Jay Scott

Guys thanks so much for the positive feedback on the Jay Scott Outdoors Western Big Game Hunting and Fishing Podcasts! We really appreciate your support. I have about 10 episodes waiting to be edited that I am sure you guys will love! If you have specific things you would like to hear or a certain person you would like me to interview or comments please email me at jayscottoutdoors@gmail.com Here is a sample of some of the guests coming up: A3 Trophy Hunts upcoming 2015 elk and deer for AZ Strip forecasts, Chris Roe of Roe Hunting Resources turkeys and river bottom rios, Burnt Timber Outfitters talking about Units 3C and Unit 1 Elk outlook 2015, Craig Steele of Exclusive Pursuits Outfitters and Predator Exclusives talking about a bunch of topics, Trevor Marques from Nevada talking about elk and deer hunting, Woody Bair from Flaming Gorge Resort in Utah talking about the Green River FlyFishing, Borderland Adventures Matt Woodward talking about Mexico Coues, Units 6,7,8 forecast for 2015 elk, Steve Chappell of Chappell Guide Service discussing new elk calls, how to elk calling, AZ elk application DVD and 2015 AZ elk forecasts, Adam Faz discussing shed hunting, and there is a ton more great stuff coming

I recently went to the NWTF National Turkey Hunting Convention in Nashville, Tennessee and had an unbelievable time checking out new turkey calls, decoys, and other turkey hunting equipment. One of the highlights for me as a turkey hunter is getting a chance to go to the Grand National Calling Contest which is the equivalent of the Super Bowl for football fans or the World Series for baseball fans. The best callers in the world assemble to compete for the title of the "NWTF Grand National Champion" All of the callers that enter into the contest are amazing and they had to have won or placed very high at their state level in order to compete. Their are many divisions of the contest including youth, head to head, friction, gobbling and the Senior Open which is the Best of the Best. In 2013, I literally listened personally to all of the preliminaries and the finals. This year I just went to the Friction and Senior Open finals. If you missed it and like turkey calling and the process of trying to improve your calling. Check out Shane Simpson's site, CallingAllTurkeys.com, he has every contest on his site where you can listen to all of the competitors. As host of the Jay Scott Outdoors Western Big Game Hunting and Fishing Podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing three 2015 Grand National Champions, Billy Yargus the Senior Open winner, Scott Ellis the Head to Head Champion and Joe Slaton the Gobbling Champion (episode to air soon). They all are demonstrating their calls and discussing turkey hunting strategies. Listen as they breakdown scenarios on from roosting birds, setup on roosting birds, calling to roosted birds, run and gun techniques, and many other calling scenarios. If you are going on a turkey hunt this spring these are three episodes that you don't want to miss. Episode 8: 2015 Grand National Champion Senior Open Finals Billy Yargus Interview Episode 5: 2015 Grand National Head to Head Champion Scott Ellis Interview Episode ?: (Coming Soon waiting to be edited) 2015 Grand National Gobbling Champion Joe Slaton View the full article

Thanks guys for the feedback and for the support! If you subscribe for free on iTunes then you get the episode immediately when it is released and don't have to wait for iTunes to update. Sometimes it takes iTunes 12 hours or more to update new episodes. If you subscribe it is immediate.

Check out the Jay Scott Outdoors Western Big Game Hunting and Fishing Podcast! Click to Listen/Subscribe on iTunes It's FREE! Click to Listen/Follow on Podbean It's FREE! We are excited to announce the launch of a new endeavor! Listen/Subscribe to the Jay Scott Outdoors Western Big Game Hunting and Fishing Podcast. You can find us on iTunes and Podbean. We are going to cover all sorts of topics about hunting and fishing adventures on this podcast. The goal of this podcast is to educate and inform by covering topics ranging from hunting, fishing, all of the western animals, gear, hunt tactics, field judging, specific units to hunt, controversial topics, wild game recipes, outfitters, guides, rivers, lakes, trout, bass, archery, rifle, record book trophies and much more! Subscribe/Listen/Download and Enjoy! It's FREE. Feel free to forward your questions or topics that you would especially like us to cover to jayscottoutdoors@gmail.com If You like what you hear be sure to give us a 5 Star review on iTunes! We appreciate your support! Click to Listen/Subscribe on iTunes Click to Listen/Follow on Podbean View the full article

