Denny Chapman

Denny Chapman
Personal information
Born	1968–1969
Hometown	Ocala, FL
Occupation	Wild West Performer
Competition information
Season	Season One
Team	Red Team
Place	8th
Episode eliminated	"The Razor's Edge"
[Source]

Denny Chapman was a contestant of Top Shot Season One and a member of the Red Team.

Personal life

Denny is a cowboy residing in Ocala, Florida, occupied as a Wild West performer, being in his own specialty show, in rodeos, and during special events. He is a level 5 competitor of the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association, but has also competed in the Single Action Shooting Society, Benchrest, the International Defensive Pistol Association, and the United States Practical Shooting Association. As well as being a shooter, Denny is also a horse trainer.

Audition video

During Denny's audition video, he is seen riding and even standing on a horse while shooting at various targets.

Top Shot

"It was a really neat experience feeling the historical value behind operating these weapons. It makes the hair on my neck stand up just talking about it."

―Denny Chapman

Denny setting his possessions down after arriving.

Denny arrived for Top Shot Season One, instantly being assigned to the Red Team. After the remaining contestants had arrived for the competition, Colby Donaldson, the host of Top Shot, explained the rules of it and showed the competitors the house they would be staying in during their stay on the competition. After getting accustomed to the house, both teams headed to the Shooting Range to engage in the first Practice Session using four historic weapons: the M1903 Springfield, SVT-40, Mosin-Nagant, and M14, under guidance by expert, Craig Sawyer. During the time, Denny spotted for Peter Palma while he shot, and Peter did the same for Denny. Denny was very fond of the weapons as well as their historical value, and evidently did well. After the Practice Session, Denny was assigned to the M14 in the following Team Challenge.

The next day, the teams went to the Shooting Range to participate in the first Team Challenge where four stations were set up with the four different weapons, each with an obstacle standing in the way. Having been assigned to use the M14, Denny would have had to slog through a mud pit to get to his station. However, he did not technically compete in the challenge. At the first station, Andre Robinson of Red Team had quickly hit his target, but for a reason, Mike Seeklander was unable to hit his target, giving Blue Team enough time to finish the entire course while Red Team was still on their first station. Both teams returned home after Red Team's loss.

At the house, Red Team held a meeting, deciding on who to send to the Elimination Challenge. Here, Mike instantly volunteered himself due to his performance. Then Brad Engmann stated that if Mike went then he wanted to go to elimination as well. Denny and the rest of Red Team then headed down to the Nomination Range. Before Denny was up to nominate somebody, there was already a vote for Mike and another for Kelly Bachand. Denny had a hard time deciding who to nominate, but ended up firing at Brad's target, because he volunteered himself. However, in the end, the two entering the Elimination Challenge were Mike Seeklander and Kelly Bachand.

The following day, Red Team headed down to the Shooting Range to witness the first Elimination Challenge. After only a short while, Kelly had won the challenge and Mike was eliminated. Before leaving, Mike said goodbye to his team. Red Team left the Shooting Range without Mike and after they returned to the house, they hung one of Mike's shirts as a tribute to him.

Week Two

After Red Team's first loss, they were hoping they would win the next Team Challenge. In the morning, both the teams got up to attend a Practice Session using a completely different weapon, the Beretta 92F under guidance by USPSA shooter, Ben Stoeger. Using pistols before, it is speculated that Denny did well with the weapon, but this remains unknown.

Denny taking aim at his target.

Both teams arrived for the Team Challenge, where seven tubes of decreasing diameter were set up. Each contestant was to be assigned to a tube, and whichever team would finish the course in the quickest time would be victorious. When the Red Team was deciding the shooting order, Denny volunteered to shoot the third largest tube. After Andre Robinson and Kelly Bachand hit their tubes, Denny was up, and quickly shot his tube. Then Frank Campana missed his tube, followed by a hit by Peter Palma. Brad Engmann was then up to hit the sixth largest tube, but missed it, as did Bill Carns on the seventh largest tube. The gun went back to Frank, who missed again. Then Brad was back up, hitting his target. Bill was then up again, missing his target the second time. After two misses, Frank and Bill managed to hit their targets. After the Blue Team had went, having little struggles, Colby declared the times, and Red Team's time was not better than Blue Team's, resulting in their second loss.

The teams returned home, where the Red Team held their second team meeting. It was here that Frank stated he would vote for himself if it was allowed, but would decide to vote for Bill because he missed his tube twice while Brad missed once. Then Bill stated he would vote for Frank for the same reason. At the Nomination Range, when Denny was up to vote, there was already one vote to Bill, Brad, and Frank. Denny voted for Frank based on his performance. After everybody had voted, Frank was definitely going to be in the Elimination Challenge, but there was a tie between Bill and Brad. This tie was broken by Peter Palma, voting for Brad, and sending him to the Elimination Challenge.

