Extreme Huntress competition: Meet competitor Mindy Arthur!

An article featuring interviews with the four final competitors in the Extreme Huntress competition ran in the December 2013 issue of Western Shooting Journal. We will be running each interview separately on this website this month. If you can’t wait to read them all, you can pick up the December issue of Western Shooting Journal in grocery stores and gas stations around the country for $4.99. Or, sign up for an electronic subscription for only $1.89/mth and get instant access. We’re running a special currently on the hard copy version of the magazine, only $19.95/mth for a full year of 12 issues, that’s 66% off the cover price (although it will be too late to get the December issue).  Click on SUBSCRIBE or DIGITAL on the top right side of this site.

Meet the Gorgeous Finalists of Extreme Huntress
Dazzling And Daring Women Compete For Top Honor

Each year, the Eye of the Hunter Extreme Huntress competition seeks to find the most hardcore female hunter in the U.S. Organizer Tom Opre started the event in order to portray women hunters as positive role models, especially for kids. “It’s all about preserving our outdoor heritage,” Opre says. “If mom goes hunting, so will her children.” The competition is in its fifth year, and is decided half by a panel of celebrity judges and half by online voting. Readers can vote at extremehuntress.com. The ongoing competition, where the contestants face off against each other in extreme shooting situations, is being featured on Eye Of The Hunter, airing Sundays at 7 a.m. on NBC Sports. A winner will be selected in January 2014.

Western Shooting Journal interviewed all four of the contestants. We asked them how they got into hunting, why they should be selected as the winner, what advice they have for other women, and what kind of gun or bow they use.

MINDY ARTHUR (Arizona)

My husband went on a muzzle-loader elk hunt in New Mexico with buddies in 2007, and he came home and told me the stories and memories he’d made. He spoke so highly of the whole experience – the camaraderie, campfires, and friendships. He had this zeal about it and excitement I saw in his eyes and in his voice. I decided right then I wanted to be a part of it, didn’t want to be left behind. I started out with bow hunting, practicing, I ventured out on my own black hear hunt in 2008, and made it into Boone & Crockett record books with that first hunt.

I have so much passion and so much to share with others. I teach others and share as much as I possibly can; including my kids and their friends. I want to be a positive role model. My whole goal is to catapult this whole lifestyle to young people, moms, and women of any age. It’s a ministry, something that means so much to me I want to share it. I’m living it and sharing in an overzealous way. It is such a privilege and an honor.

My advice to women is don’t hesitate. So many people miss opportunities by waiting and not seizing the moment. Start where you are, develop that curiosity, and reach out to someone who would be supportive of that, no matter how young or old you are. A lot of people worry that they don’t know a lot about guns or archery or aren’t good at something. Don’t worry about details, that will come in time. If you have the desire or curiosity, you can learn.

I shoot a lot of different guns; my Remington 7 mm Mag is my favorite It was a birthday gift from my husband. I’ve used it to harvested a lot of wonderful trophies. I also have a Matthews Passion bow and I absolutely love it.

From a believer’s standpoint, acknowledging God as the Creator of the whole universe, this lifestyle lends itself to enjoy God’s creation and the earth. It’s made my intimacy with the Creator grow, witnessing all the amazing things. It’s really deep on a spiritual level as well.