Check out the 2015 KUIU ICON Pro Pack Updates and Icon Pro 3200 Release Video. There have been some nice changes and additions that you will see in the video. View the full article

By Darr Colburn View the full article

One of my favorite sites is hosting the NWTF Grand National Calling Contest Live on his website! Check it out at www.CallingAllTurkeys.com Check out his sites for times. The owner of the site is Shane Simpson who is a fantastic turkey caller in his own right and a darn good turkey hunter. Watch the contest and I promise you will learn something! I am headed to Nashville to see it in person. I went in 2013 and just had a ball at the national NWTF convention. This year should be no different. Turkey season is just around the corner so its time to dust em off boys and girls. Gobble Gobble! View the full article

Colburn and Scott Outfitters hunter Bill Bertram harvested two bucks with us in Mexico this year. We had many good laughs with our group. The last buck was shot on the very last night right in the nick of time. Fun hunting with high quality guys! View the full article

These are photos from our second week in Sonora with a great group of guys. Dean H. made a good shot a his buck at about 290 yards. Dean's buck was rutting with a doe all morning and covered close to a mile zigging and zagging across the brushy landscape following his doe. It was a bit of a rodeo staying on the deer because of how much they kept moving. The doe wasn't to fond of Mr. Buck poking her with his cold nose all morning . Darr and Dean were able to move into position while Dan and Bill and I watched the show. I used my new Swarovski 15X56 SLC a lot on this trip and was very happy with them. This is my third generation of Swarovski 15X and I have to say they just keep getting better and better. Having the 3X extra compared to my Swarovski 12X50 EL seemed to be noticeable. I like both pairs equally but I have to say for detailed long range glassing the new 15X are hard to beat. Congrats Dean on a nice buck! View the full article

We just got back from a great couple of weeks of hunting Coues Deer in Northern Mexico. We were able to enjoy good weather and even better company with our hunters. Overall we had mild conditions and it seemed a bit warmer than normal. The vegetation seemed to be better this year than the last couple years mostly due to the good monsoonal moisture the ranches received this summer. We ate real good and shared many laughs with our guys. The sunsets were awesome this year. We were able to video some of the hunts and should be able to share them soon. Dirk's buck below was shot on the last day right before dark after trying to bowhunt the first part of the hunt. Good Times! View the full article

By Darr Colburn My oldest son Parker drew a late coues deer tag. We hunted the first weekend but the weather put a damper on things. We did not see any rutting activity yet but hopefully with the cooler temperatures the bucks will start looking for does. Here is a short video from the first weekend. We will be back out again next weekend. View the full article

