Whitetail Workshop

(Whitetail Workshop attendee testimonials and kill shots at bottom of page)

John Eberhart’s 2024 Whitetail Workshop Dates: March 23/24-2024, April 6/7-2024, and April 20/21-2024

John’s Whitetail Workshops are 2 days each with Saturday being all day in the woods (8:30 am to 4 pm) with a couple-hour saddle presentation later in the evening (4:30 to 6:30 pm) for those that want to stay and attend it. On Sunday there will be a 6-hour back-and-forth seminar in the Outback seminar room Michigan’s largest independent sporting goods store and all the chairs are padded office chairs. On Sunday John will have his hunting backpack loaded with his hunting gear, One-sticks and Skeletor-sticks with aiders, platform, modified ESS, saws, maps, scouting gear, location prep gear, strap on steps, rings of steps, every type of screw in steps, and pretty much everything he uses for every aspect of bowhunting including ScentLok exterior garments and layering garments in air tight totes if anyone is interested in seeing them, and will do some sparring and call demo’s.

The Saturday in-the-woods workshop will be held near Edmore Michigan and the Sunday workshop seminars will be held in Jay’s Sporting Goods located near Clare Michigan (both in central Michigan).

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What the Whitetail Workshops are about

Whether you’re hunting public land, knock-on-doors for free permission, family owned, leased or managed property, or you travel hunt; attending Eberhart’s Whitetail Workshop will provide the insights to make you a serious threat to any buck you pursue.

Eberhart’s Whitetail Workshops are NOT land management workshops as those types of shops can cost up to $3,000 per day and typically the instructors have never hunted anything but managed for big bucks’ properties and don’t know the first thing about hunting heavily pressured public and free permission properties. These are instructional, educational workshops for hunters with the desire to learn how and what to do to put themselves on the best bucks that any property they ever hunt has to offer.

Why John Eberhart for a workshop? In 57 seasons John has scouted over 30 parcels of public land and has hunted 23 of them. The other public land parcels did not have the adequate security cover requirements for daytime movements by mature bucks in heavily pressured areas, so after scouting, John chose to abandon and not hunt them.

John has hunted many dozens of knock-on-doors for free permission properties in Michigan (Michigan is the most heavily bowhunted state in the country with 350,000+ bowhunters and is also a 2-buck state which adds to the pressure) and on everyone the property owners let most other hunters that asked, hunt as well. Thirty-five of the buck’s he’s taken in Michigan are in the Commemorative Bucks of Michigan record book and they were taken from 21 different properties in 11 different counties. He’s taken bucks from 15 of the 23 different parcels of public land he’s hunted in Michigan including a state record in 1981.

In 1991 John quit gun hunting and in 1997 began bowhunting out-of-state during Michigan’s gun season and to date has taken 20 bucks that qualify for the P&Y record book on his 25 weeklong trips and they came from 15 different properties in 5 different states (Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois) and they were also taken on public, free walk on (WOH), or on free permission properties. Knowing what to look for when scouting and how to set up on it and hunt it correctly had a lot to do with his 80 percent success rate on properties that he’d never set foot on prior to hunting them (no pre-scouting trips have ever been taken). Other than one late season hunt in Ohio, he could have taken a P&Y buck on every trip had his kill criteria on that hunt been 125 inches instead of 140 inches.

The reason John has scouted and hunted so many knock-on doors for free permission properties is because once he gets permission, eventually a blood relative or friend of the property owner wants to hunt it, or most frequently nowadays, it gets leased out. Loss of permission over the years has been expedited when John takes a good buck off the property and the property owner shows the picture around, then relatives and friends come out of the woodwork to hunt it and then of course, John is out.

There are thousands of hunters in the United States that have several record class bucks due to hunting in states or counties having mandated antler point restriction areas, or hunting on; archery only public lands, large private or leased managed for big buck properties, large blocks of family properties, pay to hunt ranches, suburban properties, and in lightly hunted Midwestern states having so many mature bucks with much less hunting pressure. While it’s awesome if you have the resources to take advantage of those great opportunities, most hunters don’t.

What separates John’s accomplishment of having taken 55 record book bucks (35 from Michigan and 20 from out-of-state) from 36 different properties from any other whitetail bow hunter in the country is that 100% of his hunting has exclusively been on public, free walk-on, cold calling for free permission, and knock-on-doors for free permission properties. He’s never owned, leased, hunted a managed property, hunted a relative’s property, or paid a dime to hunt anywhere and doesn’t hunt over bait, mineral licks, and has never hunted from a box blind, or over a food plot. Nothing wrong with any of those hunting situations, they just can’t be compared as being equal hunting situations.

