Jay Scott

The weather is awesome in Unit 9! The smaller bulls are pushing cows around and acting tough. The big bulls have been a little elusive so far but I am sure they are just waiting for the rut to progress. We have had some fantastic sunrises and sunsets. Looking forward to the rest of the month in elk paradise! View the full article

Here is a brief video on using the bugle to locate bulls while elk hunting. I don't use the bugle that much and rely primarily on cow calling but there is definitely a time when a bugle comes in handy.We just got up to Unit 9 late this afternoon and set up camp. Jeanne and I went for a ride and did a little hike and heard our first bugle for 2012. This bull was pushing cows in a small meadow. Should be a fun year! View the full article

We just drove in from Colorado and we made a stop in Unit 9 to check on the conditions for the upcoming Arizona archery elk season. Things look very green and every tank we checked had water! We found this bull already completely rubbed. More to come! View the full article

Elk season is upon us and the bulls are starting to bugle. We hope everyone has a chance to get into the high country and hear one of the best sounds that God has ever created, the elk bugle. This video shows a couple of different cow elk sounds that are effective while trying to call a bull in. I have had some good emails and voicemails with questions about calling. I will try to answer them as best that I can on this blog and by way of video. Good Huntin' to those of you across the West who have elk tags in your pockets!Listen to the video below of friend demonstrating his excited cow call. This is a great sound. View the full article

Just my opinion but I thought it brought a great perspective to what we do and some of the the things that we fight in our mind while away doing what we love. I thought it showed a real life approach to hunting and the struggles each hunter that has a family faces each time they step in the woods. He is a creative guy for sure!

I agree with you trophy........when I started looking at how many days I use the binoculars and the success I was having with them it was much easier to justify in my mind. If you break the amount of days they get used over a couple of years then it becomes easier and easier. If you like to glass you should give these a look through for sure. Its a whole other world.

I received an email from a savvy elk hunter who has hunted many states for elk and has had some good success calling in and harvesting bulls. He went on to say that he helped a friend last year on a Arizona archery elk hunt but had very little success actually calling bulls into bow range. He asked me my opinion on what he was doing or not doing wrong. This question opens a can of worms but here is my answer. I would like to say first and foremost that I have been routinely schooled by many Arizona bulls both young and old. I have made more mistakes while calling and hunting elk than you could imagine. Most of my success calling and hunting elk has come from years of trial and error. I believe this September will be my 18th year in a row taking the entire month of September off of work to film, observe, chase, and interact with elk. I have learned a ton from just being around elk and watching them in their natural environment. I have seen young bulls do some very smart things and I have seen some old bulls do some very dumb things. It seems just when I think I have them figured out they throw a curve ball my way. That is the fun part though sometimes also extremely frustrating. God created elk with an amazing sense of awareness that makes them one of the worlds most intriguing big game animals. My answer to the question might take multiple posts but here is the short answer. My answer may change depending on the the exact timing and stage of the rut and the attitude and posture of some particular elk.Always remember, one day an elk might come running into your call and the next day have nothing to do with you. There can be a number of reasons for both scenarios. Spending lots of time with elk will help you in determining what to do and what not to do.Here are my suggestions if you want a cow elk to come to you.1) Try to read the mood of the elk prior to making any type of noise. If the subject elk seems mellow then you need to be mellow. If they are acting aggressive or agitated then you can call with the same mood and tone.2) High pitched calf calls can be deadly when trying to call cow elk.3) Get in a position that makes it easy for the elk to come to you. Don't attempt to call a cow where you know she won't or doesn't want to come to.(I highly recommend checking out Roe Hunting Resources Tutorials on calling elk, pay special attention to Chris's "See you first" and "the Doorway" concepts. Chris has done an exceptional job of explaining the two concepts in a way that makes complete sense. In my opinion, he couldn't be any more right on with his analysis)4. In my opinion, most people call too loud and one dimensional. Try to get some realism into your tonal quality and sound.5. Call with confidence. If you are timid and lack confidence the elk can detect that in your call.I will cover my suggestions on "How to Call in a Arizona bull" in another post. See the Elk Calling tips video below. Go get em'! View the full article

Steve Rinella and the Meateater crew came and hunted Buffalo with us in Mexico. Steve chose to do the self guided option and harvested a nice cow buffalo. The episode can be seen on the Sportsmans Channel. Check out the MeateaterTV's You Tube channel.Click here to see what Steve "the Meateater" Rinella had to say about hunting with Colburn and Scott Outfitters in Mexico. View the full article

We were behind the scenes. Steve made it clear he wanted to do the Buff hunt DIY so we gave them there space and let them do their thing. While they buffalo hunted we scouted for Goulds turkey and deer.. Glad you liked the show. Steve is just as real and normal as they get.

sagebrush- What is funny is that I have a jeep tour pulling up on his PA system saying, "Please stay inside the vehicle this is a wild animal!" His buddy still had full velvet but this guy was rubbed. I reckon in a couple of weeks he will not be as docile! Excitement is building for the upcoming fall elk, deer, antelope and sheep seasons! Good Huntin' to all who have tags.

