Each year the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation hosts a banquet to present awards and recognize hunters and fisherman, as well as some of the animals they’ve harvested.

The annual banquet was held in Weyburn this past weekend, and Executive Director of the Sask Wildlife Federation, Darrell Crabbe, said it went well.

"As always Weyburn was a very gracious host. We had 230 people at the function, and certainly the facility there is outstanding, so we always have a great time whenever we get the chance to go to Weyburn."

Deer, moose, antelope and elk, which are all hunted in the province, are scored and graded using the Henry Kelsey system - which takes measurements of the animals skull, horns, or antlers.

"We have a scoring system we call the Henry Kelsey Big Game Scorer System that determines antler size primarily, and is designed to run in the same form as the Boone and Crockett system."

Crabbe went on to say the awards were a great success, and this year they saw a substantial increase in the number of catch and releases across the province.

"We've seen a real steep increase into catch and release records within the province. A lot of people are catching those big breeding fish and weighing them, then getting them back into the water which is good to see."

The biggest fish caught in 2017 was a lake trout weighing fifty pounds.