Tennessee’s Chris Reed Wins the History Channel’s Top Shot Competition
Day 1: The Path Chris Reed Followed to His Top Shot Win Competition
Editor’s Note: Thirty-seven-year-old Chris Reed of Franklin, Tennessee, recently won the History Channel’s Top Shot competition, beating out some of the best competition shooters and taking home the $100,000 prize. A realtor by day, Reed’s a tough competitive shooter, winning countless state and national championships in both archery and long rifle.
 Question: Chris, what did you have to do to win the History Channel’s Top Shot competition?
Reed: Out of 7,000 applicants, 50 individuals are selected for the final casting call, but only 16 actually compete.
Question: What type of person was the History Channel looking for when choosing the competitors?
Reed: The History Channel wanted amateur and professional shooters with diversified backgrounds.
Question: What makes you diversified?
Reed: I’m a bowhunter, and I’ve shot archery competitions. Because I was in the U.S. Marine Corps, I was confident with a rifle. I’d also hunted with a shotgun. So, I had several of the shooting variables for which they were looking.
 Question: How did you qualify for the top 16-shooters?
Reed: The producers for the History Channel took the top-50 competitors to a shooting range, and we competed with four-different weapons. They scored us and then ranked us in order of finish. Then, we went through an interview process.
Question: With what weapons did you compete?
Reed: We had a variety of guns from a Sharps rifle to a Barrett .50-caliber rifle. We also competed with tomahawks, compound bows, quite a few revolvers, semiautomatic handguns and a Tommy Gun. The goal was to determine who the best shooter was with a variety of different weapons, including blackpowder, bows and conventional guns.
 Question: What’s your favorite bow?
Reed: Since I was about 14-years old, I’ve shot PSE bows – so about 23 years.
Question: Why have you continued to shoot PSE bows?
Reed: My first PSE bow was a Fire Flite. Then I got a Fire Flite Express, a Thunder Flite and finally the Mach Flite 4 compound bow. When other companies came-out with bows that had the features I wanted in a bow, I started shooting them. But when PSE came out with the X-Force, the company really stepped-up its game and moved the entire technology of bow design to a new level. I’m with PSE today, because they have the best bows on the market.
 Question: What bow are you shooting right now?
Reed: My hunting bow is a PSE X-Force Vendetta XL. I shot this same bow in the Buckmasters competition. I’m testing a PSE Supra, and I’ve got a PSE Dominator Pro being custom made for me for shooting dot tournaments.
Question: How many forms of archery do you shoot?
Reed: I’m a bowhunter, I shoot 3-D archery tournaments like ASA and IBO and the Buckmasters Top Bow Indoor Competition with pop-up targets, and every chance I get, I try to shoot some indoor dot tournaments. I’ve only shot the five spot but haven’t shot any three-spot tournaments yet.
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