Some hunters have spent tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars on hunting properties and leases and most hunters annually spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on; upgrading their hunting equipment, buying new gadgets, bait, deer farming, quads, high end tree stands, etc. with the thought process that it will make them more successful, and that can’t be farther from the truth. Having the best equipment money can buy or even owning or leasing superior hunting ground is irrelevant if your hunting skills, gear, and strategies don’t offer you the opportunity to take advantage of them.

Scouting, location preparation, practicing, hunting, and traveling to hunt all consume much of the limited free time many hunters have, especially those with kids and families. Free time has value and utilizing it to its fullest potential should always be the goal.

Whether hunting public or private land, spending time on stand in locations not well-suited for daytime mature buck activity should never be an acceptable strategy or plan, so make this one-time investment to assure you’re hunting in the right types of places, their prepared properly, you have appropriate entry and exit routes for each location and you’re seasonal and daily timing for each location is well thought out. After all, doesn’t it get a bit old taking motion camera pictures of bucks you’d like to kill and showing those pictures around, instead of being able to kill them and show pictures of you with your hands wrapped around the buck’s antlers?

At the end of each Saturday in-field workshop (around 4:30 pm), for those that want to stick around there will be at least a 2-hour session on how to properly prepare a tree and sit and hunt from a saddle. John and his sons Jon and Joe will have their modified Eberhart Signature Saddles and between them they have 119 seasons of saddle hunting experience. In fact, of John’s 55 book bucks, 47 of them were taken from a saddle plus numerous other bucks and does. Nearly all of John’s son Jon’s, nearly 300 whitetail kills (Jon takes a lot of late season does for friends) were also taken from a saddle and all of Joe’s have been.

At the saddle event they will also have Tethrd’s Phantom, Phantom XL, and Lockdown saddles, Tethrd’s Predator and Predator XL platforms, Tethrd’s One sticks and Skeletors sticks with aiders, Bullman and Treehoppers strap on ring of steps, and many styles of Cranford screw in steps for anyone to try.

They will have 3 different trees’ set up (only a couple feet off the ground and all close to each other) with one using a Bullman platform ring of strap-on steps and a Tethrd climbing stick, one using a Tethrd Predator platform in conjunction with a Treehopper strap-on ring of steps on the backside of the tree, and the other using all Cranford screw-in steps for climbing and for the ring. They decided to do this additional saddle portion because there are so many YouTube instructional video’s out there where the hunter either doesn’t know what they are doing, or they are only taking advantage of a portion of the features and opportunities that hunting from a saddle offers. Using a saddle is simple and you don’t have to be a gymnast or super physically fit to do so. A saddle is simply a killing tool that anyone of any age can easily use to up their kill opportunities big time when used correctly, which is what the saddle segment is for.

So, consider taking advantage of John’s experience, knowledge, and kill credentials by allowing him to show in detail in the field and seminar room, how to improve and utilize your scouting, location preparation and hunting time to its fullest potential.

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Signing up for a Whitetail Workshop weekend

2024 Whitetail Workshop dates: March 23/24-2024, April 6/7-2024, and April 20/21-2024

The cost to attend a Workshop is $675 per attendee, and travel, lodging and meals are not included.

The cost for attendees under the age of 16 is $350 and they must be accompanied by a parent or guardian over the age of 18.

Each Workshop will be limited to about 15 hunters.

Credit cards are not accepted.

Checks must be received in advance of the workshop dates and all shops are filled on a first pay, first on the list case, and once the attendee limit is reached, that specific workshop weekend will be full and any prospective attendee inquiry that has not paid will have to choose from the remaining workshop dates if they still want to attend a workshop.

Before signing up and sending a check, please send an email to deerjohn51@gmail.com with the workshop dates you want to attend so he can verify and reply back if that workshop still has openings.

When sending a check please put the dates you will be attending in the memo portion of the check and add a note with your cell number and email address John will send you an email once your payment is received and will request an acknowledgement back from you.

Once signed up, payments are non-refundable but John will be happy to schedule you on a future workshop date if your reason is something that can’t be prevented.

Make checks payable to and send to:

John Eberhart
1219 Queensway Dr.
Weidman, Mi. 48893

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For those that do attend, here is an itinerary of what to expect and an attendee document will be emailed to you once you have signed up.