By Darr Colburn My oldest son Parker drew a late whitetail tag. I was pretty excited and had high expectations for the hunt. Being able to hunt during his Christmas break from school was a huge plus. We hunted a few days each of the first couple of weekends of the hunt. We would typically see four to six bucks a day. Most of the bucks were together or by themselves. I kept telling Parker that the hunt would get better after Christmas and that hopefully the bigger bucks would start to move around. Christmas eve Parker came down with a high fever, stuffy nose and a cough. He spent the next few days in bed feeling awful. Parker has asthma and lots of times when he gets sick it moves into his lungs. His doctor gave him several prescriptions and told us he had to have breathing treatments 3 times a day. On Saturday the 27th Parker was feeling better but still had a cough. Parker and I begged his mom to be able to go hunt the last four days of the season. She gave us the go ahead as long as the power inverter in the truck would run his breathing treatment machine. We packed the truck and headed out early on the morning of the 28th to hunt the last four days of the season. We arrived at camp just as it was staring to get light and the temps were in the 20's. We hunted hard for the first two days and saw several bucks but nothing over 90 inches. Some of the smaller bucks were starting to chase does around. At the end of the second day Parker said dad I am having a great time and thank you for taking me hunting. He said deer hunting is hard and I told him yes it is. He said dad I really want to shoot a buck. The two previous seasons Parker had shot bucks the first day of the hunt and had not had to grind it out. That night at camp I was getting texts that a big storm was rolling in and that we may not be able to hunt the last day of the season. Our plan for the second to last day was to go where we had seen the most deer and bucks and pretty much shoot any buck. At first light I glassed up three different bucks on one ridge and we watched two of them bed down. We made our move and got on a ridge about 350 yards from the bucks. I set up to start glassing and the bigger of the two bucks was not there any more. I picked up the smaller two point and Parker said he wanted to shoot it. We got set up and Parker missed two shots and the buck. He told me he was sorry for missing and I told him it was no big deal and not to worry about it. That evening we ran into another hunter who we had talked to before and he told us that he missed a big buck at 250 yards. I think that made Parker feel better about missing. That night in the tent the texts came in saying the storm was going to hit at 8am on the last day of the season. We made a plan that we would get up at 4:30am and pack up camp and then try and glass a little bit before the storm. When I opened the tent door the next morning it was calm and I could still see some stars. I was hopeful we would get a couple hours of glassing in before the storm hit. We packed up camp and drove the Ranger down to a glassing point were we had seen lots of bucks. We glassed for two hours without seeing a deer. I told Parker lets jump in the Ranger and go check one more spot about 20 minutes away. We got to the point and started glassing. Parker and I both picked up a few does but no bucks. The wind started to pick up and the clouds rolled in. Just as we were about to call it quits I picked up a buck on an open slope and watched him bed down. We grabbed our gear and headed over to where the buck was. We hiked up on a point across from the buck and I picked him up. We got set up for the shot and Parker shot and missed twice! The buck ran off with a doe. A couple minutes later the buck came back chasing another buck. The original buck never gave Parker another shot but the buck he chased off bedded 470 yards from us. We got set up on the other buck and waited an hour for him to stand up to give Parker a shot. It was spitting snow and getting very windy. I told Parker this was going to be his last shot and that he really needed to focus and squeeze the trigger. The buck stood up and Parker made a great shot! The snow really started coming down on our way over to the buck. We got over to the buck and got a few picks. By the time we finished taking care of the buck our packs were buried in snow. It was a wet cold pack out but we hardly noticed. I could not have written a better ending to the hunt. I would have loved for Parker to have shot a big buck but we hunted 8 days and just did not turn one up. In the end the days we shared together in the field and the lessons and memories made are far more important than the size of the animal. I am very proud of Parker for sticking it out on a tough hunt a shaking a couple of misses off. We never gave up and hunted hard until the very end. Happy New Year! View the full article

I tell people all of the time that as an professional outfitter I have the best job in the world. This past week was a perfect example of why I love to do what I do. I had the pleasure and honor of guiding someone that only comes around once in a blue moon. 12 year old Averi Elms from Baker City, Oregon drew a desert bighorn sheep tag in the deserts of Western Arizona. Her Dad Russ called when the credit cards were hit thinking he had drawn a sheep tag because of the amount of points he had. To all of our surprises it was not Russ but Averi his daughter that has drawn with 2 bonus points! Russ told me that Averi was very involved in school and athletic activities and would not be able to start the hunt until December 19th. I was excited for the adventure because Darr and I have been watching a really nice ram in this unit since 2010. As it turned out, the ram was harvested by the other tag holder on the second day of the hunt and he was the largest ever shot in the unit at over 180 inches! A unit record! Wow! I arrived about a week early for Averi's hunt and began scouting. I would send reports daily to Averi and her Dad. I always smiled when I got Averi's responses because they always had smiley faces and little winking icons. A positive vibe was already forming and I was energized to find some nice rams for Averi. They arrived on the morning of the 19th ready to hunt. Our hunting party consisted of Averi, her Dad Russ and Grandpa Ed Elms. We covered lots of country for five days and saw many sheep including rams, ewes and baby newborn lambs. I am working on editing the video of Averi's hunt so I wont spoil all of the details. This hunt was very refreshing because of the attitude of our party. Averi is one of the most positive and energized person I have ever been around in my life. I truly feel that the sky is the limit for this youngster and she will be able to accomplish anything she sets her mind to. It was so nice to see the mutual respect and love that was shared between three generations of family as they enjoyed God's creation in Western Arizona. I will let the video speak for itself but this was one of the best hunts I have ever guided in my life. Averi made it count on the 5th night of the hunt on a ram that we had seen a few days earlier that Averi had nicknamed "Captain Hook". I can tell you that the hunting and sporting tradition and way of life is being carried on in the Elm's family. I cannot praise and applaud them enough for their commitment to involve their kids in such a rich tradition. These are the new Swarovski 15X56 SLC binoculars with the Outdoorsmans Bino Adapter. I absolutely love these new binoculars! Captain Hook bedded Captain Hook bedded the first morning we saw him. View the full article

