Another Montana woman is in the hunt to become the next “Extreme Huntress” through an online voting competition.

Ashley Westphal, who works in Philipsburg but has a house with her husband near Marion, is one of 20 finalists in the competition that is going into its fifth year.

The 2011 winner was Kalispell-area hunter Angie Haas-Tennison, who won lots of gear and a hunting trip to New Zealand, a trip that was featured on the “Eye of the Hunter” NBC Sports television show.

Westphal, 30, is currently trailing in the voting, but she hopes to turn that around with some publicity.

Voting surged for Haas-Tennison after she was featured in the Daily Inter Lake.

Despite standing 5 feet tall and weighing just 115 pounds, Westphal is the real deal when it comes to hunting with either a bow or rifle.

While many of the other finalists in the competition appear to rely on backgrounds of guided hunting, some of them in exotic places like Africa, Westphal said her experience has largely been centered around Montana.

“Everything I’ve shot has been do-it-yourself, public lands hunting,” she said.

After being raised in a military family that involved lots of moving around, she found herself moving to Kalispell, where she met her husband-to-be, Cody, and attended Flathead Valley Community College’s nursing program.

She worked at Kalispell Regional Medical Center and is now a nurse practitioner in Philipsburg.

Westphal said she hunted with her dad when she was young, but really dived into it after getting to Montana.

“When I moved to Montana, I would hunt by myself. I’m not going to pretend I was very good at it, but I was dedicated,” she said.

Over time, she has taken two black bears, two bull elk, multiple whitetail and mule deer, a mountain lion, antelope at ranges up to 800 yards and a wolf during a trip to Alberta just last week.

In an essay for the contest, Westphal related the story of successfully drawing a mountain lion tag when she was pregnant:

“I delivered my son by Caesarean section on Jan. 19, 2012, during a blizzard. The weather had finally decided to cooperate but I had little hope of actually filling my tag after having surgery. I managed to recover more quickly than expected and two weeks after delivery I was back in the woods.

“On Feb. 5, 2012, we found a hot track. I was a bit nervous about this hunt, so soon after surgery, knowing that I might be trekking through waist-deep snow for miles. My hunt was successful and I harvested a 130-pound mature mountain lion that day because I refused to give up.”

Rules for the competition have changed since Haas-Tennison won the entire competition strictly through online voting.

Now the top six vote-getters will move on to a hunting competition at a Texas hunting ranch.

Westphal has been communicating with one of last year’s final six finishers, Candace Crick, who has a hunting show with her husband called “Vital Obsession TV.” Crick was knocked out early, mainly because she specialized in bow hunting.

“Most of the competition revolved around long-range shooting, which I’m actually pretty good at,” said Westphal, who also is deadly with a bow.

Westphal said she is not known for whining about things, but one subject she does whine about is the lack of hunting gear designed specifically for women.

Because of her diminutive size, she said she regularly has to contend with equipment handicaps, whether it be with boots or bows.

“My bow is really small,” said Westphal, noting that she can only pull 55 pounds while men can pull an 80-pound bow. The difference is considerably less effective range for the small bow.

“I have to hunt harder and better and get closer,” she said.

Regardless of the outcome of the competition, Westphal considers herself something of an ambassador for women in the outdoors.

“It’s to promote women in the outdoors, which is something I’ve always done. The purpose is to get people outside,” she said. “My husband and I are pretty dedicated to raising our son in an outdoor lifestyle.”

To cast a vote in the competition on the Internet, go to www.extremehuntress.com and click on the “vote” tab. There is also a Facebook function that allows people to vote twice for their favorite huntress.

Voting concludes at the end of May.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.