Click here to read the full article on Digiscoping that has been featured on the MEATEATER website View the full article

Jeanne and I had the pleasure of having the Winke family for guests this week. We enjoyed some fishing, biking, dining and fellowship. If you aren't familiar with Bill's show MidwestWhitetail.com, you should get to know it because it is the most informative whitetail hunting show on the web and on TV. View the full article

Friends Trent Swanson and Rob Gillette came over for a day of fishing on the Fork. We had a great time fishing, chatting and animal watching! View the full article

Thanks guys! Fishing this summer has been very good despite the low water. The Green is definitely a special place. It is about time to turn the attention to the four legged animals! This fall should provide some great hunts from elk, deer and sheep! Good Huntin' to you. JS

We had some good rain in Carbondale and the rivers blew out so we decided to take a little road trip. The Green River Section A and B were calling us. We had two good days of floating and got to enjoy God's beautiful scenery, fish and mountains. Our friend MJ came with us on the trip and all of the fish were caught on dries! The Arizona Deer and Bighorn Sheep results came out on our travel day so it was a great day all around. View the full article

This is my guesstimate for the blog post, "How to Field Judge and Score Desert Bighorn Sheep 6" At Colburn and Scott Outfitters we try to judge rams as closely as possible. Comparing live rams to photos of rams that have been harvested where we know the exact official score helps us determine and analyze every horn length and quarter measurement. Very rarely do the photos lie. The main thing that jumps out at me when I see the subject ram from head on is the amount of drop that he has compared to his chin line. When the bottom of the horn drops below the jawline that is a sign of length of horn, not to mention that it really makes the ram look good. Another thing is that the horn seems to go back and then starts curving downward. When you add those two together it makes for a longer horn. The above photo shows the subject ram. Check out the good amount of drop and depth of curl.For our examples below, I have spilt screened four rams respectively from left to right, Subject ram, Erik Swanson's ram, Subject ram #5, Ron Arndorfer's LOGO Ram. Erik and Ron's rams have been officially scored so it makes for good comparison. For simplicity sake each ram will be in the same order from left to right in each example photo.Front On View from Left to Right, Subject ram, Erik Swanson's Ram, Subject Ram#5, Ron Arndorfer's Logo RamLeft Horn View from Left to Right, Subject ram, Erik Swanson's Ram, Subject Ram#5, Ron Arndorfer's Logo RamRight Horn View from Left to Right, Subject ram, Erik Swanson's Ram, Subject Ram#5, Ron Arndorfer's Logo Ram Front On View Right Horn View Left Horn View Here is my guesstimate on the subject ram Lets take a look at each measurement category as it relates to overall percentage of scoreHorn Length- 70 1/8 or 41.4% of total scoreMass- 99 3/8 or 58.6% of total score My guesstimate for this ram that is still roaming the hills is 169 5/8 Gross and he looks to be at least 7 years old. With a a few more years this ram could really grow into his big frame and become a fantastic ram. Once his mass fills in he will be a very special ram for some lucky tag holder. Remember that mass is the most important aspect of score, so look for a ram that carries the mass from the base to the tip.If you like this post you may be interested in these other posts below:Field Judging and Scoring Desert Bighorn Sheep Arizona Desert Sheep Hunting Photos 1Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Hunts View the full article

Here is the next ram for the How to Field Judge and Score Desert Bighorn Sheep series. There are several ways to post your guess of this ram, by clicking the title of this Blog Post then adding a comment or putting your score on our facebook page. You can guess overall gross score, horn length on each side and the mass/quarter measurements. Also put your estimate on the age of the ram. Front On level angle of Rams horn Right Horn Angle Front On Slight Quarter Angle Left Horn Angle Left Horn Slight Down Angle If you like this post you may be interested in these other posts below:Field Judging and Scoring Desert Bighorn Sheep Arizona Desert Sheep Hunting Photos 1Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Hunts View the full article

Here is the latest report from Colorado. The water continues to drop everyday and is getting scary low. The rains are helping a little but it could be interesting in another month or so. Water temps in the morning are around 49-50 and about 58 by noon. I haven't been out in the evenings to get a temp reading. I caught a big rainbow in the third picture down and managed to snap a photo of it in the small net. Then this morning my friend Jack and I went out at sunrise and he hooked into a really big fish. His fish although we didn't measure exactly was in the 24-25 inch range and probably 9+ lbs. He was caught on a streamer in moving water. It has been fun specifically targeting big fish in the morning then fishing hoppers after that. Arizona deer and sheep results should be posted soon and I am getting excited for the fall season. Check out video at bottom of Jack's fish. Here is my big rainbow caught on streamerMy big rainbow was sitting against the far bank and hit my streamer with force The pics below are of Jack's big rainbow. What a fish! For reference the net is just under 23 inches long and his fish hung out on both sides! Thank the Lord for trout and moving water! View the full article

