Midnight deadline for Sask. big game draw

The deadline for Saskatchewan hunters to get their name in for the province'sbig game draws ends tonight at midnight.

It was originally set forMay 25, but an abnormally high volume of traffic on the website that dayleadto an outage for several hours for both the Saskatchewan Big Game Draw and the Canadian Resident White-tail Deer draw systems.

The province's big game draw determines which applicants get licenses for Saskatchewan's most prized hunting opportunities, including specific wildlife management zones and the species people wish to hunt.

According to the province, the interest increases each year, andis especially high for elk, moose, mule deer and pronghorn antelope licences.

The ministry says it successfully received more than 11,000 applications on May 25, an increase compared to 7,000 on the final day in 2015.

In light of the outage, the ministry has extended the draw until 12 a.m. CST tonight to ensure everyone who intended to apply for these draws isable to.

The ministry said more than 85,000 applications have been received this year, up from 71,445 in 2015.

This year the ministry moved up the application period so thatdraw results wouldbe made available earlier for hunters.

Only Saskatchewan residents can apply for the Saskatchewan big game draw.

People who need help with their account or the draw application can contact the Active Network call centre at 1-855-848-4773, or a Ministry of Environment office.