As many of you know, I am truly obsessed with reading about whitetails. I read at least 3-4 different hunting magazines every month, cover to cover. I peruse various whitetail related hunting articles every night, while also writing pieces of my own. And I’ve got an ever growing book shelf of hunting books in my office as well that get read time after time. I say this to make a point, that being that I read an awful lot of hunting related material and have seen everything from the ghastly to the great. So when I say that “Bowhunting Whitetails The Eberhart Way” is right up with the best of them, I really mean it.

Now if you’ve followed Wired To Hunt over the past few years you’ve probably seen an article or two about the Eberhart family of Michigan. John and Chris Eberhart are two of the most successful whitetail hunters in my home state and they’ve take their experiences and shared them with the rest of the whitetail world through several books, DVDs and magazine articles. In fact I’ve reviewed a number of these in the past including “Precision Bowhunting“, “Whitetail Access” and the “Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails” DVD series. Their latest offering definitely lives up to the standard they’ve set with these past projects and I would encourage you to check out my past reviews, as I provide some additional detail into why I’m such a fan of their work. But in today’s review I wanted to focus on two important points. Number one, why does this book stand above the pack? And second, how is this book different than the others published by the Eberhart’s in the past? So, without further adieu, let take a look at these two topics…

1. Why Does This Book Stand Above the Pack: Bowhunting Whitetails The Eberhart Way is a must read because it dives in to very specific strategies for hunting mature whitetails, in highly pressured areas. John and Chris don’t talk in generalities, in this book very specific tactics are outlined and they are tactics applicable to hunting in the most difficult areas of the country. Admittedly, many topics covered in popular hunting literature just don’t apply to the guy hunting public ground in Pennsylvania, it’s just a totally different ball game. This book is for that person. But at the same time it is also for the land owner in Iowa, because if you apply these tactics in Iowa or Illinois, where maybe the pressure isn’t as high, your success will be that much more consistent and convincing. This book and in fact all the other Eberhart publications as well, are truly some of the most educational and actionable pieces of hunting literature I’ve come across.

In addition to the strategies specifically formulated for tough hunting, we’re also given a step by step process of how the Eberhart’s go about preparing and then hunting throughout the year. For those of us who have made whitetail hunting a year round process, the ideas shared in this book are invaluable.

2. How Is This Book Different From Previous Eberhart Installments: This most recent book from the Eberhart’s stands out from their previous books for several reasons. First off, this book seems to dive more deeply into specific topics, while past books like Precision Bowhunting were more about a year round outline of things to do. Strategies and tactics are discussed in previous books, but “The Eberhart Way” takes this analysis to a deeper level. Devoting entire chapters to topics such as hunting around corn, speed scouting just before season, spring scouting,  hunting from the ground, specific tools used, public land hunting and hunting in in-climate weather.

Secondly, this book makes great use of full color pictures and lots of them. These illustrations make the book both more useful and interesting to read. Additionally, it seems that more personal hunting stories are told of John and Chris’ own experiences, and being more recent as well, they proved particularly interesting.

That all being said, if I did have one complaint it would be in regards to one of the last chapters in this book where the authors take some stabs at quality deer management and other philosophies along those lines. While I have no problem with someone choosing not to adhere to QDM principles or with someone disagreeing with the ideas all together, I don’t believe the author accurately portrayed hunters that practice QDM, or QDM principles as a whole in this book. While a few of the bones picked in this section are accurate in rare instances, I don’t think they apply to the greater population. Unfortunately, quite a negative spin was added and it was the one disappointment I had with this book.

Despite this blemish, in my opinion, “Bowhunting Whitetails The Eberhart Way” is an outstanding read and one of the single most educational pieces of whitetail literature you can pick up.

I have referred to the Eberhart’s “Precision Bowhunting”  in the past as the deer hunting bible for anyone trying to kill mature bucks in states like my home of Michigan, and if I were to continue the analogy, I think it’s fair to say that this “new testament” is just as important a read.

For more information about the Eberharts and their offerings, visit http://www.deerjohn.net/ .

Over the past year I’ve discovered a tremendous deer hunting resource, accessible to anyone across the country, but hailing from my home state of Michigan. This invaluable resource is the Eberhart family! John Eberhart and his son, Chris Eberhart, have written several tremendous books and produced a series of incredibly informative instructional hunting DVDs. John Eberhart is one of the most succesful hunters in the state of Michigan and his son Chris has certainly followed in his steps closely. Chris has once again exhibited his hunting prowess and knack for writing in his most recent book, Whitetail Access. This is a book that I read from cover to cover in less than a week and thats something I haven’t done in quite awhile. Needless to say, I highly recommend Whitetail Access.

