Miss Montana USA tours Lake County, shoots with Women on Target
Berl Tiskus
Berl Tiskus/Valley Journal Miss Montana USA Tahnee Peppenger discusses guns with Carolos Rodriques at a Women on Target event.
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Peppenger answers a young girl’s question during the Big 3 Sports Clinic meet and greet dinner at KwaTaqNuk Resort in Polson.
Berl Tiskus
Peppenger wants to embody the Montana woman: strong, beautiful and competent
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
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POLSON — The title Miss Montana conjures up a glittering evening gown, a tiara and a satiny sash. Miss Montana USA Tahnee Peppenger certainly can hold her own in a sparkly dress, but she was equally at home at the Polson Shooters Association shooting range on Aug. 22.
Peppenger, 27, is a Montana native and lives in Great Falls. She comes from a family of sportsmen and hunters and has shot all her life.
She and her “trusty companion” Jordann Lankford came to the shooting range to join 18 other women for a National Rifle Association Women on Target instructional shooting clinic.
“Tahnee’s a shooter and a second amendment fan,” said Tracy Plaiss, program director. “She brought more visibility to the Women on Target clinic.”
“My platform is supporting veterans and raising awareness,” Peppenger said, particularly Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
The suicide of 22 veterans each day, according to a study by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, touched the heart of this self-identified military brat, who has family serving in the Marines, Air Force and a great-aunt who was a decorated World War I battlefield nurse.
She got involved in the Miss Montana contest because she thought she’d be successful.
“I’m an incredibly competitive person,” Peppenger said.
She wanted to embody the Montana woman on the Miss USA stage. So many Montana women are strong, beautiful, competent, cowgirls, ranchers, talented and hard-working, she said.
Peppenger graduated from Montana State University with a sports medicine degree. She’s also an entrepreneur, owning PinkSpurs, a rodeo fashion design business, an avid teamroper, a foodie and a beader.
During her visit to Lake County, Peppenger made appearances at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council, Stella’s, the Polson Farmers Market, Mission Mountain Winery, Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply, the Flathead River Indian Rodeo, Fiesta en Jalisco, Super 1 Foods, the Big 3 Sports Clinic at Salish Kootenai College and Finley Point Grill.
