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Nikita Dalke begins Huntress journey

First episode of Extreme Huntress airs, voting also opens online.
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Christie Pisani (Australia)

It’s safe to say Nikita Dalke is pretty good with a gun.

The Kimberley resident is showing off her skills to the world as “Extreme Huntress”, a reality TV competition that is now hitting the airwaves after filming this summer in Texas.

Dalke won her spot in the competition after garnering enough online votes and support following an essay she submitted to Extreme Huntress website.

Now Dalke is locked in a battle with five other contestants from across the world to prove that they deserve the title of Extreme Huntress. The first of 13 episodes aired this past Sunday, which began with the introduction of all the contestants to each other and the competition grounds at 777 Ranch in Hondo, Texas.

The ranch, which has an acreage of over 25,000, features all kinds of wildlife including 60 species of exotic and native breeding herds from 80 different countries across the world.

“It’s amazing, it’s gorgeous. A massive property, it’s huge,” said Dalke. “You stay in cabins — they have the main lodge, then they have cabins for everybody to stay in and the cabins are nicer than my house. They’re unreal.

Everyone was picked up from the airport and driven to the ranch, where they gathered for introductions. Competing alongside Dalke is Christine Pisani (Australia), Margaret Botha (South Africa), Kasi Geruci (USA), Erika Bergmark (Sweden) and Amanda Caldwell (USA).

“It was nerve-wracking,” said Dalke. “When you talk to them on the computer or online, it was more intimidating, but once you meet them, it’s completely different.

“They’re all a bunch of sweethearts, they’re just incredible people.”

The worldwide background of all the competitors make it a diverse group, Dalke added.

“It was neat to hear how they speak, the different languages, their slang, and them talking about back at home and how they hunt and the animals they have there was a huge learning experience,” she said.

After introductions, the group was given their gear, all of which was the same from clothing to binoculars to their guns — a Mossberg 4X4 bolt action that shoots a .270 calibre.

“It’s a nice gun. I shoot a .270 at home so I was excited when I was told that our calibre was a .270,” Dalke said.

That factored into their first official challenge, which featured a competition where they had to put five bullets into a target at 100 yards in under two minutes. The second round was the same, except the time limit was bumped down to one minute.

“I just approached it like I go shooting at home. I just focused, breathe, make sure I got a stable rest,” Dalke said. “The two-minute round wasn’t bad at all. There was no nerves or nothing like that. Once they knocked it down to a minute, the adrenaline kicks in a little bit.

Dalke won the first round with the highest score that included bonus points for the tightest grouping. However, Botha, who had a strong first round, came back to win the second round, earning the extra bonus points for having the tightest grouping to take the challenge, with Dalke as the runner up.

“It feels like you don’t have a lot of time, but a minute — if you stay calm and everything goes smoothly in the loading and the unloading — then the minute was a good amount of time to get it off, but if you had the slightest bit of issue, you were pushing it,” Dalke said.

The next episode, which will be released on Sunday, will have the ladies out on the ranch for their first all-access hunt. After each episode is broadcast, people can cast their vote by heading to www.extremehuntress.com and vote via an email submission. One vote per person is allowed each episode.

 



Trevor Crawley

About the Author: Trevor Crawley

Trevor Crawley has been a reporter with the Cranbrook Townsman and Black Press in various roles since 2011.
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