Nosler Accubonds and my .300 WSM

     I've shot elk with rounds as small as the .270 and as big as the .300 Weatherby.  I know lots of folks that have killed elk with even smaller rounds and certainly plenty of bigger ones.  Unfortunately, I can't afford to own a gun collection so I'm always trying to find the perfect elk round.  I know this is a subject that will be debated until the end of time, but this is my current favorite.  The .300 WSM.  I've now owned two Winchester model 70's chambered in .300 WSM and both were tack drivers.  The .300 WSM seems to be a near perfect combination of a lightweight action, a heavy bullet(if wanted), enough powder for long distance, and minimal punishment on the shoulder(My "long distance" is out to 500 yards).   My bullet of choice on any elk is the Nosler Accubond.  I'm a fan of heavier bullets for elk, so  I was loading 200gr. Accubonds but switched to 180gr. to pick up a bit of speed.  With 69gr. of IMR 7828, my 180's are going 3000 ft/s.  To date, all the elk I have shot with an Accubond bullet have died quickly and the bullets were never been recovered as they have all been pass through shots.  Here are the results from this year's hunts with my Winchester M70 in .300 WSM.



The Winchester Model 70 Extreme Weather SS, chambered in .300 WSM, topped with a Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x40.  So far, a great mountain hunting set up.



300 WSM with 180gr. Nosler Accubonds

Cow elk: Walking at 250 yards.  3 shots: one in the paunch, one in the shoulder, and one in the neck; in that order.  All pass throughs.  Cow went 50 yards downhill.

Bull elk:  bedded at 80 yards.  One shot in the forward part of the shoulder; pass through.  Bull went 10 yards.

My cousin's bull: Feeding at 171 yards.  One shot behind the shoulder, through both lungs; pass through.  Bull went 40 yards.

NE Whitetail buck: Standing at 150 yards.  3 shots: one miss, one spine and one finishing shot in neck.  Dropped in his tracks but required follow up.

As you can see the 180 grain Accubond performed well at distances as close as 80 yards and as far as 250 yards.  When the bullet hit bone there was considerably more damage and larger exit wounds than on the meat only type hits.  In any case, the bullet held its path and mass to create a wound channel all the way through.  I'm a fan!

Mike Tenney AZ Coues Buck

Friend of JayScottOutdoors.com, Mike Tenney, shot a nice AZ coues buck,"Here are a couple pictures of the buck I was fortunate enough to harvest this week. I want to thank all those who helped with the pre hunt preparation and the advice on which areas to focus my efforts on, I couldn't have done it without your help!


I would also like to express my extreme gratitude towards my brothers Scott and Kevin and of course my dad Arlee who to this day still amazes me with his ability to always find the shooter bucks.

I feel extremely fortunate to be surrounded by people in my life who support me and my efforts in hunting these magnificent animals."

Great job Tenney!

Mule Deer Buck Trail Cam Photo

I checked the cards on a couple of cameras I had out the last couple of months and got a few pictures of this mule deer buck.  He is not huge but I thought the pictures were pretty neat.

Elk Hunter Magazine's Premier Issue

The first issue was in my mailbox and it looks great!  Hats off to the guys at ELK HUNTER MAGAZINE.  Good cast of writers and editors including Randy Ulmer, Ryan Hatfield, Mike Duplan, Nate Simmons, George Bettas, Dan Staton, Tony Bynum, Chris Denham and myself.  There are lots of archery, rifle and muzzleloader stories as well as some other great articles.  Click here to subscribe.  Lots of great stuff coming! 

Ryan Eustice's Monster Coues Buck Pics

Here are some photos of JayScottOutdoors.com friend, Ryan Eustice's Giant Arizona Coues deer.  Darr and I taped him and here is what we got.  We would just like to say we were honored to be in the presence of a magnificent trophy like this.  L-18 7/8 Beam, 3 4/8, 8 4/8, 7 2/8, 5, 4, 3 4/8, 2 5/8=53 2/8  R-19 2/8 Beam, 3 2/8, 6 5/8, 5 7/8, 4 7/8, 4 1/8, 4, 3 2/8=51 2/8.  The buck has a 19 4/8 spread and 13 7/8 inches of abnormals for a total of 137 5/8 Gross  He has 5 2/8 inches of symmetry deduction for a Unofficial Net of 132 3/8

Here is what Ryan has to say about his buck…..