Whitetail Access is the journal of Chris living the deer hunter’s dream. As many of us have only imagined doing, Chris was able to take a complete season off to go hunt whitetails across the country. In this book ,  Chris brings the reader along for his journey, while enlightening us on his strategies for effectively and affordably hunting deer in some of the best big buck states across the country.

And when I say effectively and affordably, I really mean it. Chris isn’t hunting with outfitters, staying in fancy lodges or eating at 4 star restaurants in the off hours. No, you’ll hear first hand about the van he sleeps in, the cold cans of soup he eats for dinner and the ways he has found access to and hunts private and public land strategically in a short amount of time. This book is full of great tips about ways to save a few bucks during a hunting trip, as well as strategies for making your trip as fruitful as possible. One of my favorite things about the book is that he diagrams almost all of his hunting setups, so that you can see why he decides to hunt from certain locations. Chris seems to be a master at breaking a piece of land down and understanding how deer utilize it. There truly is a whole new set of strategies you need to use when trying to hunt unfamiliar land in a short period and luckily we are able to get some insight into many of these. Chris covers scouting these new areas quickly and disturbance free, how to and when to hunt certain areas, how to deal with nearby hunting pressure and a slew of other valuable topics.

That being said, this book ranks near the top of my list not only because of the information it provides, but also because of the story it tells. Few informative hunting books move at such a pace and cover such an interesting story along the way. Reading this book, I really felt like I was on a 4 month hunting expedition too! During his 4 months, Chris hunts across Michigan, Ohio, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Missouri and it is a wild ride. So if you’re anticipation for the hunting season is driving you crazy in the next month or so, giving Whitetail Access a read might be just the ticket for you!

As I’ve mentioned, I would highly recommend Whitetail Access to any one of you. It is an information packed book specializing in strategies for finding access to and hunting private and public lands in away from home states. But possibly most importantly it is an enthralling tale of an amazing hunting season and a dream that many of us wish we could live. Pick up a copy of Whitetail Access and I can almost guarantee you’ll have a hard time putting it down and an even harder time waiting for your next chance to get out and hunt those amazing Whitetails!

For more info about Chris Eberhart or to pick up a copy for yourself, visit the Eberhart’s Bowhunting website here.

I’m very excited today to bring you this guest post from John Eberhart, it’s really a privilege for me to be able to have him share his vast knowledge with all of us at Wired To Hunt. John is one of the most accomplished deer hunters in Michigan, if not the whole country. He has taken 23 bucks that have been entered into the Commemorative Bucks of Michigan and has been published in magazines such as Deer & Deer Hunting and Petersen’s Bowhunting. In addition he has wrote several books, including “Precision Bowhunting”, and has produced multiple instructional DVDs for hunters. John truly holds a wealth of information and everyone of us would be wise to heed his advice. Thanks to John again and I hope you all enjoy and learn a lot from John’s guest post.

Hope you hunters are having a good season and enjoying our wonderful outdoors just as much as attempting to take a deer. Hunting should never be all about the kill, it is about the entire experience.

Let’s get something out of the way before we begin. Never watch hunting TV shows or videos and set your expectations at a similar level of animal as they regularly take. Always remember that the vast majority of TV and video personalities hunt on large micro-managed properties or ranches where bucks are allowed to grow to maturity before being taken, similar to raising cattle before taking them to market. Most of the instructional information they offer will rarely work on pressured whitetails that inhabit areas that recieve heavy hunting pressure. In pressured areas you are hunting a much wiser animal and there will not be near the numbers of mature bucks roaming the area in which to choose from.

A few simple tips:

-The most important factor in being a successful hunter year in and year out is properly learning how, when, and where to scout and knowing what to look for when doing so. I view hunting similar to a game of chess, scouting is like strategizing the game, the checkmate or kill is simply the end result of your prior strategy. I spend much more time scouting and properly preparing locations during the course of the year than actual hunting. Taking animals is the byproduct of doing your homework (scouting).

-Make sure you have a proper entry and exit route to every hunting location so that you do not spook deer. Having non-invasive entry and exit routes will aid greatly in your success. You can mark your routes with reflective tacks so that they are easy to follow in the dark, use white reflective tacks on private property and brown reflective tacks by HME Products on public land so other hunters can’t see them well during daylight.

