Erik Swanson's AZ Desert Sheep Hunt Part 1



Jay Scott looking for th Swanson Ram with the Kowas, photo by Trent Swanson

 I have the good pleasure of hunting with friends Erik and Trent Swanson in Unit 44B South this year.  Erik had applied for 20 years and then his number was pulled and he is now in the game.  We have already had a great time on this hunt and it hasnt even started yet.  Here is the scoop on the unit.  Since 2000 the average ram taken is 160 4/8.  Here is the positive news, since 2005 there has been four rams out of seven that gross 169-170.  The optimist that I am would say that the unit is probably trending towards the upside.  The game and fish flew there survey in October and saw roughly 75 sheep.  Only one class IV ram was seen.  We have found that ram but he is not a high scorer but he is a horny devil for sure.  Attached are the pics that compare the class IV that was flown to the ram we found in the exact location a few days later.  Now another positive that we have going for us is that Erik is the only tag holder.  Since 2008 there has only been one tag per year.  I rarely give hunt updates because we usually have other hunters in the area but since Erik has the only tag.  I will try and give some updates throughout the next 10 days or so.  Should be a great time with two good friends! 

We are 99.9% sure that this is the same Class IV ram that the Game and Fish took from the helicopter.  Hopefully we can turn something bigger than this guy.  Stay Tuned!

Colburn and Scott Outfitters Late Hunt Bull Down

Yesterday was openning morning of the late hunt.  We had been scounting for about 5 days before the hunt started and had seen some nice bulls.  I was hunting with David Combs and his wife Sona.  Janis and his hunter Rick saw a couple of nice bulls the evening before the hunt started and gave us directions how to get there.  David is 70 years young and is a very experienced hunter.  David, Sona and I were waiting in the dark on the point where Janis and Rick told us to go.  At first light I glassed up a bull bedded at 310 yards.  After 20 minutes of trying to get a rest David connected on a great late hunt bull.  The bull has seven points on his right side and had seven on his left but broke a couple of points during the rut.  When cutting up the meat for the pack out we found a 3 blade Rage broadhead and 4 inches of arrow in the bulls left shoulder.  It took Janis, Rick and I most of the day the get the bull packed out.  Here are a few pictures.  David and Sona where great to hunt and share stories with.  I look forward to spending more time with them again someday.  I hope am still hunting when I am 70.

Bull Down!

I just got a text from Darr saying "Bull Down! David just got the bigger one from last night"  So I think this is the bull Darr is referring to.  Will post more details when I get them.

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Psalm 100

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.

Big Mule Deer Buck

Friend of JayScottOutdoors.com, Bryan Skaar, harvested this toad mule deer, here is what he had to say about it, "Here’s the muley I harvested on 10/29/11. He is an 8X10, 33” wide and grosses 219 1/8 B&C.

He was living in a big standing cornfield along with another 200”+ giant. It took me 8 days to get it done."
Great job Bryan!

Lion #36

I try to keep track of the number of lions that I have seen in the field.  Here is #36.  I do not hunt lions nor have I ever harvested one yet.......

412" Bull by Unlimited Outfitters

Posted by Jay Scott of Colburn and Scott Outfitters
Sounds like the record needs to be set straight.  This bull was harvested by Justin and Brian Marshall's crew with Unlimited Outfitters.  I have heard that Todd Brooks and I spooked the bull to Brian Marshall and crew and that it ran into their lap and they shot it out of self defense.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The truth as I know it is that my hunter Todd Brooks were hunting in a completely different part of the unit on opening morning.  I called my wife at lunchtime to tell her we were on our way back to camp and to have our lunch ready.  She said that friend Cody Nelson had seen a big bull.  Cody showed us that afternoon where he saw the bull.  We moved in that afternoon and ended up spooking the bull.  The next morning we went to where I thought the bull spooked to.  We chased bulls but did not find the big one from the night before.  On the way out we saw a Ranger parked.  I commented that they must have had a good morning because it was around 11.30 and they still werent back to the rig.  We did not see the bull that night but I got a text picture from Brian Marshall that night of a bull that looked just like the big one.  The next morning to our surprise as we passed a camp.  There was a large set of antlers in the back of a Ranger.  I stopped at the camp and the lights were off.  It was roughly 4:30 am.  It turns out it was Brian and his crew.  They had harvested a great bull fair and square.

