RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) – Some Vermont hunters are upset by plans by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to nearly double the number of antlerless permits that will be issued for this fall’s hunting season to help reduce the size of the state’s deer herd.

Some officials are so upset they’re calling for the resignation of Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Wayne Laroche.

The 14-member Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board has given the first of three needed approvals to a proposal to issue the number of antlerless permits to 22,050, nearly double the 2007 number. The board also wants to increase the bag limit from two deer to three. The second vote is slated for June 18.

The board has scheduled two public meetings to discuss the proposal.

One of the largest increases in permits would be in Wildlife Management Unit N, in Bennington County, which would get 3,200 antlerless permits, compared to 500 in 2007.

Bennington’s representative on the Wildlife Board, Keith Armstrong, is leading the charge to remove Laroche.

“It’s unbelievable, what is going on,” said Armstrong. “He should be removed from office. He’s a little dictator up there and it’s time he left office. It’s awful. You can’t have that kind of thing in government.”

Armstrong is upset that the department has already printed and distributed applications for the 2008 antlerless permits.

“Everybody’s welcome to their opinions,” said Laroche. “I think pretty much everybody is happy with the deer herd and Fish and Wildlife in general.”

Laroche said the final number of antlerless permits has not been settled.

“The number of permits and the deer limit, all of that still has to go through the board process,” Laroche said. “But we still have to put the permits out there. If we waited until the last minute, people wouldn’t have the time to apply.”

Biologists say there are too many deer in parts of the state, especially in western areas, well beyond the carrying capacity of the environment. A proven method of keeping the deer herd at a sustainable level is to take 20 to 30 percent of the does every year, said Fish and Wildlife Deer Team Leader Shawn Haskell.

“The overpopulated deer herd is going to get more overpopulated, regardless of how many permits we proposed,” said Haskell. “We won’t fill those tags. We don’t have the hunters to take them.”

Last year, the state issued 11,050 antlerless permits for use during the nine-day muzzleloader season, held in December. Hunters took 2,192 antlerless deer for a success rate of about 20 percent.

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Information from: Rutland Herald, http://www.rutlandherald.com/

AP-ES-06-08-08 0930EDT