RAH - I'm still lost on why the does take off running...
Do mamma cows take off across the pasture when daddy shows up? Or female horses, or goats, sheep, bobcat, moose, elk, dogs, cats etc?

I know in some species the size advantage of one or the other keeps the other party 'captive'

Sorry, got us on the wrong tangent here. Either way it sounds like eventually the bucks find ALL the does and ALL the does get pregnant every year I guess?

Maybe the does are like my wife and they just say "this poor uterus (and these stretch marks...) simply cannot handle another 9 month pregnancy".

Maybe the female deer are doing their best to have just one winter with a normal sized belly...