The Arizona Sheep season is over in a few hours and some good rams have been harvested. I have been trying to play catch up with some downloading of different ram videos. The first ram is a ram Darr and I call "Gnarly" and the second video is a ram we call "Gordo". Both are nice rams. Click on the link to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to follow our adventures. Also, our Jay Scott Outdoors facebook page for daily adventure updates View the full article

The Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep season in Unit 22 is over and the 3 tag quota has been filled. In my an earlier post I showed the three rams that were harvested. Congrats again to the hunters and their guides on the successful hunts. I thought I would compile some photos and video of the ram that Darr Colburn and I nicknamed Dolly. We witnessed Dolly on many occasions while scouting for the AZ Desert Sheep Auction hunter wandering in all parts of the unit. Most of the time he was just traveling from one ewe group to another. Sometimes he was completely alone in his wanderings and sometimes he had a companion or two. We estimated Dolly to be 6.5 years old and thought he would score somewhere around 182. We figured his horns to be in the 37 to 37.5 inch range and to have about 107-108 inches of mass. We figured his bases at around 15 6/8. Dolly was harvested and has been scored at 184 3/8 Net by AZGFD and was aged at 7 years old. As a student of the game of field judging I ask myself where did we miss this ram on score? The answer is simply buried inside the numbers. We underestimated the mass. I think the mass of the horn was hidden somewhat by the depth of the curl and the drop of the horns. Dolly, unlike most rams, did not curl up it curled back and down creating a very large depth of curl. Dolly had the frame to break the magical 190" mark. Now with that being said you never know if he might broom or break one of his horns or get ate by a lion. Another thing to note is that the more we learn about these awesome animals the more we realize that they are extremely hard to judge exactly. Body size can often be so different between each animal making it almost impossible to be 100% accurate every time. It is always our preference to not over score an animal because the quickest way to lose credibility in our business is to be known as someone who over scores animals. It seems the more I dig into the numbers the more I learn and no matter how much I learn it seems I am always humbled as to how difficult complete accuracy is. Dolly Ram AZGFD Checkout Score L-37 0/8, 16 3/8, 15 5/8, 13 6/8, 9 3/8=92 1/8 Please note the mass on the left side totaled a whopping 55 1/8 R-37 2/8, 16 4/8, 15 5/8, 13 6/8, 9 2/8=92 4/8 Please note the mass on the left side totaled a whopping 55 2/8 184 5/8 Gross 184 3/8 Net AZGFD Checkout Score The Dolly Ram fooled us because he had a whopping 110 3/8 inches of mass. There are very few rams in the history of Arizona Desert Bighorn that have more than110 inches of mass. Ernie Meeske's 2012 Giant ram had 110 2/8 inches of mass and Carl Ludeman's Monster 24B South ram last year had 110 inches of mass. I also believe Michael Carpenito's 24B South giant in 2011 had right at 110 inches of mass. You have to search long and hard to many rams with more mass than those three. As you will see in the photos and video below that Dolly hid the mass somewhat in the depth of curl and drop of the horns. Try to find the 4 year ring that is very prominent on this ram. Some rams it is not quite as obvious. The 3 photos immediately below are from 2012 photos when I was scouting for Ernie Meeske's hunt in Unit 22. Dolly was just a youngster then but you can see the potential that was forming. The Dolly Ram 2012 The Dolly Ram 2012 The Dolly Ram 2012 All of the photos below of the Dolly Ram were taken in November 2014 with my Swarovski 95mm Spotting Scope with the Swarovski TLSAPO Digiscoping Adapter from the Outdoorsmans in Phoenix. View the full article

