By Staff 7-19,2017
CHEYENNE – This week, ten hunters received the call of a lifetime from the Wyoming Game and Fish Director Scott Talbott who delivered the news that they had each won a Wyoming Super Tag. The Super Tag raffles, created by Governor Matt Mead and the Wyoming Legislature in 2013, provide hunters additional opportunities to obtain difficult to draw hunting licenses and raise money for wildlife management in Wyoming.
The Super Tag program holds individual raffles for bighorn sheep, moose, mountain goat, elk, wild bison, deer, antelope, black bear and mountain lion licenses. The Super Tag Trifecta raffle allows one winner to choose any three licenses among those offered. The Trifecta opportunity is considered one of the ultimate hunting opportunities anywhere.
To expand the prize opportunities, this year, for every five Super Tag raffle tickets, or every two Super Tag Trifecta tickets an individual purchased, his or her name was entered into the Ultimate Hunting Gear Package raffle to win gear from KUIU, Swarovski Optik, Weatherby, and Leupold. The gear assembled had a total retail value of over $13,000.
The 2017 winners are:
Super Tag Trifecta – Zachery Deberard of Wyoming
Antelope – James Maestretti of California
Deer -Shawn Farstad of Oregon
Elk – Ivan Keeton of Kentucky
Bighorn Sheep – Lewis Webb III of Colorado
Black Bear – Jeffery Christensen of Wyoming
Moose – Dennis Demers of Wyoming
Mountain Goat – James Norris of Missouri
Mountain Lion – Joseph Sculley of Nebraska
Wild Bison – Martha Maddox of Wyoming
Ultimate Gear Package – Geoffrey Beauxis of Wyoming
This is the fourth year of the Wyoming Super Tag raffle, which raised $820,130 for wildlife management–an increase of $155,960. In 2017, a total of 62,551 raffle tickets were sold.
“Wyoming has some of the best hunting in the world, and the continued increase in sales of Super Tag tickets and overall license applications reflects this. We’re excited to host these winners this fall for the exceptional opportunities these license grant,” Game and Fish Director Scott Talbott said. “Our thanks to Governor Mead and the Legislature to be able to offer this opportunity and for the additional funding for wildlife management.”
Super Tag license holders can hunt any open area for the species selected (some restrictions apply for moose and sheep), retain all previously accumulated preference points, and are exempt from the five-year mandatory license waiting periods for moose and bighorn sheep and the once-in-a-lifetime license restrictions for wild bison and mountain goat. All winners must purchase the species-specific hunting licenses. To learn more, visit the Wyoming Super Tag website.