It's hopper time here in Colorado! I noticed some hoppers in the grass the other day so I decided to tie some up and give it a whirl. Yep it worked. View the full article

We got back for round two. The plan was to hike Primrose ridge and get a view of "The Mountain", Denali, from there. We made the ridge, but soon after a storm was on top of us and we made a hasty retreat back down to the river. Again, lots of clouds meant no Denali viewing. On the way up we saw Dall rams and after the storm two Caribou bulls graced us with their presence. What a spectacular place! I don't know if it will be this summer, but we will be back to do some more exploring and catch a glimpse of the mountain. I took video of the Dall sheep through my spotting scope. The broomed ram is in the video twice, facing left first and then right. From my little Dall sheep knowledge, he seemed to be the biggest ram in the group. Enjoy the video and pictures. -janisHiking up to Primrose Ridge. In Denali National Park there are not a lot of marked trails and they actually encourage off trail hiking to get the wilderness experience.A young ram getting up from his bed with a view.This young ram was bedded a couple hundred yards from us and fed to within 80 yards. I think the sheep in the park know that the pressure is off!Our sheep viewing/picnic area for the afternoon. [/url] "Could you please drop the tripod legs just a little lower?"Jennifer took lots of breaks to check out the flowers of the Alaskan alpine environment. Even being white sheep, they can be difficult to spot when bedded on the light colored rocks.A closer view of the sheep's bedding area.The storm that ushered us off the ridge.The biggest ram we saw that day.Caribou bulls.We finished the day teaching Aina how to throw rocks in the river. She still prefers to hang on to them. View the full article

Here is my guesstimate on the ram in the post titled, "How to Field Judge and Score Desert Bighorn Sheep 5". I really like the look of this ram at first glance. He is definitely a ram that needs to be studied very closely because he has the look of a Boone and Crockett ram. My rough eye guesses his score between 168-170 gross. This is the subject ram above that we are trying to estimate the score. In the pictures below I have taken two rams that we know the exact score of and put each angle up against the subject ram. In the pictures below the ram on the left was harvested by Erik Swanson in 2011 and on the far right is the book ram that was harvested by Ron Arndorfer in 2010 (Click to see more pics and video of each of those two rams that were harvested with Colburn and Scott Outfitters). Remember that our subject ram is in the middle. From the front on view it looks as though our subject ram has decent drop to his horns. Meaning the bottom of the horns are at or just below the jaw line. The subject ram seems to have a little flare out on the tip of each horn. I am conservatively guessing that the left horn is 35 3/8" and the right horn is 35 2/8". If I look at the ears on each ram they seem to hit the horn in about the same place. If I look at the scrunched up hair between the horns on top of the head they seem to all three be fairly similar. Our subject ram is in the middle, my guess on his left horn is 35 3/8, 14 3/8, 13 7/8, 12 4/8, 9=85 1/8". Now something to keep in mind while trying to judge a sheep is that it is very important to have data from prior rams that have been harvested in that area, specifically the base measurements. I don't have the luxury of having seen this ram in person nor do I have the base measurement data. So when I am faced with this situation I try to compare pictures side by side and see if there is any major differences then adjust my numbers accordingly. If you are fortunate to get the average base measurements for the unit you are hunting never give the ram you are trying to judge a bigger base estimate. I would always rather under judge a ram then over judge one. My estimates on the right horn are 35 2/8, 14 3/8, 13 7/8, 12 4/8, 9=85" So if you add the left (85 1/8) and right (85) estimates the gross score on this ram should be 170 1/8. It is kind of hard to count the rings on the horn to determine age on our subject ram because of the grainy pictures but I would estimate this ram to be 8+ years old. How did your guesses stack up against mine? This would definitely be a ram that you would want to see and evaluate from every angle and get as many photographs and video as possible to try to make a better guess and estimate of his score. I would always put a disclaimer on my estimate because without having seen the ram in person it can be tricky to get it just right.Lets take a look at the estimated numbers and see how the relate to the overall score in regards to percentage:Mass-99 5/8 or 58%Length-70 5/8 or 42% The yellow lines are just to give a rough idea of where each mass measurement would be taken. It is important to keep that in mind while viewing a ram. Look for any dents or chips in the horn that may fall within that particular quarter measurement. I have the left horn being the longest horn at 35 3/8. Divide the longest horn by four and you get 8 27/32 so our mass measurements for each horn would be at base(0), 8 27/32, 17 11/16, 26 17/32. One last thing to remember is that it is very important to find the average base measurements of as many rams that come from your unit as possible. Try to gather as many photos and official score sheets of each ram as you can and keep a log of your new found data. This will help give you a baseline to make your guesses from.Couple of random tips:1. Big rams look big no matter what angle you see them from. If you have any doubts from different angles then it is probably not a book ram.2. Big rams kind of take your breath away when you first see them.3. Look for a ram that carries his mass throughout the whole horn.4. Try to count rings and estimate old age when looking for big rams.5. Most book rams will have 100 inches of mass then all you have to calculate is horn length.Click here to see more posts on Desert Bighorn Sheep Field Judging View the full article

