Buffalo resident earns rare hunting opportunity

SHERIDAN (WNE) –  James Kozisek’s friends have done the math, and the odds of this happening are very, very, very small.
“I believe they said the odds were 0.0000006%,” Kozisek said. “That’s six zeroes, so it's an incredibly small chance.”
The Buffalo police officer and lifetime hunter won the prize to end all prizes: the Super Tag Trifecta, a chance to hunt three animals of his choice anywhere in the state this fall.
Sara DiRienzo, public information officer with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said a total of 124,602 tickets were sold for the Super Tag drawing this year. Kozisek was one of 11 winners of the drawing this year, and one of two from Wyoming. The other winners hail from everywhere from Connecticut to Washington.
Created by Gov. Matt Mead and the Wyoming Legislature in 2013, the Super Tag raffle provides hunters a chance to win rare hunting opportunities and raises money for wildlife management in Wyoming.
As Trifecta winner, Kozisek has the chance to hunt three of the following this fall: antelope, deer, elk, bighorn sheep, black bear, grey wolf, moose, mountain goat, mountain lion and wild bison.
Kozisek said he plans to hunt mule deer near Dubois; elk near Cody and Meeteetse, and mountain goat north of Cody.
The dollars raised through the Super Tag drawing — roughly $1.6 million this year and $9.2 million since the program’s inception — goes to conservation projects, DiRienzo said.
Tickets for the 2023 Super Tag raffle are on sale now through Jan. 31, 2023, at the WGFD website. Super Tags for individual species cost $10 apiece, while Trifecta tickets cost $30.
 
This story was published on April 2, 2022.