Jay’s Sporting Goods is the largest independent hunt/fish/camp sporting goods retailer in Michigan and on the Friday afternoon before each workshop, at the front desk there will be a 15% discount voucher for every attendee, and you may need to show your ID to get them. Vouchers will be good from the Friday prior to your respective workshop and run through the following Thursday (1 week) and can be used for in-store or on-line purchases (for those that fly in) throughout that period. Jay’s is a full line retailer that carries everything you could possibly need, including Baffin Titan boots (best boots for extreme cold weather), full line of ScentLok, Tethrd saddles and accessories, full line of Cranford tree steps and camera mounts, Silky saws (best saws in the country), and basically anything you would need for anything to do with any type of hunting, fishing, camping, and a large assortment of casual clothes. Discount vouchers will not apply to the purchases of firearms and electronics but will be good on bows, optics, canoes, kayaks, gun and bow cases and almost everything else in Jay’s 70,000 sq. foot retail store. John also has about 65 deer heads hanging in the store in different places (his 7 biggest ones are at home).

Travel, hotel and what to bring for Workshops:

Before we set afield on Day 1, all attendees will be required to sign a waiver of liability form and attendees under the age of 18 will also be required to have a parent or guardian sign their waiver.

Listed below is where each of the 2 workshop dates (Saturday-in/field and Sunday-classroom) will take place.

*Day 1 of the workshop (Saturday) will be the in-field day and you should be there no later than 8:15 am. The property is located at:

8877 N. Derby Rd.
Six Lakes, Michigan 48886

Some attendees using their cell phone GPS’s have had issues finding 8877 N. Derby Rd. on Saturday mornings whereas the attendees using vehicle GPSs haven’t, so below are printed directions in case you get lost in the vicinity. Or you can call John on his cell phone at 989-429-7970.

-Coming in from northern Michigan: Take Highway 27 south to M-46 then go west about 23 miles to Derby Rd. then turn north to the first farm on the left side of Derby Rd. or come south on M-66 to M-46 and turn east on M-46 and go 1 mile to Derby Rd. then turn north to first farm on the left.

-Coming in from southern Michigan: Take Highway 27 north to M-46 then go west about 23 miles to Derby Rd. then turn north to the first farm on the left side of Derby Rd., or take highway 131 north to M-46 east then go east about 18 miles to Derby Rd. then turn north to the first farm on the left side of Derby Rd.

Please call John’s cell on 989-429-7970 if you have problems locating the property and please park in front of the white barn on the west side of Derby Rd.

On Saturday, bring whatever you wear for scouting during that seasonal time frame. Bring a pair of walking boots and depending on the amount of rain or winter runoff we have; you may need to bring a pair of knee-high rubber or neoprene hunting boots. You should also bring a change of clothes for lunch as we might get a bit wet (if it’s raining) or sweaty if it’s hot out and you can change in the field before heading to lunch. Bring some bottled water and whatever snacks you might want. Bring a light rain suit as we will continue no matter the weather. If you want to take pictures or film, that’s fine.

We will visit over a dozen pre-set locations and go over every detail at each concerning why; this location, this tree, this height, this side of the tree, this number of shooting lanes, this entry and exit route, etc. We will discuss; location preparation, tools used, the best seasonal timing for each location, whether it’s a morning, midday, evening or an any time of day location, scent control, flashlights, how to properly enter a morning location, how to properly exit a location after dark, how to be as inconspicuous as possible before, during and after a hunt, how to properly set up in the tree, how to hunt at a destination location without getting picked such as at a mast or fruit tree or a primary scrape area where there may be many eyes searching the trees for a period of time, and how to hunt and take advantage of standing corn.

We will cover tactics like sparring, rattling, calling, decoys, vocal matting to stop a buck in his tracks for a standing shot, scents, the non-use of scents when hunting destination locations, use of reflective tacks and ties, entry and exit routes, heights in trees, tree diameters, types of trees, security cover and how mature bucks use it, wind, thermals, swirling winds, tree set-ups, morning, midday, and evening hunts, parking your vehicle without interfering with deer movements, different steps and climbing apparatuses, shot angles, bedding areas, transition corridors, preferred mast, and try to cover whatever questions are asked.

Either John, Jon or Joe will get into some of the prepared trees with their modified Eberhart Signature Saddle (ESS) and as previously mentioned, later in the day they will have several trees set up (just off the ground) to show how a saddle is properly used and will allow anyone to try whatever they want.

John has exclusively hunted from a saddle since 1981 and Jon and Joe combined have 76 years of saddle hunting experience for a total of 119 seasons of saddle experience and they will show how the saddle process works in comparison to conventional metal stands and this will lend to some serious thought-provoking discussion for the hunters that are using conventional stands. If you use a saddle, bring it along as they would like to see how you use it and maybe offer some pointers.

