John's Michigan 2006 Buck Welcome to John and Chris Eberhart's no nonsense website dedicated to bow hunting pressured whitetail deer!   Please check out the Testimonial page for insight into how the Books and DVD's have been received by your fellow hunters. -------------------- Chris and John are going to start accepting photos with short kill stories for consideration on this site. The story must contain information pertaining to how our books or dvds influenced where, why, or when the hunt was successful, or the recovery was made. Sometime this summer we are going to set-up a new link for these pictures and stories. Please send to:  Deer John Products ---1219 Queensway Dr. --- Weidman, Mi. 48893 or E-mail to: deerjohn@ispmgt.com  If you have sent in a story in the past, please resend it.	Above photo taken on November 2nd 2004 --------------      Order Now!                 Chris and John's Book "Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails" This book will be different from anything you have ever read. It deviates greatly from other hunting books and is specifically targeted to hunters that have no option but to hunt amongst other hunters, and deal with heavy hunting pressure.     Click here to Order an Autographed Copy
	New Book Now Available Order an Autographed copy here! Precision Bowhunting A Year-Round Approach to Taking Mature Pressured Whitetails This book is laid out in a month-by-month format as to what to do during the entire year, and also includes chapters on Hunting in the Rain, All-Day Hunting, Hunting on the Ground, Hunting the Suburbs, The Baiting Problem, and Hunting Away from Home. Unlike TV shows and hunting videos, where the properties being hunted are gross misrepresentations of normal deer herds and normal hunting conditions, this book gives solid, pertinent information to hunters hunting in heavily hunted areas. In pressured areas you must deviate from the generic hunting practices seen on TV and in videos if you want a realistic opportunity at a mature buck.
Now Available!
Now Available!		"Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails" Instructional Bowhunting DVD's When you click "Click Here To Order" (below), an in-depth description of each DVD will appear for you to read. There are 3 volumes in the series (2 hours each) Volume I is on Proper Post Season Scouting and Tree Preparation Volume II is on Proper Pre-Season Scouting and Tree Preparation Volume III is on In-Season Hunting Tactics, Techniques and In-Season Scouting   "Archery Mechanics" Is an instructional 2 hour long DVD on how to properly pick out the right bow and accessories for your body type and hunting needs. It also goes into great detail on shooting form, and becoming a better archer. This is not just for novice hunters.   Click Here To Order!
		ORDER ALL 4 EBERHART DVDS FOR $49.99 NOW! Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails and Archery Mechanics
		The Ambush Saddle! Order here!   $199.99 for each Ambush Saddle plus $20.00 Shipping & Handling in the continental U.S.A. (Michigan residents add 6% sales tax per Ambush Saddle)   Seminar Dates for 2008: Noon on Saturday, August 2nd at VF Sports in Port Huron, Mich.  Call Kathy or Kelley for directions at: 810-985-7733 --------------- Mid August at Goldstar Outdoors in Edmore, Mich.  Call Nate at 989-427-6037 for exact date, time, and directions. -------------- September 20th at D&R Sports in Kalamazoo, Mich.. Call Ken VanDervest at 269-372-2277 for seminar time and directions.	A Trophyline Ambush Saddle will change the way you hunt forever.

2007 was a Good Year!

Click on any of John's pictures and the story of that particular hunt will come up. The stories of Chris and Jon's hunts will be on the sight in the near future. 

Some bucks from the last few years.

Check out John's article on recovering bowshot whitetails in the article section of the site.

State by state 2004 P&Y Statistics and state by state hunter densities per square mile

These statistics are new to the site as of 1-15-08

by John Eberhart

Hunting pressure has a direct correlation on deer behavior, and a mistake made in a heavily hunted area may not be a mistake in a lightly hunted area.

 CONTINUE

RECENT TESTIMONIALS

To John and Chris

I have been hunting for 21 years with both bow and gun and had never before killed let alone seen a buck as big as the one I took with my bow in 2007. In the past three years I have taken 3 good bucks by Pennsylvania state land standards, and every year they just keep getting bigger, and without question I owe it all to you guys. After reading both of your books I ordered the DVDs and they aided in putting a picture to some of the areas you described in the books.

I live in Pennsylvania and primarily hunt state land in an area that literally gets absolutely hammered by hunters and as I stated, my success has been phenomenal since putting your hunting practices for pressured whitetails to work. It is amazing how something in life as simple as taking a few mature whitetail bucks can change the way your friends interact with you. I hate to sound cheesy but you guys have made my dreams come true and the least I could do is strongly recommend your books and DVDs to anyone who is serious about taking mature deer on public land or anyplace for that matter.

PS: my wife says I am much easier to live with now

Thanks 

Kevin Flaherty

After 25 years of bowhunting in Michigan (the highest bowhunter density per square mile state in the country), I finally fulfilled a goal of mine by taking a mature whitetail that qualifies for the Commemorative Bucks of Michigan (CBM) record book. The first 24 years I regularly shot 1 1/2 year old bucks, an occassional 2 1/2 year old, and mature does, hoping that some day the "big one" would walk by within bow range. Little did I know that to connect on a mature buck in Michigan, I needed to drastically change the way I hunted.

