The Legend is Born

Now, folks, just sit back and let Pappy tell ya 'bout the legend of Jerad Berg...

The 2008 Big Buck Hunter World Championships started with 24 of the worlds top athletes deer killin' machines gathered at the Excalibur in downtown Chicago. Their huntin' & critterin' skills were honed to a tee. They showed up from all corners of this great land, they showed up by stagecoach, mule, dogsled & canoe from all parts far and wide. Throughout the afternoon and early evening, they competed to find out who was the best of the best. The competitors put such a pile of hurt on all them deers and critters that their guns nearly melted from the fury of their shootin'. And when the dust had settled, two men were still left standin'. Daniel Mundschau from Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and Jerad Berg from Montrose, Minnesota.

Now right about then, Davey Snipes grabs the microphone and announces the final match. But Ryan 'Kid' Cravens pulls out the rule book and sez "Since this here's a Dubble E-limin-ation tournament, we may have to run this final match twice!" See, Jerad Berg lost in the very first round to Trevor Floren, and battled his way all the way back to the finals. But Daniel Mundschau had never lost. So even if Jerad beat Dan in finals, Dan still couldn't be out, cause he hadn't lost twice! If Jerad beat Dan in the final match, they'd have to play a 2nd final match, because it was double elimination. A smile curled Dan's lips, all he had to do was win one of the two matches, and he ain't never lost yet!

But Jerad, didn't know how to say 'quit'. See, his momma never taught him what 'quit' means. So finally the two titans began their final match. Jerad was green and Dan was orange. They were playing the Caribou Adventure. They were trading sites, going back and forth, til finally Jerad built up a lead in the 3rd Trek and won the match. But even though Jerad won, they had to play again, because Dan ain't lost twice yet. So now was the final match of the day. Each competitor had lost once. Whoever won this match would be crowned Big Buck Hunter World Champion, and go away with $10,000 (and my jug!).

The final adventure would be Elk Adventure. Right off the bat, Jerad jumped out to an early lead by nailing 4 bucks at the first site and jugglin' the frog four times. But Dan stormed right back with more bucks the next site. Back and forth the battle raged on. One site Dan would get more bucks, then another site Jerad would get more bucks. Every now and then, somebody'd pop a doe, and the other would clean up some points. In the 2nd Trek Jerad built up a 2500+ pt. lead, but as soon as he'd done it, the next site, Jerad pop'd a doe and Dan stormed back with a 2300 pt site, that reduced the lead to less than 300 pts going into the final trek. Back and forth the sites went, after the 2nd to last site, Jerad had an 800 pt lead. But Dan stormed back on the very last site, out-shooting Jerad four bucks to two. When the final leaderboard before the bonus round came up, the crowd gasped...the score showed that Jerad's lead had been reduced to a razor-thin 19 pt lead. Everything would come down to the last bonus. The two hunter heroes had been battlin' for nearly half an hour and only 19 pts separated them. The previous bonus, the Wild Boar Bonus, they'd split exactly down the middle - 25 boars each. Now would they split again?

But when the final Frog Flippin' Bonus started, Jerad jumped on it like a duck on a june-bug! He lit up the screen with 'green' frogs, when the lillypads and frog-legs cleared, Jerad had triumphed! He had battled back to become the 2008 Big Buck Hunter World Champion!

And so the legend of Jerad Berg was born. Jerad, come on over to my porch, and let's celebrate. Don't forget to bring my jug!