While every industry has been hit by the ongoing pandemic since things first started changing in March, the hunting and angling industry in Saskatchewan has seen their business numbers drastically change.

Saskatchewan is a prime destination for people all across North America who come to take advantage of our vast wilderness, large wild game, and pristine fishing. Since March, however, the southern border has been closed, and the number of out-of-province residents coming to hunt and fish is down as well.

With that, there was also next-to-no spring black bear hunt, which has led to an increased number of bears in the province.

Darrell Crabbe with the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, says they want to encourage more provincial residents to take part in black bear hunting in 2021.

"Our goal right now is to try and encourage Saskatchewan hunters - because honestly, that's the demographic that are not taking advantage of that hunting opportunity. There's a lot of interest from American hunters and hunters from other areas of Canada to come to Saskatchewan to hunt bears. We're hoping that we can convince Saskatchewan hunters to utilize some of those opportunities next year."

He went on to say that most residents who do take part in the black bear hunt often do so once, but don't do it for a second time.

In terms of hunting numbers from provincial residents this year, Crabbe says numbers were good, and in fact, they even saw an increase in the number of residents applying for tags.

"We have a very robust hunting community in Saskatchewan, one of the highest per capita in North America. The number of applicants for the draw system was up significantly this year, which is primarily only for Saskatchewan residents. That was up almost 15% this year, which is huge."

Crabbe doesn't believe next hunting season will be affected much by this year's lack of hunting/angling tourism, and that the biggest factor which could affect how 2021 looks depends on how severe our winter is.