Photo credit: HISTORY/Top Shot

2/10/2012

Since the summer of 2010, it seems like the television industry has discovered what we have known for a long time, namely that shooting is not only safe, but it is a lot of fun, too. Since the first season of “Top Shot” on History Channel, several other reality-based shows have sprung up founded on the realization that shooting and firearm ownership are finally recognized as mainstream activities. It would appear the message was eventually loud enough that it was heard even at the rarified heights of the network boardrooms. Nothing succeeds like success of course, and with “Top Shot” now entering its fourth season, it seemed like a good opportunity to talk with the winners of seasons two and three.

Chris Reed and Dustin Ellermann are both about as down to earth as two human beings can be. On screen, Dustin won the hearts of many with his youthful enthusiasm and devout faith, which seemed to sustain him throughout the drama-infused isolation of filming. Chris Reed’s story is one of overcoming seemingly impossible hurdles through strength of will and the support of his family, a story that was touched on only briefly during the show. Here he tells it in his own, soft-spoken Mississippi drawl.

“Top Shot” Season 2—Chris Reed
Chris Reed recently moved back to his boyhood home of Greenwood, Miss. He’s presently in the midst of opening Top Shot Sporting Goods, a full-line archery and gun store where his new-found notoriety and local connections will be put to good use promoting the venture.

Harrison: Chris, how were you introduced to the shooting sports?
Reed: Growing up, dad worked for the railroad and mom stayed home to raise me. My dad, uncles and cousins all shot and hunted, so that was our pastime; we hunted everything from big game all the way down to shooting rats at my granddaddy’s house with a .22 rifle. For shotgun shooting we’d throw dirt clods, spent hulls, you name it. We shot a lot and somewhere along the way at around 12 I got my first bow and arrow, which introduced me to whole different world.

Harrison: What have you been doing since we last met at the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Pittsburgh?
Reed: When we were invited back on Season 3 as honorary team captains, I mentioned in an interview that after the show I’d signed Red Rider BB guns by the dozen for little kids. Two days after that aired, Daisy airguns contacted me and flew me out on a private jet to its plant in Arkansas, where I got to build Red Riders on their production line for my two little girls. I’ll be working with them to promote their products on their website. Recently, I’ve been in the woods a lot with my bow and video camera, trying to make some animals famous, but that thing is like kryptonite; as soon as you power it up, everything disappears!

Harrison: What’s your most important shooting tip?
Reed: I had one uncle in particular who was known for his marksmanship skills, and he took me under his wing and had me shooting his 7 mm Rem. Mag. at 9 years old. It was then that I learned that you just have to let the gun do its thing, no matter how big it is, and that if you try to anticipate recoil, you’re going to miss. I try to have as little influence over the gun as possible and try take as much of the human element out of it as I can.

Toward the end of “Top Shot” Season 2, it was revealed that Chris Reed had to overcome some fairly serious medical problems in order to compete. After leaving the Marine Corps due to a knee injury, Reed returned to Mississippi State, majoring in civil engineering. For the next few years he built a successful career in the construction industry and found time to start an award-winning repossession business, all the while he was assembling the pieces to open a sporting goods store, acquiring 40 acres of property, a building and putting in place contracts with his suppliers. Then bad luck came knocking.

Reed: Two weeks after my daughter was born, I had a call to go repossess a Mercedes. The vehicle was located on a public street downtown and, as I was loading it onto the wrecker, the supposed owner started making a scene. Despite his name not appearing on the registration or title, he insisted that I return the car, which by law I was not allowed to do. Eventually the police showed up, and I discovered that the guy jumping up and down on the back of my truck was a judge. Without getting into too much detail, in the minutes that followed my head was struck against the pavement. I suffered an aneurism and had to undergo emergency brain surgery. I spent the next five or six years in rehab and court, suing the guy that put me there. I won, he was disbarred.

Following hospitalization, Chris had to relearn to speak and his vision was badly compromised due to the effects of the surgery. His plans for his store were destroyed due to having to pay medical bills. Recovery was painfully slow, though the therapy that seemed to help the most was concentrating on the sights of his bow, which was how he eventually overcame the double vision that plagued him for years. After moving to Tennessee, he started hunting and shooting competitively again, eventually placing second two years running in the Total Outdoorsman Challenge, a phenomenal achievement for someone who recently had been close to death. I asked him how he came to learn about the television show that was to make him famous.

Reed: I was pretty disgusted with myself for placing second in 2010. I was so close but just couldn’t pull it off—it was the fishing that killed me—so I started looking around for a rifle and shotgun shooting event and that was when I came across this $100,000 shooting competition called “Top Shot.” Unfortunately, I had just missed the casting call deadline but when I saw y’all a few months later on TV, I thought ‘Damn, dude. I could do that.’ You know, just like everybody else.

“Top Shot” Season 3—Dustin Ellermann
Although Dustin and I met only once on the set of ‘Top Shot,” we’ve chatted via phone and e-mail numerous times. “Top Shot” has spawned its own informal alumni group, and it’s a testament to the character of the shooters involved in the show that almost everyone stays in touch with one another on a regular basis, offering advice and support along with a lot of good-natured ribbing. After touching base on Facebook, I got the chance to talk with Dustin at the camp he manages in Texas.

Harrison: Tell us a little about your background.
Ellermann: Growing up, my mom was a children’s pastor at my grandfather’s church. She had always wanted to found a church camp and, when I was 13, she had the chance to do that in Zavalla, Texas, and started the current operation from scratch. About six years ago, she and my dad went on to do other things. Since then, my wife and I have been running the place.
We get around 2,000 kids visiting during the summer months and offer activities such as water slides, a challenge course, archery and horseback riding, and we’re located on a lake, so naturally there’s swimming and banana boat rides; tons of stuff to keep folks occupied. In the off-season we open the camp to church groups to hold retreats. My wife and I have three children of our own—we started off as foster parents—and three months ago were blessed with a little daughter.

Harrison: How did you get started shooting?
Ellermann: I can’t point to one specific event and say, “That’s when I learned to shoot.” Growing up, I had a BB gun that seemed to follow me everywhere, and I used to spend summers on my grandparents’ farm with it and my bow. I never got into shooting actual firearms until I was about 16, as my dad didn’t want me to until then. My first .22 was a Springfield Scout, you know, the break-action survival rifle? Well that doesn’t even have a trigger, more a lever that you squeeze, so you could say my introduction to real guns was even later than that! Since then, I’ve shot a lot of .22 Long Rifle as it’s affordable, but I also have an interest in tactical rifles—I have three of the guns—Volquartsen, LaRue and VLTOR—that we shot on the show.