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When Scott was first introduced to serious deer hunting as a teenager, he
was literally hooked again. He
has often said, “I make my money fishing and I spend it hunting.” He
pursues excellence in hunting just as he did in fishing.
And just as he became fascinated with improving the fishing
environment and the quality of fishing, he became equally determined to
improve the quality of deer and deer hunting in his home state of Alabama.
Scott loves to talk about the dynamics of food forage and fishing and its
effects on a good fishery. In
the same way, he zeroed in on deer nutrition as a way hunters and land
managers could actively and positively play a role in the enhancement of
their own whitetail herds and their total hunting experience.
Scott’s
legendary frustration with whitetail forage plantings led to his personal
pursuit of a clover formulation specifically for whitetail deer.
He took it upon himself to conduct an experiment with native and
northern deer to see if genetics was indeed destiny and found that with
proper nutrition, the southern deer almost caught up with their northern
cousins in three years. The
rest, as they say, is history (please read Part One of “Inside the
Whitetail Institute”).
Ray
Scott grew up in Montgomery, Alabama with two brothers.
He graduated from high school at Starke Military School which he
attended on an athletic scholarship. An excellent football
player, he also participated in the local 13-year-old YMCA team.
Scott managed to solicit football jerseys from the local pawnshop. As a reward, he was selected quarterback.
Another 13-year-old named Bart Starr played guard.
After
a hitch in the Army, Scott attended Auburn University and graduated with a
degree in business. In the
middle of a very successful career selling insurance, he went for broke
and followed his dream of creating a national bass fishing tournament
trail. His tournament concept
led to the creation of a national bass fishing organization ― the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society
which he sold in 1986, serving as President for another 12 years.
He
has been much recognized and highly honored for his work in conservation,
the environment and boating safety. He
is credited with popularizing and firmly establishing the concept of
catch-and-release across the country.
His
biography BASS BOSS by Robert Boyle is available by calling
1-800-518-7222 or on line at www.rayscott.net. |
