The big game draw is set to open Wednesday. (submitted photography/Government of Saskatchewan)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Hunting

Big game draw set to open

May 1, 2019 | 8:21 AM

Hunters can soon start taking steps to prepare for the upcoming season.

Starting Wednesday, hunters in Saskatchewan will have the opportunity to put their names forward for the province’s big game draw. The draw will award tags for animals ranging from moose to mule deer.

For the coming season, the provincial government is looking to hand out around 24,000 tags. Right now they can’t provide an exact number as the pronghorn quota is not set until later in the summer.

Chuck Lees, provincial wildlife manager with the Government of Saskatchewan, said people looking to hunt in the Prince Albert wildlife zone will have a new opportunity.

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“We’re going to have a mule deer season in the Prince Albert wildlife management zone, so that’s something new,” he said.

Lees said the mule deer have been moving up from more southern parts of the province and their population numbers have been helped further by the mild winter.

Along with the mule deer opportunity in the P.A. area, Lees said hunters in the far North of the province will be able to harvest some more animals, too.

“This year for the regular moose season there’s an opportunity to harvest an either sex moose, a cow, or a bull and in recent years, they’ve only been able to harvest a bull,” he said.

Overall Lees said there are wide chances to hunt across most of the province’s wildlife zones as most populations are in good shape. Lees credits a number of factors for the numbers, including changes to farming practices which mean less activity on the land.

Lees said he has noticed more interest in the big game draws as the number of people entering has gone up. For this coming season it is expected around 135,000 people will enter into draws. The drawing of names is set to take place in early June and the government hopes to have the names of those drawn out by the middle of that month.

To ensure they have the best chance, Lees recommends hunters apply as soon as possible. He added the online application system allows those who are interested to see the quotas in certain zones as well as how many people have applied in each zone. People who have applied can make changes to their online application up until the closing date.

“It’s a very popular hunting opportunity and so I just would encourage hunters to apply early in the draw so they’ve got lots of time to make sure everything works out perfectly for them,” he said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn