Local Girls' Hunting Group Tackles the Great Outdoors

Seasoned veterans and wide-eyed neophytes comprising Keith Heldreth’s all-female hunting contingent conveyed a range of reflections on their Oct. 1 hunting trip to the The Dalles, Oregon that saw the varied group of three mothers and six students claim well over 1,000 pounds of meat for the annual “Beast Feast” and a lifetime of memories. 

Chloe Smith, 15, shared vivid recollections of the three-day excursion, calling her first-ever group hunt both “fun” and “suspenseful,” as her adventure began with visiting giraffes and other exotic critters at a nearby zoo before shooting her first deer later that same day. 

“It’s like you don’t know if it’s the right time to shoot it. You’re like, ‘Should I pull the trigger or should I wait?’ It was hard to pick a deer,” said Smith, who first met Heldreth — an avid hunter, logger, timber buyer and pastor of the Riverwood Baptist Church —at the annual Southwest Washington Fair last summer. 

Though she lacked any experience holding a firearm, Heldreth immediately decided that Smith had to be part of his expedition after hearing the youngster’s genuine enthusiasm for animals and nature during their initial encounter. 

The Costa sisters — Meagan and Nicole — were also part of the nine-person team, as they joined their mother, Linda, on the three-hour trip to northern Oregon. On that note, Linda mentioned that while this wasn’t the trio’s first rodeo, she considers every trip she makes a valuable learning opportunity, particularly for Meagan Costa, a 22-year-old nursing major at Centralia College, who relishes the skinning and gutting of animal carcasses. 

“What we’re doing is pointing out body parts. It was just a great experience as far as just (examining) another type of anatomy. I think the experience of that, it puts you on a crossroads almost because it is something live, (but) it was something that was a tool for us,” explained the elder Costa. 

Others, such as Raysha Davis, 15, and Katie Palomino, 13, were first-time hunters who have been previously exposed to harvesting big game by accompanying family members on local expeditions. 

Davis was especially apprehensive about handling a rifle for the first time on her Oct. 1 jaunt.  She recalled the entire affair being much less daunting than she initially thought since she had a chance to watch everyone else claim their target before she took her turn as the last shooter in the rotation. 

For Palomino, on the other hand, the trip was a rite of passage of sorts considering how her older sister, Grace, and mother, Kelley — both experienced hunters — were there for guidance. 

Grace shot one of two bison that were captured during the latest foray into the Oregon’s bountiful wildlife areas. 

This year’s harvest, said Heldreth, has been processed and butchered for the upcoming “Beast Feast” event in which 600 men will partake in a Feb. 1 dinner at the Blue Pavilion at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds. The guests will not only be served with much of the wild game collected during the October hunt, but the gathering will also feature a sermon from Arizona-based Navajo preacher Wilson Calvin. 

When the hunters were asked about some of the more flavorful entrees on the menu, Kelley gushed over the sika deer’s tenderness, while others were big fans of the sauteed moose. Heldreth, on the other hand, can’t wait to sink his teeth into a hearty portion of black bear. 

A small group of Heldreth’s female past and present hunting partners will be among the few women at the highly-anticipated dinner. In 2021, the tables will be turned, when 600 women will be invited to sit down to the same type of meal in what’s known as, “The Beauty and the Beast Feast.” The food for that dinner will be provided by a male hunting contingent during a future hunt next fall. 

Heldreth cited a few differences in working with all-female group by highlighting how the girls tend to be more receptive to instruction. 

“Well, these girls right here, they will listen to you. You get some 10-year-old boys and they think that they’ve been on an African safari and they tell you what to do,” he observed while adding that, contrary to popular belief, it’s the boys who more often get “squeemish” about cutting through an animal’s anatomy. 

Some of the girls who have tagged along with Heldreth in his search for a vast array of wild game — ranging from cougars to moose in the Pacific Northwest to alligators down in Louisiana bayous — are now married women and mothers who have continued to hunt on their own. 

Another member of this select bunch is Heldreth’s daughter, Maleah Bozarth, who will sometimes go out on her own to bag deer or whatever wild creature she may come across. 

“I feel like my story is a little different than everybody’s here. I grew up with my dad hunting and it was always part of my life. So, to me it’s a way of life; it’s a way to provide the best quality of meat you can find. This is something I want to be able to pass on to my kids too,” said the happily married mother of three.

Bozarth cultivated her passion for hunting when she was about seven years old, according to her dad, and counts elk, bears and deer among the many kinds of game she’s claimed over the years. 

Heldreth is well aware that not every one of his young hunters is as skilled as Bozarth and makes sure to bring every member of the team to his Chehalis ranch to practice shooting months prior to his fall outings. 

As an added safety precaution, the hunting expert insists that everyone in his group use one firearm, which for the all-female squad meant sharing a Remington 7mm08, which is a smaller rifle that doesn’t produce much of a recoil. 

“It’s kind of important and it’s kind of a lost skill, with people being wrapped up in video games,” Bozarth said. “It’s good to know that you don’t just have to go to the store to get your meat wrapped in plastic. The animals live in the wild and eat the best food and we’re eating it. It’s kind of a cool full circle.”