There will be a break for lunch around noon and we will come back after lunch and continue until around 4:30 pm or however long it takes. There will be no scheduled ending time and John will answer all questions within reason if they don’t pertain to a personal piece of property.

*Day 2 of the workshop (Sunday) will be the seminar and it will be held in the Outback room at Jay’s Sporting Goods (largest independent sporting goods store in the state) just north of Clare from 8:30 am until 3:30 pm (store closes at 4) with a break around noon for lunch (we typically order a few pizza’s).

Jay’s Sporting Goods – 8800 S. Clare Ave. – Clare, Michigan 48167 – 989-386-3475

The classroom day will be an in-depth seminar on absolutely everything that has anything to do with killing mature bucks no matter where you hunt and there will be some time for Q&A. John’s scouting and location preparation gear will be in the room as well as some of his plat books, maps and notebooks from hunting out of state and several of his old notepads with handwritten diagrams of hunting locations on the properties he’s hunted over the past 50 seasons. Of course, OnX is what John mostly uses now. The older archaic items are not to be confused with “look at me, I’m really good”, but rather as examples of the detail required to be consistently successful and make as few mistakes as possible.

For those coming to Clare on Friday or Saturday night, Jay’s Sporting Goods is just 1 mile north of town if you want to buy anything and they have everything.

Closest Airports:
-Gerald Ford-Grand Rapids airport is about 2 hours from Clare and 1 hour and 20 minutes from Edmore.
-Lansing Airports is about 1 hour and 20 minutes from Clare and 1 hour and 30 minutes from Edmore.
-Midland-Bay City-Saginaw (MBS) airport is about 45 minutes from Clare and about 1 hour and 20 minutes from Edmore.
-Bishop airport in Flint is about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Clare and 1 hour and 50 minutes from Edmore.

If coming in on Friday afternoon, you have 3 options.

Option 1: Book a hotel in Clare for Friday and Saturday night and then on Friday evening you could go to Jays and look around and use your 15% discount voucher.

Clare hotels: Doherty Hotel (my preference) – 989-386-3441, Days Inn – 844-575-9332

From Clare on Saturday morning (day 1) it will take about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get to Six Lakes where the in/field property is located, so if staying in Clare on Friday night you will have to leave by 7:00 am to get to the in-field property on time (a bit early).

Option 2: If driving in from the south on Friday you can pre-book at one of the 2 hotels in Edmore which are 10 minutes from the workshop property in Six Lakes on Saturday.

Edmore hotels: Maxfield’s Inn (my preference) – 866-550-8838, Edmore Inn (not as nice) – 989-427-5163.

If staying in Edmore on Friday night you may want to check out on Saturday morning before heading to the property as you may want to pre-book a room in Clare for Saturday night at one of the hotels listed above so you are closer to Jay’s Sporting Goods. There are also more restaurants in Clare to choose from.

Option 3: Gammy Woods family campground is halfway between the in/field day location and the 2nd day location at Jay’s, and they rent daily campsites with electric hook-ups and water for trailers or for tents. There are 8 showers in the campground, several bathrooms, and a small general store.

Gammy Woods phone number is: 989-644-2267 or 989-506-8005

If this sounds confusing or you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call me at: 989-644-6067 or e-mail him at: deerjohn51@gmail.com or try his cell at: 989-429-7970 – John Eberhart

 

John’s hunting resume and kill credentials have always been focused on taking mature bucks in heavily pressured areas and it’s a non-disputable fact that once you learn the skills to take mature bucks in heavily pressured areas, you can go absolutely anywhere with those skills and successfully pursue the best bucks the area has to offer.

Begin utilizing your scouting and hunting time to its fullest potential by attending an Eberhart’s Whitetail Workshop

 

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Whitetail Workshop testimonials

John

I attended your Deer Hunting Workshop last weekend (April 14/15) and even though it snowed, sleeted and then rained during the in-field day it was a really good experience! I particularly liked the nasty weather in-field day where many of your stand sites were looked at, explained and thoroughly examined. Stand sites and shooting lanes in relation to cover, stand height, reasons for approach, entries and exits to each stand, the importance of seasonal and daily timing in relation to the hunting phases, and also the many advantages of hunting from a saddle were covered in great detail.

You answered all of our questions with in depth answers and very simply put just covered all the bases.
I also liked Day 2 as well as you covered all the equipment, reasons and how a scent control regimen is achieved in detail. No stone was left unturned in this session.

One thing I really enjoyed was when all of us had a turn at speaking about our experiences as hunters and what brought us to the activity of hunting for whitetails. Meeting the guys that were in this group was pretty neat as after only a couple of days I felt like some good friendships were established.