The following day, Red Team witnessed the second Elimination Challenge, in which Brad survived. Frank said goodbye to the Red Team before leaving. Denny and the remainder of his team headed back to the house where they hung Frank's shirt.

Week Three

"When I saw the longbow, I was excited, because that was something that I've been interested in for a while."

―Denny Chapman

After the elimination of Frank, Red Team was down in their mood, but was still confident to win a challenge. The following day, both teams headed to a morning Practice Session using the longbow under bowman, Chris Palmer. Because of his interests, at the Red Team session, Denny volunteered to shoot the longbow first. Red Team left from the Practice Session, some people being very confident with the bow.

Denny hitting the blue with his third arrow.

At the Team Challenge, a large hay target was set up, the outermost part of the target colored blue, followed by green, then yellow, and finally a red for the bullseye. Whichever team could hit closest to the bullseye would win the challenge. The first up to shoot was Iain Harrison of Blue Team. His best shot hit in the yellow near the green. Then Kelly was up for Red Team, who at first was not comparing to Iain's shot, but just before his turn was over, he shot an arrow which hit the yellow closer to the bullseye than Iain. After that, nobody, including Denny, could hit closer to the bullseye than Kelly, which made Red Team very confident that they could win. Then Simon "J.J." Racaza was up to shoot, and if he hit closer to the bullseye than Kelly he could win it for Blue Team. The last shot J.J. sent off hit closer to the bullseye than Kelly's shot by only a slim margin. It was then up to Bill Carns to win the challenge for Red Team. However, he was unable to hit closer to the bullseye than J.J., resulting in the Red Team's third consecutive loss.

Both teams headed back to the house, where Red Team held a meeting without Brad Engmann. Here, despite hearing opinions of other members of Red Team, Denny was still unsure on who to vote for. Later, Kelly tried convincing Denny to vote for Bill, but Denny stated he already knew who he wanted to nominate. At the Nomination Range, Denny was the last to nominate somebody, after there were already two votes towards Brad, and one vote towards Andre, Bill, and Kelly. Denny decided to vote for Bill, ensuring his spot in the Elimination Challenge.

The following day, Denny and the rest of Red Team witnessed the third Elimination Challenge, in which Brad came out victorious and sent Bill home. The Red Team arrived back to the house without Bill, where they hung the third red shirt in the competition.

Week Four

The following day, the then five remaining members of Red Team headed to their fourth Practice Session, using the AR-15 rifle under guidance by the returning expert, Craig Sawyer. Denny was the last to shoot for the session, being assigned by Craig to shoot at white foe targets and not at black friend targets. During this, Denny had a fast and accurate run, hitting all his foe targets and none of his friend targets. The Red Team left, feeling like they would have an advantage with the following Team Challenge.

Denny during the fourth Team Challenge.

At the Team Challenge the following day, a 6×6 grid was set up, which would have friend and foe targets placed on it as soon as the challenge started. However, unlike during the Practice Session, contestants would be given a chance to look at the grid before it was hidden. If a friend target was struck, it would cost the team a point, but if a foe target was struck, the team would gain a point. Whichever team would end up with more points would win. Denny was the first up, starting the competition with six points towards Red Team. Nearing the end, Red Team had 20 points while Blue Team had 13. If James "Jim" Sinclair would be able to get a perfect run, hitting all his foe targets, Blue Team could tie with Red Team. However, he was unable to hit all his foe targets and also hit a friend target, resulting in the first Red victory.

Both of the teams returned to the house where Blue Team held a brief meeting before heading to the Nomination Range. When the Blue Team returned, the entire house knew that the two sent to the Elimination Challenge were Jim and Iain Harrison. The following day, the Blue Team returned from the Elimination Challenge in a way that annoyed Denny. He later witnessed the hanging of Jim's shirt.

Week Five

After the first victory of the Red Team, they were feeling confident that they would be able to win another challenge. Both teams headed to their fifth Practice Session, using the historical Kentucky long rifle under guidance by expert, Garry James. Here, after everybody shot, Red Team went up to the targets, and due to the rifle's bullet drop, had to determine how high to aim to be the most accurate. This act may have been very helpful to the Red Team.

Denny taking aim at his target.

