The third season of the History Channel television series Top Shot, commenced airing on August 9, 2011. The season contained twelve episodes, and was filmed over a period of 35 days in Santa Clarita, California. The season was won by Dustin Ellermann. Gary Quesenberry, Alex Charvat, and Phil Morden returned for Top Shot: All-Stars. Charvat finished in 11th and Quesenberry finished in 3rd, while Morden was the season's winner. Contestants *Mike Hughes was originally eliminated in 7th place. After Jake Zweig refused to compete in the elimination challenge when nominated, Mike took his place and defeated Phil Morden in the challenge to re-enter the competition. Contestant progress The player's team won the team challenge (Episodes 1 - 8). The player(s) won an individual challenge (Episodes 9 - 12), earning immunity from elimination for the current round. The player's team lost the team challenge, but the player was not nominated for elimination (Episodes 1 - 8); the player(s) lost the individual challenge, but was not nominated for elimination (Episodes 9 - 11). The player was nominated for elimination, but won an elimination challenge (Episode 9 - 11); or the player finished in the bottom two but won a tiebreaker (Episode 12). The player lost an elimination challenge and was eliminated. The player voluntarily withdrew from the competition. The player won an elimination challenge to re-enter the competition. The player won the $100,000 grand prize and the title of Top Shot. The player came in second. Episodes Episode 1: "The Gauntlet" No practice sessions were held for the preliminary and team challenges. The trainer for the elimination challenge was Jim "Long Hunter" Finch, cowboy shooting specialist. Repeating rifles were a significant advance over single-shot rifles for use in combat due to their greater rate of fire. Episode 2: "Down and Dirty" The trainer for both challenges was Craig Sawyer, Navy SEALs instructor and former sniper. Smith & Wesson's "M&P" stands for "military and police". Its design is based on input from law enforcement and the military. Episode 3: "Slug It Out" The trainer for both challenges was Taran Butler, national/world pistol champion. Episode 4: "The Bulldog Gatling" The trainer for the team challenge was Spencer Hoglund, historical weapons expert and four-time national champion speed shooter. The trainer for the elimination challenge was Garry James, historical weapons expert. The original Gatling gun was invented in 1862 by Richard Gatling, a dentist by profession.