CHEYENNE — When Nathan Miller entered the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Super Tag raffle, he didn’t expect to win. Not only did Miller win, he won the ultimate prize.

The 38-year-old from Thermopolis won the Super Tag Trifecta, which means Miller will have the opportunity to purchase three separate licenses for species that include: bighorn sheep, moose, elk, mountain goat, mule deer or white-tailed deer, wild bison, pronghorn, mountain lion, gray wolf and black bear. Lifetime limits and waiting periods do not apply, and hunters keep their preference points.

Miller and the other Super Tag winners were notified in mid-February.

“I’m still in disbelief. That stuff never happens to anybody, but especially to a person like me,” Miller said. “It’s surreal. It doesn’t really seem real. Nobody buys into the trifecta expecting to win it. I assumed I just donated my money.”

Established in 2013 by then-Gov. Matt Mead and the Wyoming Legislature, Super Tag raises conservation funds for Game and Fish. The program raised more than $2 million — a record — and 158,595 tickets were sold.

“We want to thank everyone who entered this year’s Super Tag raffle,” said Eric Wiltanger, Game and Fish deputy director of internal affairs. “The revenue generated through these ticket sales will go back into our most pressing conservation efforts such as the Wyoming Mule Deer Initiative, chronic wasting disease research and reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions. These are vital in maintaining healthy wildlife populations and providing optimal hunting opportunities throughout the state.”

Miller is an avid hunter and said he plans to pursue bighorn sheep, moose and mountain goat. He harvested a bighorn sheep in 2020, but by winning the trifecta he will get another opportunity.

Miller has a lot of planning leading up to his hunts, but he’s still amazed that he won the trifecta.

“It’s not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it’s a once-in-a-100-lifetimes opportunity,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t win a coin flip nine out of 10 times, and to get this is a complete shock. I didn’t even know when the drawing was. It still seems like it can’t be real.”

Two other Wyoming residents were Super Tag winners. Leron Corson of Bar Nunn won the moose drawing and Travis Peden of Sheridan won black bear.