ZAVALLA, TX (KTRE) -
Tuesday, Dustin Ellermann was named the History Channel's top marksmen. Today he's back at his Christian kids camp.
"It was kind of a big relief that hey, now everybody knows," Ellermann said.
He and his wife, Brittany, kept the "Top Shot" secret for months.
Last night the secret was out as Ellermann aced seven challenges in the final stretch of the competition.
"I was like, 'Mike, if you get too far ahead, you need to slow down and let me catch up a little so we look good,' and he said 'All right you do the same for me,' I forgot."
In the final episode, Ellermann shocked everyone, shooting a golf ball from 100 yards away with a .22 rifle.
But Ellermann says he had his faults.
"I had a weakness with the rocks and with the archery and the ramp, but I worked through it," Ellermann said. "They didn't show it, but I was throwing rocks for about an hour a day at the Top Shot house."
In the last 12 hours, Ellermann has been flooded with phone calls and speaking opportunities across America.
"I haven't been able to just take it too far or even think about it," he said. "It reminds me of how I did the competition. I just took it one step at a time."
With his $100,000 in winnings, he plans to help pay off the new camp chapel, expand camp his way to reach more kids, and find a bigger place so he and his wife can take in more foster kids.
"Some of the guys say this is the biggest accomplishment in their life, but I kind of have a bigger perspective on that and I try to look at how God sees stuff and this is just a manmade accomplishment thing and God helped me through it, but honestly it's my kids and passing on good things to them and the kids that we minister to here at the camp, that's what really matters in life because that's what goes on after I'm dead and gone," Ellermann said.
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