FOR THE RECORD AND FOR ALL GOSSIPERS, if you weren't there then shut your mouth!  The bull was harvested fair and square by Brian Marshall and Unlimited Outfitters.  Brian actually has been watching that bull for several years.  He has great video of that bull.  Brian and I have known each other for many years and while we do not run together I consider him a friend.  We have always had a good professional relationship and we will continue to do so.  Brian and his crew know the country real well and have consistently helped their cleints harvested great trophies for many years.

Case closed in my book and hats off to Unlimited Outfitters and Brian Marshall for a great job. All other talk is just that TALK.  And thats all I have to say about that.  Good Day!

Giant AZ Strip Bucks

Got this email from friend of JayScottOutdoors, Matt Schimberg of ARIZONA STRIP BUCKS.COM, check out these giants that their clients harvested this year on the Arizona Strip.  Matt and Bryon do a fantastic job!  They also have a blog at ARIZONASTRIPBUCKS.BLOGSPOT.COM

 During the 2011 Arizona Strip13B hunt I had the great pleasure of hunting with with John Holbrook of Yuma Arizona. After 7 days of pounding the country we finally caught up with the buck we were after. John made a stellar 360 yard downhill shot in a tense situation to take this unreal buck. After a addition error was corrected on the score sheet the deer gross scores 239 6/8ths" with a 221 frame. His left G4 was only 4.4" and had he matched side to side he would have grossed right at 260" as a 5x5 with only one inch of eyeguard. He was aptly nicknamed "

I can't thank John enough for trusting us with his tag and making a memory that will be burned into my mind forever. Enjoy....

Well here is the second giant that we killed on the Strip this year. He was dubbed "One Eye" cause..well...he only had one eye! We started the hunt looking for him and found him rutting a couple of does on the morning of day two after a short tracking job. One shot at 165 yards was all it took to harvest the great old deer. His heavy antlers grossed 230" on the button with about 3 inches broken off. 34 wide 9x8. A special thanks to our entire crew. If not for each and every one of them our season would not have been so great. Thanks to Bryon,Devin, Bill, Benny, Bob, Luke and Dan! .........................Matt

This buck was just featured in the latest Muley Crazy Magazine

Here is the first buck to hit the ground for us during the 2011 season. This awesome buck was killed by Mark Warrington of Califonia. The triple droptine buck grosses 226 5/8ths and was taken on the third evening of the Strip Archery hunt. Thanks Mark! Enjoy.......Matt

Colburn and Scott Outfitters presents The Grower Bull

Big Arizona 7X6

Dan's 376" Archery Bull Live Footage

Colburn and Scott Outfitters presents The Green Bull

Buck Naked-Are you kiddin me!!

WARNING THIS POST IS NOT FOR SMALL CHILDREN!  WE LIVE IN A SICK WORLD!

Are you kidding me!  We have been scouting for an upcoming sheep hunt and this camera has been in place for some time now.  Look at what we caught coming to water.  This shows how unbelievable our world is!  Pretty sure he is taking pictures of himself and smokin a doobie.  Oh my what a sick world we live in but this was too good not to post!  I will leave a sign that says beware of cholla and catclaw.  Can you imagine? Ouch!  This camera is in the middle of nowhere and at least 2 miles in the backcountry.

Quoting one of my favorites, Larry the Cable Guy, "Thats funny stuff, I dont care who you are!"

W1 Ram

MidwestWhitetail.com

If you like to hunt at all you have to watch the latest episode of MidwestWhitetail.com.  Show host Bill Winke has an encounter with two bucks over 190 inches.  He harvests a buck he calls "The G5 Buck".  If you are not a follower of the online show, YOU ARE MISSING OUT. Bill is a very experienced whitetail hunter that is very humble and gives a great presentation.  Check it out, THE G5 BUCK 

Scouting Part 1 Raffle Sheep Hunt

Here is Part 1 of the scouting footage for Donnie Young's AZ Super Big Game raffle sheep hunt.