-As the foliage drops and the trees become bare, try to hunt a bit higher up the tree. You can be sitting in the best location in the world, but if you get picked off by the deer by being to exposed, it is worthless from a killing location standpoint. Deer have tremendous peripheral vision and can pick up out of place objects such as your body when sitting to low or exposed.

-A deer’s nose is it’s best defense against us as hunters. Their eyes will often pick you out and if you don’t move they may go on about their business. Their ears may hear something but if they stand there and don’t pick up any more noise they may also continue on their merry way. But, if they smell you the gig is up and they are gone, their nose needs no further confirmation. I am a huge Scent Lok advocate when it and the rest of your hunting regiment is cared for properly.

-Save your best rut locations until the rut phases begin. Many hunters alter the doe traffic at their rut locations by hunting those locations before the rut begins. Altered doe traffic equates to altered bucks traffic once they start pursuing those does. All buck traffic during the rut phases revolves around doe traffic so leave those locations alone until the rut starts.

GOOD HUNTING – John Eberhart

For more information about John Eberhart visit http://www.deer-john.net and to pick up one of his DVDs or books, follow the links below.

John Eberhart DVDs (Check out my review of John’s “Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails Volume III”

John Eberhart Books

If you hunt in states such as Pennsylvania or Michigan, you know what it means to hunt pressured deer. You know that deer act differently when they’ve been chased willy nilly around the woods by stinking, loud, orange clad hunters. You definitely know atleast one thing about hunting big deer in one of these high pressure areas. It’s not easy! But there are certain things you can do to increase your chances of success.

This is where John Eberhart’s “Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails” DVD’s come in to play. John Eberhart is an expert hunter and outdoors writer who has been published in Deer & Deer Hunting, Petersen’s Bowhunting, Bowhunter Magazine and Bow and Arrow Hunting. He and his son have also wrote several books and published a series of hunting DVD’s. I was fortunate enough to have a couple of these DVD’s sent to me by John and boy am I glad he did. These are some seriously information packed DVD’s.

“Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails” is a three part series covering post-season scouting and tree preparation, pre-season and in-season scouting and hunting tactics. Volume III covers “Hunting Tactics and In-Season Scouting”, and this being the most relevant topic this time of year, I will review this DVD now.

John Eberhart’s DVDs are incredibly unique because they are purely instructional. There are no kills on these DVDs at all. But in my eyes, this is can be a good thing. The bulk of the video is John walking you through each step of the hunting process and demonstrating different set-ups, techniques and strategies that will help you bag more deer. The focus of the DVD is not on monster bucks killed on preserves, it’s all about hunting mature bucks on highly pressured private and public land. This DVD is full of straight forward, no nonsense advice about how to prepare for and effectively execute a first class hunting strategy in tough situations.

Volume III of the series covers many important tactics and strategies to take into consideration during the season. Here is a selection of topics covered in the video.

• Getting to where other hunters aren’t
• Scent control measures
• Stand placement and timing
• Calling techniques and demonstrations
• How to hunt different types of terrain

One thing that really stuck with me from the DVD was the importance of timing your stand locations for different parts of the season and then only hunting them during the appropriate time. It’s easy to get sucked into hunting your “best spot” early and often, but typically this is not a good idea.  John really emphasized this and offered more successful alternative strategies.

Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails is full of great information, but it isn’t something to watch if you are looking for a thrill. For someone who is honestly interested in learning, it is great, but if you are a casual watcher you probably won’t be too excited. Although there are no actual kills shown, there are plenty of videos of bucks in the wild that keep your eyes occupied while information is being laid out for you. Another possible qualm is that the overall film quality is not the highest, but it is adequate.

What I like most about this video is it’s focus on providing deep and relevant information. These aren’t DVDs full of fluff, rather it is a crash course on what you need to do to get a buck in pressured areas. If you are truly interested in learning more about the tricks of this trade, this DVD is for you. But if you’re looking for a beautiful hunting video with lots of gnarly bucks getting stuck, this is going to disappoint. Overall I’d say that Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails is a tremendously informational resource that would be great for any beginner hunter looking to learn everything they need to know for the hunt but also a good watch for the old veteran who just wants to pick up a few new pointers.

For more information on John Eberhart and his works, check out Deer-John.net . Click here to pick up a copy of Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails Volume III.