Lifelong Sandpoint resident guns for hunting title

SANDPOINT — Hunting has been a part of Amanda Lowrey’s life ever since she was big enough to keep up with her father on the trail.

Lowrey, a lifelong Sandpoint resident, got her hunting license at the age of 12 and went on to bag just about every big and small game species found in the West.

While hunting in the backcountry several years ago, Lowrey tracked a black bear she shot down a steep 450-yard embankment and packed her quarry back up the hillside.

Lowrey was eight-and-a-half months pregnant at the time.

Her dedication and proficiency as a hunter caused Lowrey to be named a semifinalist for “Extreme Huntress,” a televised contest featured on “Eye of the Hunter” on NBC Sports.

Lowrey, 24, is among 10 semifinalists vying to make it to the final round, a head-to-head hunting skills competition on a 5,000-acre ranch outside of Hondo, Texas, in July.

But Lowrey needs the public’s help in getting to the final round.

The four finalists are picked partially via popular vote on the contest’s website (www.extremehuntress.com).

“The voting is open to the public. The more votes I can get at this point will help me to move forward to the next round,” said Lowrey.

The popular votes accounts for 50 percent of the judging in the semifinal round. Judges’ scores account for the other 50 percent.

“They’ll combine the two (scores) to see who’s the top four,” Lowrey said.

The contests in the final round include trophy field scoring, sighting in a rifle, long-range shooting, gun cleaning and a dry-land biathlon.

The final round of competition will be filmed and whacked into 10 episodes that will air on “Eye of the Hunter.” Another round of public voting, plus their performances at the contest will be used to crown the 2014 Extreme Huntress.

The grand prize is a bear hunting expedition in Alaska, which will also be filmed.

Lowrey said the Extreme Huntress contest is unlike others in that it does not serve to sell a product or promote a brand. The theory underpinning the contest is that if a mother goes hunting, her children will, too.

“It’s an opportunity to be a positive role model for the next generation of kids growing up and to teach them those values and those traditions,” said Lowrey. “There’s not many things out there like this.”

 Although Lowrey’s two daughters are 3 and 4, they’re already hitting the trail to watch.

“They love to go with us,” Lowrey said. “My oldest daughter can’t wait until she’s old enough to go hunt herself. She’s chomping at the bit.”