For this episode of Top Shot we went primitive: tomahawks, knives and rocks. Honestly, rocks would have been the last thing I thought we might do in a marksmanship competition.
I have always thrown knives and hawks, and I’ve also been good with a slingshot and wrist rocket, but I’ve never called myself an expert rock thrower. Unfortunately that was the weapon I got stuck with this challenge. I told my teammates it wasn’t a good idea and that I was much more comfortable with the other 2 weapons, but they had faith in me. This time that faith was misplaced. I hit my first can with my rock but Cliff zeroed in and knocked all five down before I could hit the pesky second can. The red team was in the lead anyway so I would have had to get all 5 cans before Cliff hit 3 to ensure victory.
This competition exposed a deficiency in my skill set. Later at the house, with nothing else to do, I would set up cans and throw rocks at least an hour per day. I suppose I was trying to redeem myself, yet after hitting a bird one morning with a rock I realized that this is a good survival skill! I stopped complaining about the rocks and would actually carry one to my interview, for stray rabbits would expose themselves on the hillside and bringing back the varmint for dinner would surely be fun for the Top Shot house. The producers interviewing me were wishing for it as well, for it would definitely be the most exciting interview. Unfortunately rabbits ceased to appear when I was near. But as silly as it sounds, I’m now a little more serious about my rock throwing.
For our elimination challenge, Jarrett and Mike were very adamant on participating. Paul and I threw our hats in the ring, but nobody would agree to send either of us. So as crazy as it was, to dispense with the drama we all decided to oblige Mike and Jarrett and send them to elimination that turned out to be the most powerful and expensive challenge yet – with Hotchkiss Mountain Guns. They fired at water towers from 180-200 yards with shells that cost $125 each! Mike destroyed his three towers before Jarrett and now we are a good man short on the blue team.
Be sure to watch next week’s challenge when we will return to modern weapons with an AR15 dubbed the TS3 and the Glock 18 equipped Cornershot. The teams will compete on another gauntlet of physical challenges with more exploding targets. And if you are a fan of previous seasons, you might see some familiar faces as winners Chris Reed and Iain Harrison return as honorary team captains.
The Jack Dagger Throwing Bowie