The year 2014 is coming to an end and it is hard to not sit back and reflect on what a great year it was. I feel so blessed to have encountered the adventures and shared so many great times with family and friends. I am so honored to be able to hunt and fish and experience God's awesome creation. In these photos you will see a lot of smiles and it is amazing as I look at each one I can still remember the way I felt at the time that each one was taken. Lord willing 2015 will be full of adventure and many more memories will be made. To my friends and family in these photos, I say lets do it all over again in 2015! Looking at these photos it reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures, Jeremiah 29:11,"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 2015 should be another awesome year! Make sure to follow us for more adventures in 2015: Jay Scott Outdoors facebook page @JayScottOutdoors on Instagram @DarrColburn on Instagram Jay Scott Outdoors YouTube Channel View the full article

Darr and I have been fortunate to have spent a lot of time lately in Arizona Unit 22 looking at Desert Bighorn Sheep while scouting for the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Auction tag. The general season is now over in Unit 22 and the 3 ram quota has been filled. We often feel attached to a lot of the rams that we spend so much time with while photographing and videoing them. Congrats to the three hunters and guides on their awesome rams. In this post we will attempt to document each ram that was harvested. The Kicker Ram The first ram that was harvested was a ram we call "Kicker Ram". He was actually given the nickname by Seth and Ernie Meeske, in 2012, while we were scouting for Ernie's upcoming hunt. Kicker has been photographed and featured on several magazine covers. He sure is a beauty. This late summer he broke off a good piece of his right horn. In 2012, his left horn was the one that was broomed off and his right was the long one. 2014 rolled around and now his left was the long horn and the right was the shorter of the two. I videoed him several times prior to Ernie's hunt in 2012. Darr and I saw him all over the unit throughout the last 3 months. He traveled the most out of the three rams chronicled in this post. He would literally be in one area one day and 10 miles away in a day or two. We had some unbelievable encounters with him. We began to notice that he had a smaller body than some of the other rams but was a true legend and warrior in his own right. His exact score is not exactly known at this time but I will update this post when more info come out. See the videos and photos below of the "Kicker Ram". These two photos (above and below) of Kicker Ram were taken from The AZ Wildlife Views and The AZ Desert Bighorn Sheep Society News flyer. Photo Credit to Jim Hamberlin Jr. Jim takes spectacular photos! You can see in these photos he still had all of his length. These photos were taken in 2013. Prior to the brooming of his horns he had real good length. Kicker Ram Photo by Darr Colburn 2014 October Kicker Ram Photo by Darr Colburn 2014 October Kicker Ram photo by Jay Scott November 2014 The White Eye Ram The second ram to be harvested was a ram we called "white eye". Darr saw him several times over the summer and we both encountered him quite often during the fall of 2014. His right horn was longer than his left which had broomed. His AZGFD checkout score was 175 7/8 Net. I will update as more info becomes available. Above and below are photos of the White Eye Ram taken by Jay Scott November 2014 The Dolly Ram The third ram that was harvested was a ram we call "Dolly". This ram was probably one of the most visible rams during the summer and fall of 2014. Dolly had a really good look to him with good drop and good depth of curl. We felt this ram had some serious potential with a bit more age to be a Mega Ram that Unit 22 is so known for. Dolly was seen in all portions of the unit. He also traveled around quite a bit from month to month. Dolly was always very photogenic. (next three photos) The Dolly Ram Photo by Jay Scott November 2014 We would like to congratulate the successful hunters again on their trophy rams. Darr and I both feel so blessed and fortunate to have seen these special animals. We would like to thank the AZGFD and the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society for doing such a fantastic job with our sheep herds and being such good stewards of the wildlife. As more info comes forth on these rams we will keep this post updated in order to maintain maximum accuracy. Make sure to follow our adventures on our Jay Scott Outdoors YouTube Channel, our Jay Scott Outdoors facebook page and on our Instagram accounts @darrcolburn and @jayscottoutdoors View the full article

Darr Colburn captured some great photos and video of Bob's ram prior to the hunt. Bob's ram has 39 1/8 and 38 4/8 inch horns with 15 inch bases. This ram is truly a special Nelsoni Desert Bighorn with a ton of flare. His tip to tip spread is almost 31 inches! The video of Bob's hunt should be ready pretty soon. View the full article

4 falls-your question is a bit more complex than yes or no. I would say there are still some great rams left in there but there are some others that live in other units as well. Time will tell...