"I am still speechless when people ask me about this buck. Never did I think I’d get the opportunity to harvest such a truly remarkable Coues deer like this and I feel very blessed to have done so. I have received many calls and emails from family and friends telling me congratulations and I thank everyone for all of their kind words. I can’t thank the following friends enough for all of their help and guidance leading up to the hunt: Cody Nelson, Cody Goff, Darr Colburn, Jay Scott, Mike Tenney, Jimmy Vincent and Scooter Maxwell. Also, a special thanks to my cousin Mike Strasser for making the trip down from Prescott to hunt with me on the day I shot this whopper buck. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it."

Congrats Ryan!

Ryan Eustice's Monster Coues Buck

Friend of JayScottOutdoors.com, Ryan"Uncle Eusty" Eustice just harvested a Giant of a Coues!!! I remember going on Ryan's first coues hunt with my cousin Jimmy Vincent and friend Mike Tenney a long time ago. He has killed many nice coues over the years but has finally shot the buck of a lifetime. Darr Colburn and I have pounded over the maps with Ryan since he found out he drew. Cody Nelson and Cody Goff, other friends of JayScottOutdoors, really dialed Ryan in as to where to focus his attention. Ryan made his scouting and preparation pay off for sure. He definitely was due for a great buck and this one was well deserved for sure. The good Lord was shining down on Ryan today! Once the craziness settles down, I will have Ryan give the account and some pics of his fine trophy. Congrats to my friends Ryan Eustice, Mike Tenney, Jimmy Vincent, Cody Nelson and Cody Goff. Over the years they have helped Darr and I on many hunts and it earned them the name of "B and B" Guide service. Thats a whole other story for another date. Congrats!! Gross Score 135+

Ryan Eustice's Well Deserved Giant Coues Deer!!!

CO 3rd season Cow and Bull Combo

Here is a short photo essay of my 3rd season elk hunts in central Colorado.  Thanks to everyone that came to help carry meat out of the woods. 

Day two, I muffed this same bunch of cows around 9am, followed them till about 2pm, had given up and was snacking, when the herd made a mistake and tried to cross the open bowl behind me.

The Outdoorsmans Pack carrying my daily gear, my rifle, two deboned shoulders, backstraps and tenderloins.  I drug the hams as far as I could, then stashed them in a fir tree and came back the next day.

Bloodied in battle, a heavy pack, and a long walk home in fresh snow.  It's good to be an elk hunter.

When the shooting was over I could only find 2 of the 3 cartridges fired.  The next day, packing out the hams,  I came across the picture above.  I'm guessing a squirrel uncovered it and tried to take it up the tree but couldn't get a grip, so I got my brass.



My first successful "following his tracks to his bed" type of hunt. 



The whole crew showed up to pack, even Baby Aina!

GRATEFUL

for family and friends, for mountains and OTC elk hunts.

Dorothy the Javelina

this was emailed to me! Awesome video!

THE HUNT by Colburn and Scott Outfitters

We have also been updating the Colburn and Scott Oufitters website. Check it out but keep in mind it is still under a little construction.

Goose Burgers

My brother, Cameron Mitchell, pounds a lot of geese and has come up with many interesting ways of preparing them.  Here is his burger recipe:

1/3 Lb.Patties
Preparation 15 Minutes
Cooking Time-Less than Ten Minutes
Serves-Four
2-3 Boneless/Skinless Goose Breast Filets, Cut into one inch pieces
1/4 lb Smoked Bacon, Drained
1 Cup Dised Tomato
1 Tble Sp. Garlic Powder
1/4 Yellow Oinon-Diced
2 Tble Sp. Sweet Pickle Relish
1 Whole Egg
1/2 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1/2 Tea Sp. Fresh Cracked and Ground Blk. Pepper
1/2 Tea Sp. Kosher Salt
Sliced Cheese of Choice
Ham Buns
Lett, Sliced Tomato, Onion, Condiments
Place Goose Meat in food processor.Pulse a few times until
meat is thoroughly ground. You can also chop meaty finely with knife.
In large Bowl, Combine meat and next six ingredients, mix well.
Add Bread Crumbs, Salt, and pepper and mix until firm, patties hold together
Form  into 3/4 inch patties.
Grill each side evenly about four minutes for a {Medium} Internal temperature.
Serve with toppings, good wine and great friends!

Mr. Little Heavy

I went scouting for two days and got some good footage of this ram that I nicknamed "Mr Little Heavy".  His right horn was pretty beat up.  It was a beautiful two days out in the desert. 

