Yes. By the time you've waited a few minutes to ensure that the doe is down and staying there, then walked 100 yards or so to reach it, the foetus is well dead.Really?
Wouldn’t the foetus have expired pretty quick without the mother providing it with oxygen?
Having done a few posthumous cesarean sections on sheep, I can tell you that you have to cut bloody quick after killing the dam to have any chance of a live outcome. Not something that you're realistically ever going to come across in the field. Although, human nature being what it is, people do like to embellish their tales with improbable details.