The O'Connor Family and guides Darr Colburn and Jay Scott View the full article

As the days roll closer to the Arizona general season Desert Sheep hunt, I am reminded how exciting this time of year is! I have been getting emails from guys all across the state who have been out scouting. Seems as the sheep are pretty spread out this year due to the great moisture we have had over the summer and fall. Preparation is key to success on a sheep hunt but patience and a great attitude is probably the most important ingredient to a successful hunt. If you haven't been able to scout as much as you would have liked remember that there is a reason that the hunt last all month. Take your time and don't allow yourself to get burnt out or tired. If you do simply take a day or two off and rest up. Sheep hunts only happen once in your life so make sure to stay mentally tough at all times and don't settle for something that you are not happy with. We have been scouting like crazy for the auction desert sheep hunt and have turned up many really nice rams. We have yet to turn a ram that we believe scores over 185 inches so the search continues. What a blessing it is to have bighorns to dream about! Arizona has incredible sheep hunting and much of that is because of the AZGFD and the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society. Take time to give thanks to these guys if you see them around and make sure to be a member of ADBSS even if you haven't drawn your once in a lifetime tag yet. Below are some photos from the recent capture of desert bighorns from Unit 24B North which were transplanted to Unit 33 in the Catalinas. With some added animals from 44B North the herd in Unit 33 should be on its way to sustaining itself. The project has not been without hurdles but it would be fantastic if the Desert Bighorn could once again thrive just North of Tucson. Make sure to find us on our Instagram accounts at @jayscottoutdoors and @darrcolburn. Also get updates on our facebook page. Check out the head butting video at the bottom of this post. View the full article

We just got back from an incredible adventure in the Black Hills of Northwestern Arizona in Unit 15D. Darr Colburn of Colburn and Scott Outfitters, was guiding Bob O'Connor from Payson and my general season hunt had not started yet so I ran up to lend a hand. The Good Lord was watching over us and Bob harvested a fantastic ram! It was great to spend time with Bob and his family including his wife, Becky and sons Chris and Ben. They all were a very genuine family and a true pleasure to be around. Our camp host was Fred Ashurst of Golden Valley, Arizona. Fred has always been a part of our adventures in 15D and it was awesome to see him and share some meals and stories. It is always humbling to be a part of such a great hunt in the deserts of Arizona in the company of old and new friends. We have a lot of photos and videos to share from the hunt so check back for more soon! View the full article

Here are some more images of the awesome adventure with the O'Connor family in Unit 15D North on the Desert Bighorn Sheep hunt. Darr and Bob actually stayed with the ram on the mountain and huddled by a fire all night to stay warm. Bob's wife Becky and two sons, Ben and Chris and I came in the early morning hours to assist with the pack out of the ram. One of the boys had a step counter on and it registered over 15 miles when we reached the truck. The mountains that the Nelsoni Desert Sheep live in humble me in a big way. Their ruggedness and beauty is amazing. Lots of memories! What a hunt we had! Find us on our facebook page Jay Scott Outdoors and on our Instagram at @darrcolburn and @jayscottoutdoors. Click on the second pic down to see some video that Darr Colburn captured during his scouting for Bob's hunt. View the full article

Scouting for the AZ Auction Desert Sheep tag continues as the November weather finally cools down a bit. We keep getting asked the question of "How is it going?" We have found a handful of really good rams but none yet that are truly special in size and character for our hunter. We were hoping to have found a giant ram before the general season starts in a couple of weeks but have not done so yet. The search continues for a truly special ram. We will continue to search and enjoy each day that comes our way. Come find us on Instagram @darrcolburn and @jayscottoutdoors. If you are scouting for your own upcoming sheep hunt we would encourage you to give it everything you got because it only happens once! Make each day count! View the full article

This post is long overdue. Darr and I have been kind of grinding it out while scouting lately. The rams seem to be really wandering right now and it has been hard keeping track of them. They aren't spending too much time in one spot these days. We have found some really nice rams. If you are scouting for the upcoming general season it is important to cover as much country as possible. Keep moving until you find sheep and then go find some more. Remember that rams are very nomadic and just wander around seemingly with no purpose. It can be very hard to keep track of a specific ram this time of year. As our friend Craig Steele with ORG Hunt says, "keep grinding" View the full article