Here is Mr. Little Heavy buddy

Bill Henderson's Monster Muley

     My friend Brody Henderson had an epic hunt helping his dad on a Colorado 3rd season mule deer.  Here is what he had to say about the hunt:

     "My Dad's name is Bill and he was pretty much speechless after he shot this buck of a lifetime. He didn't really know what he had even after it was down.  It wasn't until we got home and compared it to the 170 inch buck I shot last year that it sunk in. Bill is 70 years old but is in pretty good shape for an old timer and because he was able to hike a bit he was able to kill this buck. There are no roads or 4 wheeler trails into the parcel of public land we hunted so the deer had basically been left alone.  This buck was killed in central Colorado in a very overlooked area of BLM land (we saw no other hunters in the area) that I've hunted before that requires a mild uphill hike of about three quarters of a mile from parking area to about 7500 feet elevation.  This buck was killed on November 9th at 8:30 am during pre-rut/early rut and was killed in an area used by a large number of resident does and small bucks.
     I glassed him up the evening before while my Dad watched some does and a forkhorn pass close by us. He looked like a good 180 type buck when I glassed him in low evening light at maybe four hundred yards. Luckily, the big guy was still there the next morning near the same group of does. The next morning, we circled around and uphill of the does before first light and then slowly stalked in on them when we saw they weren't coming uphill.  We almost got in too close and I didn't see the buck until we were about 70 yards away but there was a slight breeze in our face and the buck never knew we were there. He was feeding uphill of the does and Dad got down on his knees and on his sticks for the downhill quartering away shot. He used a Weatherby Mark V .308 with a 168 grain TSX that passed through his chest and then the right leg.

     He's a mainframe 4 x 4 with two nice stickers on right side and a small one near the base on left side, 25 inch inside main beam spread and 31 inch outside greatest spread with tons of mass that carried all the way through the frame. The mass is what made it such a cool buck. Rough Gross Score is 209 1/8. I actually think he was a year past his prime. He still had a huge body and thick fat on his back and hind quarters but the rack had a couple spots on the right and left sides that were probably stickers last year and incredibly I think he would have scored quite a bit better last year.I'd say he was at least 6 1/2 but probably a year or two older. My feeling is he was not a buck that used that area year round but came down out of the high country because of late October/ early November snow and the rut. It was a great hunt with Dad and even more fun than killing my bull a few days earlier."

     Great job Brody putting your Dad onto such an awesome deer!  Hunts with the family are second to none.

Bill Henderson with his "Buck of a Lifetime".  Congratulations!



Proud guide, proud son.



DIY, public land, Colorado Bruiser.

Colburn and Scott Outfitters AZ Unit 23 Late Hunt with Rick Snellstrom

     My eyeballs are sore from the glassing, I'm still picking cactus spines from my calves, and the AZ pinstripes will take another week to dissapear from my forearms, but I'm already thinking about next year's hunt.  This year we experienced very warm temps for the late hunt which combined with the normal pressure made for a tough hunt.  We still hammered away all seven days of the hunt looking for an AZ giant, passing on a few bulls in the 330's.  On the last day of the hunt, the front edge of a winter storm came barging in and that got the bulls on their feet.  The final morning we glassed up 14 bulls, which was as many as we had seen over the prior four days.  We decided to send Rick after them and after four hours of stalking, an hour of sitting through a blizzard, and a couple of well placed shots we had a bull down.  I'd like to thank Rick for being such a trooper, we guides love clients that can hike and start every day of the hunt with a positive attitude.  It was a pleasure to lead you through some of AZ's worst manzanita and catclaw thickets!

Rick down climbing off of the rim to start the stalk.

            

Hunter Rick Snellstrom and Darr Colburn

With 30 minutes left in the hunt, we near the end of the packing job.

Darr trying to stay warm and steady during the 40mph gusts.

At 2:00pm on the final day it finally gelled.

Erik Swanson's AZ Desert Sheep Hunt Video

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Erik Swanson's AZ Desert Sheep Hunt Part 3

UPDATE: Erik had his ram scored at the Game and Fish today and here are the numbers-L-35 4/8,15 2/8,13 7/8,11 5/8,8 4/8=84 6/8  R-35, 14 6/8, 13 6/8, 11 6/8, 8 7/8=84 1/8 84 6/8+84 1/8=168 7/8 Gross and 167 6/8 Net