The following day, the teams headed to the Shooting Range for the fifth Team Challenge, where five targets were set up. The first four targets were worth one point, while the final target was worth four points. Whichever team could hit closer to the bullseye on each individual target would gain the total points from that target. Before the challenge, Colby asked Denny if a leader has emerged from the Red Team. Denny's reply was that the remainder of Red Team was a very tight group and that they really didn't need a leader. Then Colby asked Tara Poremba of Blue Team the same question, who said she thought the team was doing fine. Then Colby asked Adam Benson, who stated that he could not stand Caleb Giddings for ratting one of his plans to Blake Miguez and J.J. Racaza. Noticing this, Red Team decided for Adam and Chris Cerino to sit out in the challenge. The challenge then started, with a very early lead for Red Team. When it was Denny's turn to shoot, Red Team had two points while Blue Team had none. After Blake had fired at the 75-yard target, Denny had shot at the same target, barely beating Blake's shot. At the end, the Red Team had four points and the Blue Team had none, but if Caleb Giddings was able to hit the 125-yard target, he could tie with the Red Team. However, Caleb did not hit the target, resulting in Red Team's second consecutive victory.

When the teams returned to the house, Blue Team held a meeting and then went to the Nomination Range where they nominated Caleb Giddings and Adam Benson. The following day, Adam walked through the door, indicating that Caleb had been eliminated from the competition. Then Adam, despite his differences with Caleb, hung his shirt, stating him as a "fallen hero".

Week Six

"You know. It's always nice to shoot something you are familiar with, because I came into this competition not using any of these guns in the last ten years, and finally this is the gun that I've had my hands up to the last day before I flew in for this competition."

―Denny Chapman

After the elimination of the second member of Blue Team, Red Team was only down by one player. The following day, members of both teams got up and headed to their sixth Practice Session. This time, it was using the Colt Peacemaker under the guidance of Spencer Hoglund. When Denny saw the Peacemaker, he was feeling confident because he had used the weapon in competitions for many years. Denny did well during practice, as did most of Red Team, making them confident that they could catch up to the Blue Team.

Denny starting off the challenge for Red Team.

The following day, both teams went to the Shooting Range to participate in the sixth Team Challenge, where a saloon was set up with fifty targets. Whichever team would be able to hit all of the targets in the quickest amount of time would win the challenge. Before the challenge, Red Team decided to sit out Blake Miguez of the Blue Team, and then decided the shooting order, with Denny going first. The Blue Team went first, finishing the course in 7 minutes and 35 seconds. Denny started things off for the Red Team, but despite being comfortable with the weapon, only hit two targets with ten of his rounds. After everybody had shot, Denny was up again, and still did not do well with the weapon. There were 23 targets left when Colby called the end of the challenge. Red Team was unable to beat Blue Team's time, resulting in their fourth loss after winning two consecutive challenges.

Both teams returned to the house, where Denny immediately stated that if he was nominated for the Elimination Challenge, he would not take it personally, and that he couldn't break out of an old habit during the challenge. At the Nomination Range, when it was Denny's turn to vote, there was already a vote towards himself and a vote towards Kelly, who did poorly as well during the challenge. Denny voted for Kelly. Then Andre was up, shooting Kelly's target, ensuring Kelly's spot in the Elimination Challenge. Peter was then up, shooting Andre's target, resulting in a tie between Andre and Denny. For the tiebreaker, Brad was selected, who voted for Andre, resulting in Andre going to the Elimination Challenge as well.

The following day, Red Team went to witness the sixth Elimination Challenge, in which Kelly came out victorious. Red Team headed home without Andre, and when they returned, Kelly hung Andre's shirt in tribute.

Week Seven

"When they said trick shooting, I was obviously very excited because I'm a wild west performer. I need a little redemption from last time. I'm ready."

―Denny Chapman before the Practice Session.

Both teams headed to a morning Practice Session after Red Team had lost Andre, where Colby stated that the following challenge would be focused on trick shooting. When Denny heard this, he was excited because he had done trick shooting before. During practice, they would receive guidance by Jon "Trick Shot" Wilson. There were three guns being used: the Winchester Model 1873, Smith & Wesson M&P, and the Smith & Wesson Schofield. Using the Winchester, contestants were to have their backs at a target while shooting at it, using a mirror for guidance. Denny did well with this part of the challenge. With the M&P, the contestants were to shoot one-handed at black dots on a nearby target. Denny excelled at this task. Finally, using the Schofield, contestants were to throw a cabbage under a rope and shoot it before it hits the ground. Denny also did well with this firearm as well.

Denny during the seventh Team Challenge.

Both teams arrived the next day for the seventh Team Challenge, where there were four stations set up. The only differences with the challenge and practice were the different targets and the shooting of a half-can thrown under a rope for double points. For the first time, Blue Team decided who to sit out, deciding on J.J. and Adam. Then the Red Team decided who would be shooting for which station. Denny decided that he would shoot at nails on a target using the M&P. When it was Denny's turn to go up, Red Team and Blue Team both had a total of three points. Despite doing well in practice the day before, Denny was unable to hit a nail with any of his three rounds, bringing the Red Team's points up by none. Nearing the end, Red Team was down by three points, but for the last station, the targets were worth double-points. It was up to Kelly to hit at least two of those cans to catch up. However, Kelly only hit one can, resulting in Red Team's second consecutive loss again.

