Wildlife group bucking over deer proposals

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Two deer management proposals, including one that would create a statewide Landowner Deer Permit program, are running into opposition from a group that promotes hunting and wildlife

Saturday, January 6th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Two deer management proposals, including one that would create a statewide Landowner Deer Permit program, are running into opposition from a group that promotes hunting and wildlife programs.

The Oklahoma Wildlife Federation, a nongovernmental group, opposes the deer permit proposal as well as a plan to expand harvest options under the Deer Management Assistance Program, said Margaret Ruff, the federation's administrative director.

``These two programs transfer ownership of deer away from the citizens of Oklahoma and to individual landowners without adequate compensation to the people of Oklahoma or adding true hunter opportunity,'' Ruff said.

``OWF members are very concerned about the lack of access to good hunting for ordinary hunters across the state,'' she said.

Both of the proposals are under consideration by the Oklahoma Wildlife Commission. The commission will hold public hearings around the state next week before possibly taking action at its regular meeting in early February.

Ruff said the two programs should be carefully studied before there is any expansion, and the commission should concentrate on increasing access for hunters and ``not assist in pricing them out of the sport.''

She said the proposals would be bad for the state's deer herds as well as most hunters while favoring a few well-to-do hunters.

``The best and most efficient means of bringing balance to our state deer herds are 150,000 hunters using rifles, as opposed to a select few killing truckloads,'' Ruff said.

``These recommendations discriminate against rifle hunters _ the largest group of hunters in Oklahoma,'' she said. ``We encourage wildlife enthusiasts to write in on their ballots the need for a longer gun season and reworking existing programs to provide more hunter opportunity.''

Ruff said the federation will take its fight against the two proposals to the Legislature if necessary.