Part of it goes back to tradition. Many old-timers wouldn't shoot does because they produce next season's deer. As mentioned above, usually only the dominant bucks in an area get to breed. On big buck can sire 30-40 fawns each year. A mature doe will have twins. The math is simple, you can afford to shoot bucks but you can't shoot the does or you'll run out of deer.
There were enough subsistence hunters that local extinction of deer was common in many parts of the eastern U.S. in the early part of the 20th century. Game departments imported deer from more remote areas to help re-establish healthy populations during the middle part of the century. As part of that effort, there was a massive public-relations campaign combined with very strict game laws regarding the taking of does. In most cases, it simply wasn't allowed.
Fast-forward to today. We still have some of those laws and traditions but they are being relaxed because the deer have come back to the point that they are a nuisance in many areas. In the low-country of SC, the buck-doe harvest ratio is close to 50-50. In the upstate, it's still somewhat lower.
In my zone, hunters are allowed 4 antlerless deer tags ($5 ea.) which may be used any time and we have 11 days on which an antlerless deer may be taken without the tags. In addition, bow hunters may take does during any season.
My personal buck-doe ratio is near 50-50. I usually take two deer per year and what sex and when I take them is usually a function of how much hunting I'm expecting to be able to do that year and how many deer I'm seeing when I go.
