An avid fisher and hunter, Michael Montgomery of Autryville tried his luck on a $30 scratch-off ticket and caught a $100,000 prize.
“I work, I hunt, and I fish,” he said.
Montgomery, a 41-year-old landscaper, bought his 200X The Cash ticket from the Lucky 7 Express on Goldsboro Road in Wade. He scratched his ticket right in the store.
“As soon as I scratched it I just looked at it then I looked at the guy in the store,” he said. “Then I hightailed it to my truck.”
He collected his prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,019.
“I might make a special trip to Florida now for a hog hunt,” he said.
In addition to a hunting trip, Montgomery said he will do some home improvements and put the rest in savings.
The 200X The Cash game debuted in March with six top prizes of $5 million and 18 $100,000 prizes. Four $5 million prizes and 10 $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day on average for education. For details on how $4.7 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Sampson County in 2021, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.