Jay Scott

Darin Powell harvested a great 3X3 buck with matching can openers off of the G2's. Darin made a perfect shot at 200 yards on his first Coues deer buck. Congrats Darin on a fine buck. View the full article

Great pics. great bucks and awesome write up! Congrats to everyone involved. Way to go

Here are pics of Justin Franks awesome 3X3 Coues deer buck with Colburn and Scott Outfitters in Sonora Mexico. Special thanks to my partners Darr Colburn and Janis Putelis for their hard work and efforts on our hunts this year. We also got Justins harvest on video with a double angle that I will be posting soon as well as the other great bucks our hunters harvested. View the full article

The AZ Elk and Antelope regulations are out. This blog post is an attempt to give our two cents for the 2013 elk season. At this point it is two early to judge moisture levels but it appears the snowfall might be slightly ahead of last year at this time. Our favorites for the AZ archery elk season are Unit 9, 10, 23 South, and 23 North. Unit 1 was going to get the nod this year but with the tag increases it got dropped off the list. At Colburn and Scott Outfitters we have had many great elk seasons in Arizona Unit 9 and 2012 was another fantastic year. We had an awesome time with our clients enjoying God's country in Unit 9 and chased some great bulls. We went three for three with a 354 and a 380 in Unit 9 and a lower 300's bull in Unit 10 with two days to go. We made some new friends and shared the adventure of the hunt which will not be forgotten. Being optimistic, we feel that 2013 is poised to be a great year with a a few key storms over the next several months. The AZGFD kept the tag numbers in Unit 9 the same at 100 bull tags and no cow tags. You can expect to be chasing 330-350 bulls almost everyday and catch an occasional glimpse of a 360+ type bull. This year there will be a muzzleloader hunt after the archery hunt which ought to be really good. We think the odds of harvesting a sold 350+ bull is very high on this hunt. This muzzleloader hunt is definitely the best in the state especially with low tag numbers. With the archery dates being the 13-26th and the muzzy dates starting the 27th we feel real confident that the antler breakage will not be a huge problem. The muzzy hunt is definitely the premier tag in the state and we hope to be guiding on that hunt.Unit 10 is always a great choice but adding 50 extra tags for the 2012 season and then keeping the bull tags the same at 200 for 2013 makes us cringe a little. Yes the AZGFD did eliminate the cow tags which is great but we still feel 200 is 50 tags too many to have a truly enjoyable hunt. Are there big giant bulls in Unit 10.....of course there is but we think the quality of hunt diminishes a bit with the 50 extra guys. The early rifle hunt has 75 tags which we feel is too many for a truly awesome hunting experience. Will a few big bulls be harvested....of course but it may be more of a race than a hunt.Next is Unit 23 South and North at 15 tags each. As far as tag numbers for an enjoyable experience both get a thumbs up. The success rate for harvest is usually about 40-45% on those hunts. The quality of top end bulls is better in the South but the density is way more spread out and seems much lower when you are in the field compared to the North unit. You can expect to chase 320-340 bulls in the North with an occasional 360 type bull. In the South, you can expect to chase 300-330 bulls but may catch a glimpse of a 365 plus or two on the hunt. Our clients have harvested some very large bulls in both the North and the South over the years. The early rifle hunt in 23N is a lot of fun but the quality expectation needs to be in line. Not many bulls over 350 get shot on this hunt. In our opinion 350+ is a true trophy on this rifle hunt. We would love to be guiding this early rifle hunt. 23 South does not have an early rifle hunt.For late elk hunts Unit 23 is our favorite late elk hunt. Hunters can expect to be chasing bulls that are broke up a little and the size expectations are 300-330 bulls with an occasional bull that has all of its points and is over 340+.Two things that we want you to take away from this, 1) The AZGFD despite some of our tone, does a fantastic job managing our wildlife in general. Are there things as a guide or trophy hunter that we would like to see different of course but overall they do a pretty darn good job compared to alot of states. 2) Our size expectations in our forecast are a generalization for most hunters. We feel confident that the three guides at Colburn and Scott Outfitters will find and be on some of the finest trophies in each unit no matter where our clients draw. We have a commitment to giving our clients a high quality hunt from start to finish for the whole 14 days. We will not sub you out. if you book with Colburn and Scott you will get one of the three of us.....period!Make sure to watch our elk season last year that was featured on Cabelas Out West. or click on the videos on the right side of the screen.As we write this the trucks are packed and the three of us (Darr, Janis and Jay) are headed to Mexico for our coues deer hunts. We will be down there for about three weeks. We are trying to catch the rut from start to finish. If you have questions about different units or what to do with your points please send us an email or give us a call and when we return we will get right back to you. The deadline is February 12th 2013 for the apps so we have plenty of time to discuss options and evaluate moisture patterns when we return.Lets pray for some good snow and lots of moisture. Lord willing if it all comes together there will be some big bulls to chase come September!Jay Scottjayscottoutdoors@gmail.comDarr Colburndarrcolburn@aol.comJanis Putelisjmedibas@yahoo.com View the full article

