Jason Sullivan's Early Rifle Bull with Colburn and Scott Outfitters

Jason and Darr with the bull we called Duster

Jason Sullivan was my early rifle hunter this year.  Jason brought his good friend Chris along on the hunt.  This was Jason's first elk hunt.  Opening morning we glassed up some bulls and put them to bed.  Jason and I set up in the afternoon close to where we had the best bull of the morning bedded.  As soon as we started glassing we found the bull and his group of cows.  We decided to not go after the bull because he was a little thin antlered.  I was able to get some great footage of this bull.  He has huge main beams!  Another bull started to bugle and he ended pushing his cows to within 50 yards of us.  We ended up seeing three bulls that evening.  The next morning we found a bull Janis and I nick named Duster because Janis got some great video of the bull kicking up dust one evening.  We watched the bull go up onto a mesa to bed and made a plan for the evening hunt.  Jason and I set up in the bottom below the bull while Chris was up high glassing the mesa where the bull disappeared in the morning.  Chris was able to find the bull just before dark and Jason and I closed the distance to 100 yards.  Jason made the shot and had his first elk!  Chris came off the point to us and we were joined by Janis and his hunter Dave for the late night pack out.  Thanks for all the help guys.  After getting home I realized that I had several trail camera pictures of Jason's bull.  Jason's bull has 59 & 57 inch main beams.

Jason and his friend Chris

Jason packing out the antlers and cape with the Outdoormans Pack

Darr and Janis fully loaded

Chris loaded two front shoulders in the Outdoorsmans pack

The crew stopping to catch their breath

Ulmer Broadhead

Rusty Ulmer, a very accomplished Bowhunter (and a friend of ours) from Arizona, has invented a new broadhead. Darr and I just received a few prototypes and we're excited to try them out. The broadhead is going to be manufactured and marketed by Trophy Taker and should be in full production by January or so.

Randy shot this buck in NV with Shawn and Cory Lytle's help.

Randy and Mike T with their bulls

Rusty's brother Randy shot this bull in Arizona (Rusty was helping him and they were hunting with Chad Smith)

Rusty's nephew Zach Nicholson shot this bull in Arizona with Rusty and Randy's help.

Guess the Score-Bull Elk 15

Guess the score of this bull elk. Click on title of Blog Post to post your score. My cousin Jimmy Vincent and I were able to both video this bull together while scouting.

Click Here For More posts on Field Judging Elk

Dave's T. Early Rifle Elk Hunt with Colburn and Scott Outfitters

Posted by Janis Putelis:
Dave Toyne was my Early Rifle client in Unit 10 for 2011.  After getting to know each other a bit, it was decided that we were going to hunt for a 370"+ bull for the first five days as Dave already had a couple of trophies on his wall.  We hunted hard, but with the rut being hit and miss and only pockets of elk actually acting rutty, finding one of the big boys proved difficult.  As the week wore on, bigger bulls were spotted, but unfortunately most of them were already broken.  With only a day and half to go, Dave decided he'd rather shoot a smaller bull than go home empty handed.  We had a spot where the bugling had been good, and slipped in under the cover of darkness on the last morning.  The bulls were screaming, we were set up to watch the parade go by, but as the second half of the herd was nearing, the wind swirled and our position was revealed.  The elk took off and we took off after them.  It was a solid twenty minutes of hot-footing, but we caught up just as they were about to go over another ridge.  I glassed Dave's bull, thought him to be a great last day shooter, and told Dave to get into shooting position.  With only one small shooting lane left before the bull would dissapear we were cutting it thin.  Dave came through with pounding heart rate and all.  He made a 312yd shot from a seated position in a 4th and Goal type scenario.  After a couple finishing shots the bull was down.  Congratulations Dave!  I'd like to thank Colburn and Scott Outfitters, Darr Colburn, Jay Scott, and everyone else that helped make this hunt happen.

Awesome sunsets.

A lion kill only 100yds from one of our favorite glassing spots.  Makes the walk out in the dark a litttle more interesting!

Dave passed on bulls like this one hoping to cross paths with a true AZ giant.

Waiting for the bugling to begin.

Dave was pumped to score on a couple of sheds during the hunt.



We were blessed with beautiful starry nights with the Milky Way clearly visible from one horizon to the other.




Dave made a 312yd shot seconds after following me at a fast pace over two ridges.




A happy hunter after six and half long, hard days of hunting.




Although not a huge scoring bull, with 57" and 58" main beams, he definitely has some WOW factor.




Darr showed up just in time for pictures, skinning, quartering and the pack job.



Dave packing out his hard earned trophy.

Darr and the KUIU Icon 6000 packing a boned out ham, shoulder, and the neck roasts.

Dan's Archery Bull Video

Here is the video of Dan's hunt with Colburn and Scott Outfitters.

