For the third year in a row, Dallas Prescott found The Selma Times-Journal’s gator egg with a certificate for $1,500 inside.

Prescott teamed up with his friend Chuck Oates, who has also won the treasure hunt in years past.

The two said the secret to finding the gator egg is effort and a lot of luck.

“Once a week, we gather the clues, we sit on the computer for 5-10 minutes and figure out what they mean, and we look on Google Maps and see where it’s taking us. Finally, we go out and we do scouting. We get all the road signs, write everything down and make our own maps,” Prescott said. “The final day, you’ve just got to be fast.”

The two had a friend waiting at Tastycake Friday morning to get the last clue who then called and read them the clue. Then it was a race to final location.

Prescott said they were the second vehicle to arrive at the site.

“The other guy would have beat us there if he would have ran to it,” Oates said. “[Prescott] just dove at the tree and went to grabbing it.”

To get to the egg, the friends had to turn right onto County Road 2 off County Road 9 and then go less than a mile and turn right into the Forever Wild hiking trail parking lot. The egg was under a small cedar tree on the edge of the parking lot.

“It’s really about the sport,” Oates said. “The money is nice, without a doubt, but now, it’s really about trying to be the one that finds it.”

With three wins under his belt, Prescott said this year was his final year in participating.

“I’m retiring,” Prescott said. “I’m going out on top. Three straight years ,and I’m done. Somebody [else] needs a chance at it.”

Overall, they both said they had fun looking for the egg.

“We are very appreciative of The Selma Times-Journal for putting this thing on every year,” Prescott said. “It’s very enjoyable.”