Here are the actual measurements of the bull that was harvested by Colburn and Scott Outfitters hunter Tim Allen in 2009 in Arizona Unit 10 during the archery hunt. This post is on response to the post titled, "Field Judging Elk and Scoring Elk Antlers 4". It seems that the guesses on this bull have been all over the map from 350 to 420. I think it just goes to show that pictures can be deceiving. Pictures, video and live field assessment is necessary in order to be most accurate in your field judging. One without the other can be dangerous. One thing that jumps out to me in the video is the size of the bulls body. It is huge. Body size doesn't look abnormal when I look at the pictures and that is why having video where you can see the animals movements sure helps when trying to determine score. This bull also has real good spacing between each point which is a good indication of a long main beam. Point length again rules the day with 46% of this bulls score. Remember its all about number and length of points in order for a bull to score high.This quadrant of photos was taken from the article in Western Hunter Magazine that I wrote. This quadrant shows the two scoring methods, EAM and ESP. Here are the actual numbers:L-(G1-G5)20, 19 4/8, 16, 22 2/8, 13 6/8, (H1-H4)8 4/8, 7 6/8, 7 4/8, 6 1/8, MB 58 2/8=179 5/8R-(G1-G5)21, 19, 17 6/8, 23 6/8, 14, (H1-H4)8 5/8, 7 4/8, 7 1/8, 6, MB 59=183 6/8Inside Spread 37 inchesTotal Gross Score 400 3/8 (6 5/8 inches of deductions)Net Score 393 6/8 Here is the breakdown of the numbers and percentage to total gross score:Points-(L) 91 4/8 + ® 95 4/8=187 or 46.7%Main Beam-(L) 58 2/8 + ® 59=117 2/8 or 29.2%Mass-(L) 29 7/8 + ® 29 2/8=59 1/8 or 14.75%Inside Spread=37 or 9.25% Congrats again to Tim Allen on such a fine trophy! As much as I love to pour over the numbers and analyze data it is important to keep in mind that the thrill of the hunt, getting to enjoy God's creation and spending time with friends is the thing that keeps us coming back for more. Try to not let score determine whether the hunt is a success or failure. Stay tuned for another exercise in Field Judging and Scoring Elk from JayScottOutdoors. Be sure to find us on face book( JSO and CSO) and check out our YouTube channel. View the full article

The fishing on the fork has been good over the last month or so. The drakes have come and gone and now it is PMD, Yellow Sallies, BWO and still some caddis. I have been rowing alot and having fun fishing with some new friends. The water temps are usually around 49 at 6.30 in the morning and at 53-55 or so at noon. The evenings water temps have been around the low 60's. We are hoping for a good hopper season in the coming few weeks. Here are a few random pics from the last few days. I am thankful to just be around such a beautiful place. The sound of running water never gets old! View the full article

How to Score Desert Bighorn Sheep These pictures of this Desert Bighorn ram have been sent to me by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous for now. What does this ram score? What are his bases? What are his horn lengths? Click the blog post title above to post your guess on the score of this Desert Bighorn Sheep or go to the JSO facebook page to post your score. Front On Angle Left Horn Angle Right Horn Angle Rear Horn Angle If interested in this post click on the following additional links: How to Field Judge and Score Desert Bighorn Sheep Blog Posts Arizona Desert Sheep Hunting Pictures and Blog Posts from Colburn and Scott Outfitters Field Judging and Scoring Elk Antlers Blog posts View the full article

We made it to Denali finally. Boy am I glad we did! What a place. We only drove in the first 15 miles, but you can continue another 85 miles via bus. A park with a 100 mile road, and that just takes you to the middle. We hiked the Savage river trail. We did not get to see the mountain itself because of clouds. Hopefully next time! Enjoy the pictures. The Savage RiverI've never seen such color in a river. It looked like wet cement.This clear feeder creek shows the glacial sediment in the main river.Glassing for critters. We found three Dall sheep, two ewes and a ram.Jennifer packing Aina. View the full article