decreasing again. That's not a particular cow, but rather cows in general. It would seem to me that would be pretty common with all species, but it may not be.
The reason that a cow gives birth to larger calves as she ages is because a heifer is still growing when she has her first calf, so she has to maintatin, grow and grow a fetus by eating. Each year her growth slows until around the age of five. Once she gets that age she only has maintenance and fetal growth to eat for. Seems logical to me that would carry over to a growing doe too, but that's not peer reviewed, double blind tested data, just a little farm boy logic.