Having your books and DVD’s (read and watched cover to cover!) also helped tremendously in this workshop and seeing your methods first hand in the real deer woods just further shows how this works and comes together for success!

You were extremely helpful and so down to earth, it was a pleasure attending and I would highly recommend any serious deer hunter to attend one of your workshops. Attached is a public land buck I took a few years ago.

Thanks so very much John and good hunting!

Tony – Pennsylvania

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I attended a Whitetail Workshop with John Eberhart and even though the weather was terrible, John, Lynn (property owner) and the other attendee’s were awesome! Everyone was very friendly and all questions were answered.

The information/insight that John gave us was priceless. I’ve been hunting in Michigan for over 30 years on State land and I’ve taken over 50 deer all 2 ½ yrs old or younger with my best buck being a 102 inch 2 ½ yr old. John has opened my eyes to many things that I have not seen or just overlooked and I now have a new and smarter way of looking at deer hunting, and I plan to use it to put some Michigan bucks in the record book.

The words I heard stressed most from John were security cover, security cover, security cover!

Thank you John.

Michael Pniewski, Davison, MI.

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This has been my first year of hunting and it’s been a pretty great season so far. My Dad and I have been practicing and scouting a lot before the season started and this past summer he took me up to one of John Eberhart’s workshops in Michigan. My Dad has John’s books and DVD’s and really likes his methods for scent control, scouting, setting up in the right tree, and the use of tree saddles. I met a lot of great guys who seemed like experienced and serious hunters and they were excited that more and more young girls are getting into the sport. I learned a lot that weekend and had an awesome time.

A few months later I shot my first deer, an eight point buck. My Dad was stunned that I shot the buck he was after, but was very proud and happy for me.

We started hunting our all-important pre-rut locations on Wednesday, November 1st and we sat in the rain for the afternoon hunt and I saw a lot of chasing. We came back on Friday for an all-day hunt and again it was raining. We settled into our respective trees an hour before daylight and the morning action didn’t seem as intense as it was on Wednesday afternoon.

I wanted to move in closer to the primary scrape destination location and at 10:45 we got down and both moved in closer. I was nicely tucked up into the crotch of a tree approximately 22 feet off the ground and at 2:30 the chasing began again as an immature buck was chasing a doe through the area which woke me from my nap in the tree saddle. I waited to see if a bigger buck was going to join the action. Sure enough there he came down the same trail the doe had blazed running from the smaller 6 point a few moments before.

Losing interest in the commotion he stopped 17 yards from my tree and at this point he was directly downwind. I had paid attention during the extensive scent control regimen portion of both the in-field day and seminar class leaving this buck with no clue I was there.  I was wearing my ScentLok Wild Heart Savanna suit which was wore under my washed in scent free detergent rainsuit, and my ScentLok Vigilante headcover with drop down facemask.

Because I was using a saddle I was able to twist my body around to make the difficult shot to my left (I’m left handed), but it’s a shot I practiced during the summer after attending John’s workshop and having him mention that you need to practice every possible shot position.

I wasn’t sure if it was a good shot until I saw him bed down and try to get up, stumbling around as he did. I texted Dad and told him what had happened and he told me to keep an eye on him and wait about a half an hour until he came over.

I stayed in my saddle and pointed to the area the buck was in, and Dad followed the bright red blood trail to the expired 120 inch 3 year old 8 point. I was really excited but I think dad was more excited than me.

My big brother said, “When you shook John Eberhart’s hand and the magic touch passed on to you” Thanks John for the awesome workshop and for the magic touch… LOL

Later that week my dad was hunting on public land and had 2 mature does and their fawns come in from upwind and both does visually picked him in the tree. Dad intently watched as both does circled around him to the downwind side while keeping their eyes focused on him. Once directly downwind they tried to wind him and couldn’t and after several minutes flicked their tails to call the fawns over and casually moved off. Dad was already a firm believer is ScentLok and that sealed the deal.

Lauren Nowak – 14 years old from New York

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John

I’ve been bowhunting for 26 years, and in the last 8 seasons since discovering your books and seriously implementing the Eberhart Way of bowhunting have taken 7 P&Y class bucks all of which were 3 ½ years old or older. In my previous 19 seasons I took several year and half and a few 2 ½ year old bucks and all their antlers are in a box. The before the Eberhart Way and after results are nothing short of shocking as all 7 of the after the EW bucks are mounted and on my walls. Implementing what’s in your books, articles and videos has changed me from an occasional subordinate buck killer to a consistent mature buck killer and it happened immediately.

I attended your workshop in September and it was by far the most enlightening and informative piece of the consistency puzzle. Since implementing the scent control chapters in your books I haven’t even considered wind direction and your workshop added a lot more info on the topic.

