Hunting violations are taken seriously by the provincial government.

A couple reports from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment this week indicate that.

Two men were recently fined a total of $8,400 in Saskatoon provincial court for unlawfully hunting moose in 2014.

Local conservation officer Lindsey Leko said when animals have been hunted unlawfully, it puts the hunter in a position for serious fines

He would like to remind the public that the onus falls on the hunter to make sure what they're doing is following the law.

"Hopefully (fines) added to a hunting suspension and forfeitures of the firearms, or whatever else, would act as a decent deterrent," he said.

Leko said a lot of bad information is out there, but it's also simple to find the correct info; The Ministry of Environment'swebsite offers a list of wildlife regulations.

If you have any questions, Leko suggests phoning your local conservation officer.

"I would much rather answer a question than find you out in a field committing a violation that you thought wasn't a violation," he said.

Sept. 1 kicked off hunting season in Saskatchewan, and as Leko explains, the season typically tapers off before the new year.

"It's a progression from your primitive weapons up to the rifles," he said. "And normally by that first week of December, everything's pretty much done for except maybe the odd draw season that might still be open."

The Turn In Poachers (TIP) program is a very important tool for officers.

Leko said conservation officers have a wide range of land to cover, and they can't be everywhere, "and once the animals are gone, if we don't play a more active role, that's going to be it."

"I hear lots from people that talk about how there's not enough animals out there and we should reduce our season. Well, we've got to look at how many of these things were taking unlawfully. So, we've all got to work together to try and get the job done."

Leko said officers will investigate every call that comes into TIP and the more specific the information given, the easier it is for officers like Leko to fulfill their roles.