Five lucky hunters, two of whom are from Douglas County, are preparing for their Nevada hunt of a lifetime after winning one of the five premier tags in the Nevada Dream Tag raffle on July 1.
This year the Dream Tag program saw winners from Nevada, California, New Mexico and North Dakota. The winners from Carson Valley include David Cochran of Genoa who won the Desert Bighorn Sheep tag and John Koster of Gardnerville who won the antelope tag.
Cochran purchased his chances as a way to support a "good cause and a great opportunity" while Koster describes himself as a "serious hunter" and is excited to get out there on his antelope hunt.
Other winners include:
California Bighorn Sheep: Claude Sanchez, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Elk: Myron Jahner, Baldwin, North Dakota
Mule Deer: Ronald Lara, Chico, Calif.
Every winner has their own unique story. Claude Sanchez of Albuquerque, New Mexico won the California Bighorn Sheep when one of his 10 $5.00 chances was chosen. Ronald Lara of Chico, California hunts and guides in Nevada and purchased his tickets to support Nevada’s conservation and wildlife rehabilitation efforts. Myron Jahner from Baldwin, North Dakota was speechless when informed of his good fortune.
He learned of the NV Dream Tag program through a hunting enthusiast magazine and found it easy to purchase a chance online. He reports he is looking forward to hunting Nevada’s legendary big elk.
This year’s raffle brought in more than $300,000 for wildlife habitat rehabilitation projects.
One Dream Tag was available for each of the following species: Mule Deer, Antelope, Desert (Nelson) Bighorn Sheep, California Bighorn Sheep and Elk. The program is administered by the Community Foundation of Western Nevada.
Wildlife habitat rehabilitation projects will be awarded grants through a competitive process managed by the nonprofit NV Dream Tags Fund. Projects may include fire restoration to large areas of the state that have been ravaged by wild fires, water availability for vulnerable herds, emergency response, and other projects deemed critical by the NV Dream Tags advisory committee. Nonprofit organizations as well as government agencies are welcome to apply for project funding.
Tickets for the 2015 NV Dream Tags will be go on sale starting September 1. Hunters can purchase their chances through the official site, nvdreamtag.org. For more information about the NV Dream Tags program or to download a grant application for wildlife habitat rehabilitation projects visit nvdreamtag.org.