Chris Karvoski Giant Pickup Bull

Darr Colburn holding the 404 gross pickup that Chris Karvoski found

My early rifle hunter Jason Sullivan brought a friend with him to help out on his hunt.  I sent him to a point one morning to glass and on his way back to the truck he found the bones and skull of this giant bull.  There was no hair on the carcass and nothing to indicate how the bull died.  Chris's wife called the Arizona Game & Fish to see if her husband could pack the antlers out and bring them home.  Game & Fish said he could and so he packed them out after taking pictures of the bones and kill site.  Chris was also stopped by a Game & Fish officer on his way back to camp and he congratulated Chris on his great find and told him he did not have a problem with Chris taking the antlers because there was no hair on the skull or bones.  Clay Goldman of Mogollon Taxidermy scored the bull at 404 gross non typical and 398 net non typical.  The bull has a 380s typical main frame with 20 inches of abnormal points.  The bull has short main beams (51 & 52 inches) but is really heavy and has great 3rds, 4ths and 5ths.

Chris Karvoski with his once in a lifetime find.

G Todd Brooks AZ Archery Elk Video

  Watch as G Todd Brooks from Reno, Nevada harvests a great Arizona Bull with guide Jay Scott of Colburn and Scott Outfitters.  Enjoy! One person that I forgot to credit in the video was Michael Park.  He helped scout for Todd's hunt.

Dan's Archery Bull with Colburn and Scott Outfitters

I just got home from 29 days of elk hunting.  Dan was my archery hunter.  When I first met Dan in camp he was all smiles and I knew we were going to have a great hunt.  We chased a bull I was calling G5 for the first 5 days of the hunt until another hunter shot hip in the back hip.  We never saw the bull again (pics and video to come soon of this giant bull).  While driving back to camp on day 8 we decided to go hunt a couple of other bulls we had seen on a regular basis.  Janis glassed the bulls up that evening and the hunt was on.  Two bulls were fighting and we were able to slip into 100 yards.  We were out of cover when all the sudden the two bulls turned and came straight at us.  The two bulls paralleled each other until they got to 25 yards.  The biggest bull stopped to rake a tree at 25 yards and Dan made a perfect shot.  The bull did not know what hit him and he piled up after 100 yards.  We got to the bull just as the sun was going down.  Dan's Bull grosses 376 & 4/8 and nets 369.  Janis was able to get the whole thing on video through his spotting scope.  I had a great time hunting with Dan and look forward to a long friendship and sharing a hunting camp together again someday.  Special thanks to Outdoorsmans, Wilderness Athlete, KUIU, Swarovski Optic and B-Stinger Stabilizer.  More to come on these awesome products that were crucial to the success of our hunt.

Dan, Darr and Janis with Dan's 376 inch archery bull.

 Dan Glassing in KUIU gear with the Outdoorsmans tripod.

 Stuck in the mud.  We only got stuck twice.  Thanks to everyone that helped pull us out!

The start of a new friendship.

Teaser Pic of 2011 Elk Season

Darr, Janis and I just got in tonight from 30 days of elk hunting in Arizona.  We have tons of pics and video that we will be posting very soon.  Here is a little teaser pic.  Stay tuned!

Todd Brooks Archery AZ Bull

Here are the pics of Todd Brook's Arizona archery bull with Colburn and Scott Outfitters.  He unofficially grosses 377 3/8 and nets 366 2/8.  Todd arrowed this bull at 20 yards then the bull stood by and let him get another arrow in him at 42 yards.  He expired very quickly from the time he was first shot.  We had a great fun hunt.  I made a big mistake on the opening evening of the hunt on a 6X6 bull that was really big.  I got impatient and bumped the giant that Brian Marshall with Unlimited Outfitters and his hunter were able to harvest.  Brian tells me the bull grosses 412.  Congrats to those guys!  Todd and I felt priviledge to see the big clean typical 6X6.  Cody Nelson came up to glass for us a and spotted him on opening morning.

We have great video of Todd's bull that I will post soon.  I would like to thank the following for their help on this hunt: Cody Nelson, Josh Flowers, Randy Cherington, Michael Park, Jeanne Scott, Mike Coover, Ryan Eustice.  Special thanks to Todd Brooks for being such a good client.  He rightfully earned the nickname "T-REX" 

I used some great gear on this hunt: KUIU, Alaskan Guide Creations, Hunters Specialties, Wilderness Athlete, Outdoorsmans Pack System, Flatline Maps, Swarovski Optic, and Outdoorsmans Resource Guide.  I will have more to say about all of these after the season.  Now I am off to Unit 9 to scout for the upcoming Muzzleloader hunt.

Bull Down!

Todd arrowed this awesome 7X7 bull yesterday.  More pics and video to follow shortly.  We had a great hunt!

Hunt is on!

The hunt has started and the rut is moving a little slow as expected.  I have been using a awesome bino chest pack from Alaskan Guide Creations that I got from the Outdoorsmans in Phoenix.  I absolutely love it!  I cant believe I have waited so long to get one.    The KUIU gear is working great as well.  The KUIU icon backpack is getting a good workout.  Stay tuned for more elk updates as the hunt progresses.

Another Giant Archery Mule deer down

Dave Melde, longtime friend, has arrowed a giant AZ deer!  Dave left me a message: 209 typical gross frame, 215 gross Non typical, 197 net typical.  26 inches inside, 21" G2's.  That is all I know for now!  Big congrats go out to Dave!  He is a mule deer fanatic and the excitement in his voice on the message was awesome!  Cant wait to see more pics and more details!