A recent kill was yet another feather in the cap on how a proper scent control regimen negates wind direction. I watched as this mature buck casually came in from 150 yards directly downwind and never even paused while closing that distance to 22 yards. I prepared this location in the spring for my sling, was the first time on stand, was on stand an hour and a half before daybreak, it was during pre-rut, and I was practicing a proper scent control regimen. All those things did their part, the rest was up to my marksmanship which do to in-season-practice from a similar height, did not fail. A relaxed, clueless, dead downwind mature buck took my arrow through both lungs and didn’t run far! The buck coming in and me taking him sounds and seems easy, but that was possible because all the aforementioned attention to detail that’s meticulously outlined in your materials and workshop were followed. Thanks to the Eberhart Way, another P&Y buck falls hard!

David Ferianc – Michigan

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John

I want you to take some credit for the attached 10 point I took November 3rd, 2017. He’s my biggest buck and a rarity for the heavily pressured area I hunt in Pennsylvania. I’m calling him my birthday buck even though it was on the 2nd.

I’ve read your books and watched your videos in the past two years and this year attended your August 12/13 whitetail workshop which visually helped to confirm your instructional information. During post season I prepared several trees on public and private lands and have hunted each location once and had bucks and does within 50 yards each time. Attending your workshop made me realize the importance of patience and saving my best spots for the rut phases and I specifically waited until Halloween to hunt them. I set up at locations with either scrape’s, rubs, converging runways or a combination of them and made sure they had adequate security cover for daytime visits. While it was a struggle at first, I also paid no attention to wind direction because I was following your scent control regimen and it worked perfectly as I had deer linger and pass by downwind on several occasions without a trace of detection.

On the 3rd, I went in for an all-day hunt and at daybreak noticed 5 converging runways instead of only the 3 that were there in post season when I prepared the location and two of them had rubs along them making me think they were routine routes. Since preparing the location one branch had grown enough to partially block a runway so around 2:45 I climbed down, clipped it off and got back up into my harness. Almost immediately I heard a deer running towards me and it was a buck and he stopped right under my tree. As he was walking away I came to full draw and made a vocal doe bleat (as you showed in class) to stop him and he stopped right where I cut that branch off. I took the 8 yard shot and watched as he ran about 50 yards and tipped over. What a RUSH!

Thanks for being a teacher and sharing your knowledge with hunters.

Ryan – Pennsylvania

Side note from John: While it’s a nice gesture, I refuse to take any credit for your kill. Taking a good buck requires a lot of time and hard work, I may have laid out what to do, but you had to do it and make the shot and recovery.  Great job Ryan

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John, I wanted to share this with you…

After attending your 2 day workshop back in July, I re-analyzed my property and early season stand locations which has been a weakness of mine. I kept focus on what you shared about setting up on very specific destination locations that offered perimeter and transition security cover and I have an isolated waterhole in very thick cover between a couple bedding areas. I’ve never hunted it because I deemed it too risky since the water is the only attraction and it’s so close to the bedding areas. After talking with you I went in and prepared a tree for my saddle and cleared out an access trail to be able to slip in and out quietly.

I knew there were two good bucks in the area and that waterhole was the only water for about 1/2 mile in any direction during dry seasons which this has been. I went in on opening evening and noticed lots of tall rubs leading to and from the bedding areas and had several deer come in and drink. I had to get back in there again before the forecasted heavy rain lessened the appeal of this secluded water source.

I had a great hunt, complete with over a dozen does and fawns hitting the waterhole followed by 4 different yearling bucks. Then just before dark the small bucks became noticeably edgy, and kept looking back into the thick cover. I’ve hunted long enough and taken enough bucks to know exactly what that meant and sure enough a good buck was quietly slipping along his rub-lined trail heading to water. Once within distance and after making sure the other bucks were focused on him I quietly drew my bow and shot him in the lane I cleared at about 12 yards. He went about 50 yards and crashed within sight.

During the hunt I checked the wind several times and every time got a different result and although the wind was swirling in all directions, not one deer winded me. I don’t know that I would have had the confidence to put this hunt together without seeing your scent control regimen and seeing and hearing your strategies first hand, so I thought you would like to hear that.

Though he isn’t my highest scoring Michigan buck due to many out of symmetry deductions, he’s a mature buck and I’m very proud of him. While I’ve been a successful bowhunter over the years, I would like to say thank you for helping me take my hunting to the next level!

Dan Taylor – Michigan

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Damn, what great September 23rd and 24th weekend!!!

