Big game hunters in Saskatchewan who have had trouble getting their names drawn will soon have a much better chance, thanks to some new rules from the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation.

The creation of a new Legacy Pool will ensure that anyone who has applied for the big game draw 10 years in a row, and failed to be successful, will gain top priority to be selected. 

The change was brought in place partially because of the increased number of hunters applying each year in the province, making the previous top priority A-Pool tougher to be selected for each year.

Darryl Crabbe, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation:

"The Feds have been suggesting that hunting is on the decline - that's simply not true. The only thing that the Federal Government controls is migratory bird permits. All the other game licensing is controlled by the provinces. In Saskatchewan our number of hunters has been increasing steadily over the last decade - almost 15 years now."

Some other changes this year include changes to first-time draw participants, whether you're an adult or youth.

"New adult hunters that come into the process now will have to start in D-Pool and work their way up, whereas in the past they used to be able to start in A-Pool. Another one that we certainly fought for was that any youth that come in to apply for the first time will be automatically positioned into the A-Pool."

When asked if they tried to model these new draw rules after any other province or state, Crabbe said that wasn't the case.

"We hear that all the time that 'oh our system should be like Alberta', or 'It should be like Wyoming'. It's one of those very contentious issues that people have a very strong opinion on. But you go to some of those places, and it's funny, some of them say that they should be more like Saskatchewan."

You can enter your name into the Saskatchewan big game draw until May 25.