One day I heard a guy being interviewed on the radio who had shot over twenty Pope & Young bucks with his bow in pressured areas, and he said that if you hunt using similar practices as everyone else, there is no reason to expect anything other than similar results. I have to credit John Eberhart, who from that day changed the way I will hunt from now on.  I read up on everything John wrote about bowhunting in Michigan and how it differs from other states with less hunting pressure. I was shocked to learn that the ratio of Pope & Young bucks taken per licensed hunter varied so much from state to state. In 2004, 1 out of every 197 licensed bowhunters in Iowa entered a buck in the Pope & Young recordbook, Kansas was 1 out of 149, Illinois was 1 out of 297, Wisconsin was 1 out of 492, while at the other end of the heavily hunted spectrum Pennsylvania was 1 out of 3,308 and Michigan came in at 1 out of 5,166! No wonder you can't find any hunting DVD's filmed in Michigan, unless it's behind a high fenced enclosure. When you give over 700,000 hunters a two-buck limit and more than two weeks during the peak of the rut to use a rifle or a shotgun, it becomes easy to see why bucks that survive beyond their first set of antlers are going to be smarter and more difficult to kill than in other lightly hunted states.

Another thing I learned is that if you want to shoot a mature buck in the fall, you have to scout and set-up your treestand locations in the spring before new growth covers up rut sign from the previous fall. So, in March of 2006, I scouted a couple of locations that my daughters, Marie, Katie, Lisa and I had success bowhunting in the past. Next to the woods we knew well was a fifty acre field of autumn olive bushes, which are ten feet tall and very difficult to move through unless you're on your hands and knees. It is a know bedding area for deer, and they move through it with ease.

While scouting I discovered a lot of deer sign, but there were no trees that would accept a treestand, they were simply to small in diameter. That spring I purchased an Ambush saddle which is what John and his son Chris use when hunting from trees. I had read how John could hunt out of any tree that could support his weight with something that looks like a lineman's belt. You also see lumberjacks use a similar system, the difference is the saddle is a lot more comfortable for sitting in for long periods! Trust me, it's much more comfortable than your typical hang-on stand once you get used to it.

Now that I had more options with small trees, I put in my tree steps and cleared some shooting lanes. I was stoked! It was only March and I felt like I had the upper hand on the other people who hunted this property. I did the same thing at a few other locations, since my daughters and their husbands all had saddle too. I couldn't wait for the bow opener on October 1st.

There was something else that I learned that I had to keep in mind. If you set up a tree near a primary scrape area or in a bedding area, you must not hunt it until the pre-rut, which usually begins around Halloween in Michigan. In October when the mature bucks are primarily nocturnal, the does must be allowed to bed down and move through these areas without being spooked by people hunting or scouting. Once the pre-rut starts, you can hunt these areas in the morning, and John advises to get to your stand a minimum of 1 1/2 hour before daylight. I didn't want to hear that, since I am not a morning person. In heavily hunted areas such as where I hunt in Michigan, mature bucks are accustomed to when most hunters arrive in the morning, so they leave their feeding area to bed down prior to first light. I knew I had to get to my tree and be set-up and quiet well before any bucks moved into the area, otherwise I would spook them with my entry. By 10 am most hunters leave the woods, and that is when mature bucks get up and scent check for receptive does in their core area. Along with the full blown rut, the pre-rut is one of the few times during season that mature bucks move and expose themselves during daylight hours.

While hunting in mid-October, we noticed that some of the younger bucks were chasing does already. This seemed very early. Once it got close to Halloween, I was going to hunt my tree in the autumn olives as soon as we got a north wind. The north breeze came on October 27th. This was the day I had been waiting for all year, because this tree was in the nastiest stuff on the property.

It was my first time back to this spot since that day I set it up in March. The overgrowth from summer was incredible! Pushing my way through the braches and briars, often on my hands and knees, I made it to my tree and settled into my saddle for the day. When dawn finally arrived my heart was pounding, and I hadn't seen or heard a thing yet, but I knew the set-up and preparation had been done right, so my expectations were high. 

The first three deer I saw were bucks, and they were searching through what had previously been a secure area of cover. I let a six point walk right past me, which I had never done before. Later that morning a real nice eight point walked over to some thick brush fifty yards upwind of me where some does had been bedded down. I softly inhaled on my grunt call and that was all it took for him to turn and head in my direction. At fifteen yards and broadside, I took the shot and watched him disappear into the brush. Within a few seconds I heard him pile up. He had travelled only forty yards before expiring.

Had I not heard John on the radio and adopted his way of hunting, I probably would have ended up with the same old results. I can't wait until next Halloween.

Randy VanderVeen

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