I had the pleasure of spending it with John, and hunters from Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio. John has a great proven mature buck hunting system that he demonstrates thoroughly.

I like how he keys his efforts on hunting directly over destination spots, whereas I would focus on trails leading to destination spots.

Great scent control information and a walking encyclopedia on Scent-Loc gear.

You couldn’t find a better place to find knowledge for hunting from tree saddle style set ups. I never hunted from this system in my life. I walked away this weekend feeling like I have been using saddles my whole life. I will be investing in a harness over the winter and plan to be ready to hunt from it next season. I have a spot on my private property where this system would trump any other way to hunt this certain location.

I also plan on hunting a few public land spots in the future and this method is the ticket for a easy, light weight tactic for hunting secluded hard to reach areas.

Don’t let age detour your thoughts on hunting saddles, if you can climb a tree you can hunt comfortably from them. I now know several people into their 60’s using these harnesses.

Great weekend and Time Well Spent!!

Rich Hutton – Michigan

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After spending the day with John Eberhart, who undoubtedly is one of the best whitetail hunters in Michigan, if not the country, I came away with a much better understanding of how and what has made him so successful. It is one thing to read John’s informative books and many articles detailing his methods and techniques, but to actually walk and observe his hunting environment is the ultimate learning experience.

Not only is John a great whitetail hunter, but he is also an informative teacher as well. John’s willingness and receptiveness to answer any and all questions posed to him while in the field was an invaluable resource to have available to myself as a participant and a student.

Finally, John’s individualistic approach, personal style, wealth of Information, and devotion to detail are all well worth the investment of time and money for the whitetail enthusiast. I would certainly recommend adding this experience to a whitetail hunters bucket list.

Ron Moesta – Tustin, Michigan

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I attended John’s Whitetail Workshop in September 2017, and I was really impressed!

John goes through in detail why he chooses stand locations, how he sets them up, where and why he clears shooting lanes, when he hunts specific locations, how he enters and exits these stand locations, not to mention a lot of good information about hunting from a saddle and just bow hunting in general.

John’s experience and success in a pressured state like Michigan is second to none, and comparing the cost of this workshop to most hunters who spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars every year on hunting equipment, the cost is well worth every penny!

Gary Richards – Ohio

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I attended John’s workshop and found it very worthwhile. John’s success over many years in a high pressured state like Michigan speaks for itself. The field day really opened my eyes to the importance of stand location and preparation, shooting lanes, entry and exits, what time of day a location may be best suited for, where to hunt during different times of the season, and the advantages harness saddle hunting can provide. I would definitely recommend this workshop to deer hunting enthusiasts that want to listen and learn about an approach that has worked incredibly well for John.

Kip Cotter – Michigan

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John
Thank you for organizing your Whitetail Workshop. It was an outstanding opportunity that I am glad I participated in and even though I had already read your books and watched your DVD’s, which are very informative, the workshop was the icing on the cake.

There is no substitute for getting out into the field and seeing for yourself what your books and DVD’s are discussing. Attending the workshop will enhance my recognition of transition areas, primary scrape zones, destination locations, bedding areas, & how to enter & exit (UNDETECTED) the properties I hunt.

Showing where and how you set up on a hunting property and then discussing your strategy for hunting the entire season on that property was enlightening as was witnessing how you set up trees, prepared shooting lanes and deciphered entry and exit routes.

My take away from the workshop was priceless. For those that want to observe and learn successful techniques for hunting mature whitetail bucks, you owe it to yourself to attend Eberhart’s Whitetail Workshop.

Tom Trace – Ohio

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You know the old cliché of, “a picture is worth a thousand words”? If that’s true, then being there in person is worth ten thousand. There’s nothing like standing next to an instructor, having them point to something, and being able to just look and see it. That’s what I experienced at John Eberhart’s Whitetail Workshop I attended in late September and what I valued most. It was enlightening to stand next to John while he physically pointed out security cover, bedding areas, the right tree for the location, and why certain shooting lanes are cut. Then John would disappear up the tree he had prepped for that location and I then began to understand his success as a trophy whitetail hunter.

The second day’s training on his scent control regimen and DIY hunting was icing on the cake. I also appreciate that John encouraged any and all questions and didn’t end any session until everyone’s questions were answered. If you are interested in being a better hunter, especially for mature whitetails, John’s workshops are worth your time and investment.

Avid Whitetail Enthusiast, Troy Parsell

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What John’s whitetail workshop did for me.

