Deciphering Buck Rubs on Public Land

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Buck rubs always get us excited, but they can be misleading. When you’re looking for mature bucks on public land there are certain clues that buck rubs show, and John explains what he looks for on each one.

 

 

John Eberhart Face Shot

John has 31 bucks in the Michigan record book from 19 different properties and another 19 P&Y bucks from 13 different properties on his 22 out of state bow hunts and has co-authored 3 instructional bowhunting books and an instructional 3 DVD video series.

While there are thousands of hunters with several-record book bucks taken in lightly hunted states or off spectacular pieces of managed properties, what separates John’s accomplishment of having 50 record-book bucks from 32 different properties (31 in Michigan and 19 from out of state) from any other hunter in the country is that he’s always exclusively hunted on public and knock-on-doors for free permission properties.

Staff Photo

John Eberhart —

John has been hunting in the heavily hunted state of Michigan for over 45 years and has concentrated his efforts on mature bucks for more than 20 of those years. He has 23 bucks entered in the Commemorative Bucks of Michigan record book from 9 different counties. John does not own or lease any hunting property, or belong to any hunt clubs. He receives permission by knocking on doors, which at times can be more difficult than actually hunting. Most of his bucks have come from heavily hunted areas, with several of his largest coming from state land. John has hunted both big timber areas and agricultural areas in his home state and is dedicated to the no-nonsense pursuit of mature whitetail deer.

John has seen tremendous changes in bowhunting activity over the years. In the beginning he had to learn the hard way and has never stopped studying the art of bowhunting the amazing, adaptable whitetail. Through the years he has developed tactics and strategies that have come to mean a good rate of success on mature pressured bucks. He has many tips that could be helpful to you.

John feels that there is too much fluff (generality) in most bowhunting articles, books, TV shows, and videos. Most nationally known hunting personalities hunt property on which generic hunting methods are successful due to lack of heavy hunting pressure. A  high percentage of TV shows and hunting video’s advertise that they are hunting 100% wild 100% fair chase whitetails, which they are. However, in reality they are hunting on large exclusive micro managed hunting property with little if any competition and in areas with extremely low hunter densities. A few are even filmed in high fenced enclosures, all of which are gross misrepresentations of normal hunting conditions and mature buck to doe ratio’s. Successful hunting methods used in those areas will rarely yield consistent results on pressured mature whitetail bucks.

John would like to give you more detailed information on not only how to do things, but also tell you why you are doing it. He wants to take you to the next level so that you enjoy your experiences in the field.

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