Check out this Unit 22 mountain lion footage taken by guide Darr Colburn on a recent Coues deer hunt. We saw three lions in 7 days!Below are pictures of another mountain lion that was spotted by Darr Colburn on the same hunt. We made a quick phone call to to AZ Ground Pounders Cash and Steele Armstrong along with Hunter Haynes and they treed the lion a few hours later. Our friend Cody Goff had been glassing with us a few days a decided he wanted to bag his first lion. The Arizona Ground Pounders Outfitters sure love to chase there lions and I would highly recommend their services to anyone looking to get a lion! View the full article

I want to thank Janis Putelis for taking some great photos during the Unit 22 sheep hunt adventure. View the full article

Posted by Jay ScottI talked to Todd Mast the 24B North sheep hunter tonight and he took his hunt down to the wire. He harvested a ram that we found while scouting for Ernie Meeske's Unit 22 hunt. He had the prettiest cape I have ever seen on a desert sheep. He was almost jet black. I had sent photos to Todd prior to the hunt of the Chocolate ram hoping to give him extra incentive to take his time and he sure did. I believe he was the only sheep hunter still hunting. To his credit he had his sights set on this ram and he got it! Big congratulations to Todd Mast on a job well done! Preliminary score is low 180's ram! This is a picture from 2008 which I believe is the Chocolate Ram on the left but I'm not 100% sure View the full article

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Here are some more photos of some nice rams here in the deserts of Arizona. Desert Bighorn sheep are definitely at the top of my list to photograph. View the full article

I am excited about the arrival of two new pieces of hunting gear from KUIU that showed up just in time for Christmas! First, is the much anticipated Super Down Jacket which uses Toray's QuixDown water repellent treatment for the down feathers in the jacket. This jacket is definitely a piece that I have been wanting since I heard about it. This jacket only weighs an amazing 10 ounces and has a hood. For exact specs on this jacket and demonstration of the water repellency on the down click on this link. The next piece of gear is the KUIU Merino 230 Zip-T that is made up of a durable of 100% TMC Merino wool jersey face and 100% brushed 100% polyester fleece inside to make a shirt that is the perfect blend of 50% Merino wool and 50% polyester. Both of these pieces will be put to the test during the Coues Deer rut hunts coming up in Sonora, Mexico this January. Can't wait to get started! View the full article

Darr and I had a great December coues deer hunt with John and Phil Lawson from California. The father son team harvested two nice bucks that both scored over 100 inches. We had lots of rain and snow on the first two days of the hunt which made for tough conditions. Once the storm cleared it took the deer a day or two to thaw out and start acting like deer again. The deer were in a pre rut phase and we think the AZ rut will break wide open after Christmas. We saw 3 different lions in seven days of hunting. One of which our friend Cody Goff, was able to harvest with the assistance of Cash, Steele, and Jim Armstrong along with Hunter Haynes. Most of those lion pics will be covered here in another post. Darr found the shed to John's buck on his way up to the harvested buck. We had some great help on the deer hunt with Cody Nelson, Cody Goff, Seth and Ernie Meeske and Ryan Eustice. We had a great hunt with the Lawson's and look forward to an elk hunt with them in the very near future. Both bucks were taken to Clay Goldman of Mogollon Taxidermy View the full article

Here is a nice buck that was harvested last night on the Unit 22 December Coues Hunt with Colburn and Scott Outfitters. More pics and video to come after the hunt. Three lions in 6 days! View the full article

