Stan Potts (center) and Greg Miller (right) pinpoint hot stand sites on an aerial photo a student brought to NAW's 2006 Scouting School.

Last year’s first-ever North American Whitetail Scouting School was such a hit with students and staff alike that a 2007 session is now on the schedule. This unique short course will be held March 23-26 (Friday afternoon through Monday lunch) at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, an outstanding facility in the hardwood bluff country of southeastern Minnesota.

NAW Television’s Stan Potts, Greg Miller and I will all be on hand throughout this special event, which we’ll be videotaping for possible use on our TV show later this year.

As was the case with our 2006 school, the instruction will be very hands-on. We’ll spend some of our time in the “classroom” and some in the field. Starting off, we’ll discuss the types of places and patterns of deer sign trophy hunters should look for; then, we’ll go out and find those critical pieces of evidence and talk about specific stand locations for gun and bow success. The surrounding area contains a lot of bucks and is quite representative of most of the Midwest, with rolling crop fields, CRP acreage, wooded ridges and creek bottoms. We’ll also spend time hunting sheds in the surrounding area. This is real-world training provided by a trio of men with nearly 1 1/2 centuries of whitetail experience.

Another important part of the school is the detailed discussion of students’ own hunting areas. All attendees will be invited to bring maps, aerials photos, trail camera shots and shed antlers to the school. We’ll take the knowledge presented in the course and, in combination with our many decades of whitetail experience across the continent, apply it to analysis of the students’ deer woods.

As informative as the school is, our 2006 students told us that one of its best features was the atmosphere. NAW Scouting School is an intensive learning experience, but it’s also a lot of fun. Imagine being able to share hunting strategies, stories an philosophies with other serious deer hunters from around North America. No wonder we made so many great friends at last year’s school and look forward to doing so again this time around.

The total fee for the school is $1,295, which includes all course instruction, meals and lodging. For those flying in, the airport to use is La Crosse, Wisconsin, which is roughly an hour east of the facility. We’ll pick up students at the airport on the afternoon of March 23 and drop them off there on the afternoon of March 26. Of course, many students from across the Midwest will be driving in. Eagle Bluff is just outside Lanesboro, Minnesota, and is easily accessed from Interstate 90.

If you’d like to attend, simply call Nancy Wells at 678/589-2010 and provide her with your payment information. (All major credit cards are accepted.) We hope you can make it!