Enhanced skills were learned.
Made me think about my current habits that can be improved such as ways to enter and exit stands to minimize spooking game.
Showed me how to use the tree saddle to maximize comfort and mobility.
How to utilize natural food sources and choose the right tree to create a great location setup and then decipher what time of season and day is best for each hunting location.
How to save money on tree steps and how to put them into the tree.
Shooting lane preparation that maximizes chances of getting off a shot.
Best tools of the trade that will reduce the amount of effort needed to prepare a location including preparing a tree, shooting lanes and entry and exit routes.  
The scent control portion is a must for anyone interested in becoming undetectable from the whitetails ability to smell you at levels strong enough to alarm them.
The regimen required for scent control requires discipline. John will help provide the information required to properly care for all of your hunting clothing as well as provide recommended suppliers of great hunting clothing. You will also learn great tips on how to keep warm on stand when the temperatures get low.

The whitetail workshop is a great way to enhance you hunting knowledge and improve your chances for success in the field.

Steve Thomas – Michigan

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John
It was nice meeting you and Lynn. I appreciate the opportunity to see your set ups and learn how you go about hunting.

I wish I would have learned from you 20 years ago. It would have saved me a lot of time and money and my success would have been much better. I have spent a small fortune on deer hunting products but your workshop was by far the best money I have spent. It was very helpful spending time in the woods and seeing how you anticipate deer movement and set up for the shot. Thanks for your help with my saddle as I can’t wait to hunt with it this fall.

Thanks for everything. I hope our paths cross again – Steve Lamie

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John

I really enjoyed your workshop as it was so helpful being in the woods and seeing your hunting locations and the reasons they were chosen. While my hunting is primarily hill country, your approach was the main takeaway for me in finding my areas particular patterns based on the knowledge you gave.

Your scent regimen you so willingly shared and the use of Scent-Lok and other things done in conjunction with it will be a game changer for me.

I chose your workshop because I respect your style of hunting and the way you analyze and dissect deer patterns as well as you using the tree saddle/sling harness system. – Steve Boggs

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John

Before I came I read your book PRECISION BOWHUNTING in which you cover most whitetail hunting topics in great detail. However your workshop gave me the perfect opportunity to see firsthand how you actually do thing such as prepare your hunting locations and entry and exit routes as well as plan out in detail your seasonal hunting plan for that particular property.

As a self-taught hunter, attending your two day workshop allowed me to talk to you and confirm the hunting strategies taught in the book. I appreciated your willingness to answer all my questions in detail on how to hunt pressured deer in my home state of Pennsylvania and for answering the many questions asked by the other attendees.

Your attention to every detail has inspired me to become a better hunter and you also clarified a few misconceptions I had about hunting. I feel more confident and am excited to apply your hunting strategies in my hunting excursions.

Thanks again for offering such a great interactive workshop.

Ryan Smoker – Pennsylvania

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Being a late starter to bowhunting ( 38 yrs old ) and with no family members that hunt, I got some helpful advice from some friends my first year that got me launched. I ran across John’s books and DVD’s shortly thereafter, and like many others have tried to emulate his success. After hunting with my young sons for the past few years and now having the opportunity to introduce my eager 14 yr old daughter to the activity of bowhunting, she wanted to join me in attending one of John’s Whitetail Workshops.

Driving 10 hrs was a small price to pay for such an up close and intimate view of the things we read about. I encourage any bowhunter who is serious about getting an opportunity to harvest mature bucks, to seize the chance at spending some time and learning from the ” MR. REAL ” of the Bowhunting world. Thanks for letting us peak into the gear room of the Eberhart way.

Greg Nowak

P.S. the saddle hunting approach I learned from John, is the only way I could look my wife in the eyes and honestly keep the promise I made her: “I nor my kids would ever fall from a tree stand.”

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I’ve hunted deer with a gun for over 25 years and with a bow for 8 years and while I’ve been somewhat successful, I’ve never taken anything big enough to hang on the wall. I know there are big bucks in my area but have always felt I was making some minor mistakes, I just didn’t know what they were.

After attending John’s in/field day class and seeing exactly how he prepared each of the 14 locations we visited concerning; why this location, each locations seasonal and daily timing, tree choice, shooting lanes, height in each tree based on many variables, entry and exit routes, scent control, etc., the mistakes I was making became very apparent I didn’t have to break the bank to adopt what John does.

My family and I love venison and main reason I deer hunt is for the meat and the other reasons are for the sheer enjoyment of being in the woods and enjoying nature. But I still have the desire to step my bowhunting skills up a notch or two and take some wall hanger’s to preserve the memories and being able to actually see the detail John puts into everything he does definitely did that.

If you follow John’s techniques you’ll have exactly that, more success on mature animals. John’s success in heavily pressured areas speaks for itself.

Leonard Schrock – Michigan landowner

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