I finally got a chance to try out the T.A.G. bags. No more cotton bags for me. Lighter, stronger, more breathable. It all makes for better care of your precious wild game. T.A.G. Bags impressed! I feel like having breathable bags helps build the crust on the meat which protects it as well as prevents soggy areas in the bag during the hanging period. The bags were easily hung by the drawstring which withstood the strain of these 75+ lb. hams. Most impressive was how clean the bags came out after one wash and the 15 minute hang-drying time. T.A.G. Bags are a no-brainer for the meat hunter. These 24"x44" bags could easily handle two quarters for the ultralight guy. View the full article

I got a call from Steve Chappell of Chappell Guide Service a week before the AZ late rifle hunt in 23 saying he had a last minute hunter for me. I jumped at the opportunity and hooked up with Dan Heuker of Oregon. We scouted a few days, found some bulls and got lucky on opening morning. We decided to stop by the range and it's a good thing we did. Dan's rifle was shooting six inches high at a hundred yards. We dialed in the scope and hit the hills with confidence. We found a great rest for the 360 yard shot. A clean, unbroken six by six. Thanks Dan for having me along on your hunt. It was a pleasure. -Janis View the full article

Congrats to all of the sheep hunters that have already filled and good huntin' to those that are still hard at it. Check out the video of this Giant ram Ernie Meeske just harvested. Click on link http://www.jayscottoutdoors.blogspot.com/2012/12/ernie-meeskes-az-desert-bighorn-sheep.html This ram gross scores 186 7/8 and should net 186 3/8. Unreal ram that will fall in the top 20 rams ever harvested in the state of Arizona! Congrats to Ernie and Seth on their ram of a lifetime!

Not the weather we were expecting in the Colorado high country in mid November! I hope it starts snowing soon, we can all use it. Despite the conditions, my brother and I found a few elk and hung a few quarters. I ended up eating my cow tag, but that's what I get for passing on calf elk and hunting big bulls. We'll be missing that cow come June. Thanks to all those that helped haul meat, your name is on a few frozen white packages. A super big thanks to everyone that has been or is involved in perpetuating our sport and way of life. We are blessed to have these opportunities. I searched high for two days, looking for a mature six point bull. Not turning one up and with only three days left to fill a cow tag and an either sex tag, I started meat hunting. The Mrs. does not like an empty freezer! My brother with his second elk. He made a 150 yd. shot off of one knee to put her down. He was using his new Zastava M70, chambered in 30-06. We have been impressed with this rifle, especially at a price around $400. I had a shot at a calf seconds later, but passed, hoping for more meat. The saying holds true, even when meat hunting: "Don't pass on anything the first day, you'd like to have on the last day." Using the Otter sled for packing meat was awesome. This thing is bomber and should last quite a few hunting seasons. It was important to have a brake man steering the rear. As he lay. The first thing I heard that morning was antlers clashing. A sound seldom heard in CO, it took my brain ten minutes to recognize it. Even this late in the year, the bulls are working their pecking order. Yes, everything in this picture was packed into or on the KUIU Icon 6000 . Loaded and ready to roll. The afternoon sun had warmed the snow to create treacherous load hauling conditions. I will not attempt these pack-outs without my Leki Hiking Poles. . Hauling meat with the Otter Sled. View the full article

Here are some more pics of Ernie's big Arizona ram. View the full article

Ernie's son-in-law Jeremy Plain View the full article

Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep scouting and hunting pics in Unit 22 with Ernie and Seth Meeske. View the full article

Here are some more great pics from the Meeske sheep hunt adventure in Unit 22. There is nothing like finding a cave and sleeping in it. We had some awesome experiences on this hunt that will definitely stay with me forever. Ernie took the ram to the game and fish today and they scored it at 187 6/8 gross and 186 5/8 NET. It was aged at 9 years old. The ram has over 110 inches of mass starting with 16 4/8 inch bases and 16 inch 1st quarters. View the full article

Here are some more photos of Ernie Meeske's awesome Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep. View the full article

Here are some sheep photos that were taken during our scouting and hunting trips in the 2012 sheep season. I have so many photos and videos it has been taking awhile to get organized. If you like sheep then you will enjoy the posts of the next several days and weeks. This is a great ram that we had to think long and hard about prior to the hunt starting. I believe this ram was harvested by one of the other hunters in the unit and I believe this ram will score over 180 inches. Fantastic horn length especially on his left horn which I bet is close to 39 inches. View the full article

Check out the video of Ernie Meeske's awesome Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep hunt! View the full article

Smitty, well done! Very nice job on the ram and way to put your time into it. I knew you would do well