Many are on the hunt for a big prize each year, but only a select few are chosen.

Safari Club International Yampa Valley ChapterSafari Club International Yampa Valley Chapter hosted its annual drawing Saturday afternoon in the showroom of Mountain Man Taxidermy. hosted its annual drawing Saturday afternoon in the showroom of Mountain Man Taxidermy.

Safari Club International Yampa Valley Chapter hosted its annual drawing Saturday afternoon in the showroom of Mountain Man Taxidermy.

For the first time ever in the drawing’s history, the same person won both the first and second prizes. Thanks to purchasing multiple tickets, Gena Mack won the grand prize of a Smith and Wesson rifle complete with adjustable stock, adjustable barrel and 4,000 rounds of ammunition and second prize, a pair of tickets to SCI’s annual convention in Las Vegas held February 2017.

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SCI’s Karl Huntsman said he was shocked at the coincidence, given that 475 tickets were in the mix, the turnout each year growing a little.

“We get a lot of support,” he said.

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Huntsman and Doc Colrud, an SCI board member, oversaw the selection.

“All the proceeds from the tickets stay right here in this local chapter,” Colrud said, listing off the many regional projects in which SCI is involved, including 4-H shooting sports, Cast n’ Blast, disabled veterans hunting and wilderness survival training for local teachers, among others.

The Yampa Valley Chapter will host its annual fundraiser banquet in March.

Colrud said the cause championed by SCI, that of preserving the balance of nature through the sport of hunting, is one he believes in wholeheartedly.

“A lot of people don’t understand that hunters really are the No. 1 conservationists of animals,” he said.