MONTICELLO — The Battle of the Bulls is coming here July 8 andthe event promoter promises a bucking good time.

Mandy Miller, owner of Big Creek Rodeo Company, said this eventwill be their first visit to Monticello and they were surprised bythe number of responses they are getting.

“We’ve had a bunch of people calling already and I wassurprised,” she said. “I’m real excited because it’s a largerresponse than we usually receive. I hope everyone enjoys it.”

Miller said Big Creek Rodeo Co. is bringing 30 head of “some ofthe South’s best bucking bulls” with another 10 head coming fromthe Black River Rodeo Company in Edwards.

Set to ride these bucking beasts are 40 of the best semi-probull riders from the North American Bullriding Association, the topsemi-pro bull riding association in the nation.

“We have riders from Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas,Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina andSouth Carolina,” Miller said. “Some of these riders participate inthe Professional Bull Riders and the Professional Rodeo CowboysAssociation and you have seen them on TV. They may not be wellknown yet, you probably won’t recognize their names, but they areup-and-coming rising stars on the rodeo circuit.”

Most of the bulls have also worked on the PBR tour, NationalFinal Rodeo and the PRCA and PBR Finals in Las Vegas.

Big Creek Rodeo Co. is relatively new to the circuit and makinga name for itself. It was started several years ago by C.M.”Mickey” Blaine of Byram. He is now in the bucking bull breedingprogram and has turned the company over to his daughter, Mandy, andher husband, Bobby Guss Miller.

Big Creek Rodeo Co. is also scheduled to present the Battle ofthe Bulls in Brookhaven Oct. 28.