Trout Food

I was organizing my trout food last night.  Women have their shoes and men have their flyboxes!
Hoping to catch the evening hatch tonight on the river.

Eagle River Flyfishing II

Jeanne and I had some great fun with Janis yesterday on the Eagle River.  I even got to row a little after some constant begging.  The water levels are dropping fast and the fishing is getting hot!  Make sure to watch in HD.

Elk101.com Montage

Check out this cool montage that the Elk101.com guys did with some our Colburn and Scott Outfitters video clips!  This should get you fired up for elk season!  Be sure to check out Elk101.com

Lazy day for the elk

We found some elk that appeared to be enjoying the Colorado sun and green grass. 

Eagle River Flyfishing I

We had a fun day of fishing with Janis, watch the video in HD or highest quality for best picture.

Scott's Invade Colorado

Jeanne and I made it to Vail, Colorado safely and here are a few things we saw along the way. We hit the water tomorrow with Janis Putelis. The dry fly action is starting to heat up from what we hear! Check in tomorrow and hopefully we will have some photos and video from our day. We stopped in Eagle to eat at Moe's BBQ and almost had heart failure when we pulled into the parking lot and the place was boarded up. We found the new awesome location across the river and had our way with some pulled pork and roasted turkey.

Look who we saw driving down Hwy 6....Janis and his clients

North Fork of the White River Fly Fishing

We headed to the White Mountains of North Eastern Arizona to escape the valley heat for the Father's Day Weekend. My oldest son Parker (age 8) has been begging me to teach him how to fly fish. I went through the rod tubes in the garage and dug out my old Sage youth series rod I purchased when I was around 12. I remember riding my bike the 2 miles to Canyon Creek Anglers and spending hours looking at all the cool stuff. I saved my allowance and did chores to purchase the Sage youth fly fishing outfit for around $130. The guys at the shop were very patient with all my questions and loitering. Years later I got a job managing that same fly shop. Funny how things work out. I still have that 7'9" 6 weight rod. I found an Orvis Battenkill 5/6 reel in my box of reels and gave the setup to Parker to practice with all week before our trip.


We had Saturday afternoon set aside to sneak out for some fishing. We purchased my Reservation fishing permit and headed to the White River. I spent the afternoon teaching Parker how to fly fish in moving water. He caught on very quickly and did better than I thought he would. We walked around three miles and had a great time together. We fished a dry & dropper setup. The fish were all browns and were few and far between. The area we fished receives lots of summer fishing pressure. We did manage to land several nice fish and had several come up after our dry flies. Right before dark there was a huge caddis hatch that made me think we were in Colorado. It was one of the best days fly fishing I have ever had. I look forward to many more in the years to come.

Ready to fish!

Best fish of the day.

Last fish of the day.

Teva Mountain Games 10k

Up the hill, down the hill. Just like elk hunting! I ran my first race of the summer last week when I participated in the Teva Mountain Games 10k. A bit brutal, but overall fun. Roughly 1800 ft. of elevation gain and loss, four hills and lots of pretty views. The winner finished in 45 min. and I came in at 69min. To keep myself from walking the climbs, I kept imagining a nice 6x6 at the top of each hill. After the race we enjoyed watching rock climbers and big air mountain bikers. The day before we were treated with an exceptional kayak competition and the crowd favorite, the dock dogs. Teva and The Vail Valley Foundation put on quite an event! For more info check out http://www.tevamountaingames.com/

11 X 7 Mule Deer Buck

This email has been floating around and I thought I would pass it on.  The caption said, "Buck near Trinidad, CO from DOW Helicopter Survey".  It is a beauty of a buck for sure!  Since I love to field judge animals here is my guesstimate on his antlers. 
Left side:  MB 26, Mass 22, 3, 18, 12, 12, Total Left Side 93 inches (11 points)
Right Side MB 26, Mass 22, 3, 18, 12, 12, Total Right Side 93 inches (7 points)
24 inches inside spread plus 17 inches of extra points
Main Frame Gross Score 210 + 17=227 Gross

I think I am a little low but what do you think?

New Zealand Flyfishing Video

Huntin Fool Videos

I just got my new Huntin Fool videos and all I can say is wow!  Jason and Garth have really stepped up the ante when it comes to hardcore hunting dvds.  If you want to see some giants trophies check them out.  As a guy who is fairly familiar with videoing hunts, they have done an outstanding job with these two DVD's, Making Memories and Quest for the Best.  The video picture quality is fantastic.  Jason shoots two absolute giants on each dvd.

Tsimane Lodge

Nice Shot by Dan Evans

Another great bull from Dan Evans of Trophy Taker, check it out!

Velvet High Country Bull

These cool photos were sent in by a JSO blog reader, Darren Freestone. He wanted us to give our guesstimate. These photos are a prime example of how hard they are to field judge without the video look. I have sent the photos to Darr and we both came up with our guesstimates. Here they are:

Jay's Guess
Left side:  17, 17, 15, 16, 13, 2, Mass 31, MB 50, Total 161
Right Side: 16, 18, 15, 16, 13, 6, Mass 31, MB 51, Total 166
Spread:  Very hard to guess from these angles but 38
Gross 365
Darr's Guess
Left Side:  17, 17, 16, 15, 14, 3, 31, 51, Total 164
Right Side:  17, 19, 16, 15, 14, 6, 31, 51, Total 169
Spread: 38
Gross 371

Dan Evans Video

Here is a video shot by Dan Evans of Tropy Taker.

Pretty bull to score

This is a bull that I have seen two years in a row.  This footage of him is the first year that I saw him.  Last year he had made a jump in growth but unfortunatley no video of him with his new gear.  I would like to see him this year because his groceries are better.  I hope he ran the gauntlet and dodged the flying bullets and arrows.  We will soon find out!


Here is my guesstimate:
Left side, 14,15,10,18,16,MB 52,Mass 29 for 154 total
Right side, 14,15,11,17,16,MB 52,Mass 29 for 154 total
Inside Spread 35
Total Gross Score 343

We have been getting quite a few emails from guys who are digging this guess the score gig.  If you have photos or video that you want us to "guesstimate" on JSO then just email it to me at js43560@cox.net

Bull Elk Fighting video

Darr Colburn, of Colburn and Scott Outfitters shot this video of two bulls fighting.

Clean 6X6 Elk

Here is a bull I filmed that has a really cool bugle.  He has really good main beams.  Watch the video and try and estimate his score.  I will post my guesstimate at the bottom.


Left Side, 15,15,13,20,19,MB56,Mass,29 Left side total 167
Right side, 15,15,13,20,18,MB 55, Mass 29 Right side total 165
Inside spread 40
Total gross score 372

I find that breaking each bull down and trying to measure each point improves my field judging skills dramatically.  There is often a disagreement between us guides on each point length but that is what makes each one of us better at field judging is getting detail oriented and focusing.

Score the 6X8 Elk

Here is another bull filmed by Colburn and Scott Outfitters, Darr Colburn.  What do you think he scores?

Here is my guesstimate below