The Main Beam Bull

I saw this bull on the first day of the early rifle hunt.  Jason Sullivan and I decided to pass on him because he lacked a little mass.  Hopefully he made it through the rest of the season.

G5 Bull

I found this bull about a week before the archery hunt started and saw him on 6 different occasions.  The first time I saw him he had 66 cows.  The last time I saw him Dan and I were about 80 yards and closing when another hunter shot him in the back hip.  We never saw the bull again after that.  I hope he is still alive and will be bigger next year.

The Pinky Ram

Here is some more footage of this horny ram from Saturdays scouting trip.

Rutting Ram 11/05/11

This ram was in the mood this morning!  I guess the rut is still on!

Pretty Boy Ram

Shady the ram

Good Nelsoni Ram Video

GUTLESS FIELD DRESSING by Janis Putelis

I went hunting with two of my cousins recently and they told me that they had searched the internet and found little on field dressing an elk.  So after one of them killed his bull, we thought we would video the skinning and quartering.  I'm sure there are 101 ways to do this, here is my version of gutless field dressing!  

AZ Raffle Sheep Hunt Part 8-Live Pics

Home Sweet Home

Notice the sheep droppings that I am sleeping on

Darr and I had a great time scouting and hunting with Donnie Young.  We spent 25 days in the field and saw over 115 rams and three times as many ewes and lambs.  Our hearts were set on harvesting a Boone and Crockett ram on this tag but I guess it was not meant to be.  Donnie's ram should score between 166-168 but we have to wait on the drying period.  We had figured the ram in the field to be 165-168 depending on where the exact circumference measurements fell.  The ram is 9 years old.  He has roughly 34 6/8 inch horns and 14 4/8 bases.  His 3rd quarter measurements are dang near 10 inches which is uncommon for a Nelsoni.  Even though he probably wont make Boone and Crockett All time book he should definitely make the awards book.  To put it all in perspective since 1995 here are the size of rams that have been harvested on this same raffle tag, 1995-154, 96-156, 97-159 4/8, 98-157 2/8, 99-159 2/8, 2000-155 7/8, 01-163 4/8, 02-159 7/8, 03-123 4/8, 04-155 2/8, 05-?, 06-165 6/8, 07-162 5/8, 08-153, 09-160, 10-154.  So according to the numbers Donnie's ram is the largest to be harvested in 16 years.  Donnie's ram was the second biggest ram we saw during our scouting.  I will post video of a ram that I saw early on but he seemed to have vanished.  The bigger ram was just a touch bigger than Donnie's but definitely not monumental.  We had lots of rutting activity during the whole time period so the rams were roaming all over.  We saw or heard head butting almost every day.

We have had much help along the way since finding out we were going to be the fortunate ones who got to guide Donnie on his hunt of a lifetime.  I sincerely apologize if I leave anyone out it is certainly not done on purpose.  Thanks first to Mr. Donnie Young, the tag holder, for having faith in Colburn and Scott Outfitters.  Special thanks to Kip Fattaleh, Greg Koons, Fred and Mary Ashurst, Clay Goldman, Russ Jacoby, Kelly and Austin Gibson,  Arthur Samora, Craig Steele, Floyd Green, Geof Moss, Scotty Thomson, Terry Henry, Chris Denham, Brendan Burns, Erin Butler, Gunnar Erickson, Velma Holt and Steve Hovik.  Without these folks this hunt would have not been the same.  Lastly, a big thanks goes to our Creator God for creating such a magnificent animal for us to enjoy!

The gear we used on this hunt was a critical element to our success.  We will be doing some gear posts here at a later date but would like to thank: Wilderness Athlete, Outdoorsmans, Swarovski Optik, Kowa, KUIU, Tines Up.com, Montbell, and Leki.

We have lots of material from elk season and this sheep hunt to post so stay tuned.....