Both of the teams headed back to the house, where the Red Team held a meeting without Denny. Then, they headed to the Nomination Range to vote for the two to go to the Elimination Challenge. When it was Denny's turn to vote, there was already a vote towards Brad and a vote towards Kelly. He voted for Kelly based on team strength in the future. Peter was the last up, and voted for Brad, ensuring both Kelly's and Brad's spot in the Elimination Challenge.

The following day, the Red Team went to their fifth trip to the Elimination Challenge, in which one of the two previous survivors, Kelly, came out victorious while Brad was eliminated. They headed home without Brad, and when they arrived, Kelly hung yet another shirt of a contestant he had eliminated.

Week Eight

"I've never thrown a bowie knife. The only thing I throw in a competition is the saddle on my horse."

―Denny Chapman

Both teams woke up to a rainy morning, and many were wondering what the challenge would be with all the rain. They headed to the Shooting Range for a Practice Session using a weapon that does not launch a projectile, throwing knives based off of the bowie knife under guidance by expert, Todd Abrams. Denny had a very good stance with throwing the knife during practice, but did not stick the knife in the target until his last throw. Red Team then headed home.

Denny preparing to throw his knife.

The following day, the rain had cleared, and the teams headed to the eighth Team Challenge. There, six targets were set up by a beam with water in front and back of it. Each contestants would be given two knives each time they were up to attempt sticking it into the target. After Blue Team's run, Red Team was up, starting with Denny. He missed both his throws on the first target. Then Kelly was up, sticking his first knife in the target. After Peter had missed twice on the second target, Denny was up again, also being unable to stick a knife. Kelly then Peter again, and then Denny were unable to hit the second target yet again, but Kelly stopped this, sticking a knife. On the fourth target, Denny stuck a knife in the post holding the target, but had to hit the target, which he was unable to do. Denny then stuck the last target, but Red Team finished the course in 3 minutes and 10 seconds, in comparison to Blue's 3 minutes and 5 seconds, resulting in Red Team's loss by a slight amount of time.

Both teams then returned to the house. Denny expected Kelly and Peter to vote for him, but he was having a hard time himself deciding who to vote for. He first went to Kelly, asking if he would be okay with going to the Elimination Challenge. Kelly stated that he would probably get angry if he was voted for. Then he went to Peter and asked him the same question, who stated that he would be livid if he would go down while using a weapon other than a firearm. Denny was undecided at that point, but at the Nomination Range, after both Peter and Kelly voted for him, he decided to vote for Peter, who didn't have as good of a performance the following day, ensuring both Denny's and Peter's spot in the Elimination Challenge.

"Denny just charged right in and he broke that first target. Peter saw that glass break and he heard that noise, and he just settled down and he was breaking them, and that's when the pressure got to Denny."

―John "Chief AJ" Huffer

Denny during the Elimination Challenge.

After Red Team arrived back at the house, the results of the Nomination Range were given to Blue Team. Before the day's end, Tara Poremba stated that her father only had a couple of days left of living, and that she would quit the competition to be with her dad. She hung her shirt before taking off. The following day, Peter and Denny got up to attend a Practice Session using the slingshot under guidance by world record holder, John "Chief AJ" Huffer. Here, several cans were set up, in which the two would be shooting at with marbles. Denny did very well and was prepared for the following Elimination Challenge. Later that day, both Peter and Denny were to shoot at assigned colors. Denny was assigned to shoot yellow targets while Peter was to shoot orange. Denny was the first to get a point, but this was followed by three hits by Peter. Then Denny hit another target, followed by another hit by Peter. Then Denny and Peter got point after point, but in the end, Denny only hit five of his targets while Peter hit seven of his, resulting in Denny's elimination. Before leaving, Denny said goodbye to Peter and Kelly and said he would walk home with his head high and that he was still "a happy cowboy".

Post-competition

After the competition, Denny's shirt was hung, most likely by Peter. In the epilogue of the Season Finale, it states that Denny is currently ranked number one in the United States Mounted Rifle Shooting by the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association and has been cast in several other television projects.

Personality and traits

Denny asks Peter about the Elimination Challenge.

Denny was very respectful during his time on Top Shot. This respect made him many friends during his stay, mostly of the Red Team. When he did badly during two challenges that Red Team had high expectations for him, he immediately stated to the Red Team that he deserved to be in the Elimination Challenges. However, despite these requests, his many friends of Red Team kept him staying in the competition for a longer time, which sometimes caused members of Blue Team to be annoyed. Before going to the Nomination Range for the last time, Denny first asked Kelly and then Peter if they wouldn't mind going to the Elimination Challenge, showing that he was concerned about the thoughts of others.

References

External links

• Denny Chapman (@DennyChapmanGTV) on Twitter
• Denny Chapman on LinkedIn