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Moon Phase Hunting - Figure it in or forget it?

We do notice more criminal activity, domestic relations issues etc. (seemingly at least) when there is a full moon but we haven't specifically tested it out.

An abundance of moonlight will allow deer to feed and move more easily at night. Also, it makes sense that criminals would exploit moonlight to commit crimes without needing a flashlight.

Weather and phase of the rut is enough complication for me. I don't worry about the moon.
 
Two things I watch for :
#1 Red Moon
#2 Double Digit Temp Drop.

My brothers and I followed those two things religiously and it had greatly has greatly helped our success rate.
 
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Two things I watch for :
#1 Blood Moon.
#2 Double Digit Temp Drop.

My brothers and I followed those two things religiously and it had greatly has greatly helped our success rate.

So like once in a blood moon?

 
I’m really new at bow hunting, but it seems to me this kind of thing is pseudoscience.

The variables involved with how, where and when everyone hunts are extremely different. I don’t believe there is any one answer that locks you on to a booner in Michigan from information or experience in Missouri. Sure there are certain things in common, like hunt the wind, but everything else seems wildly different.

For example, I hunt a private patch of land (3 acres) in the suburbs that deer are more conditioned to the presence of people. They generally did not care about the scent of humans. I killed 3 deer from that property this season. Had nothing to do with the position of the moon, in my opinion.


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Sorry Red moon.

There was a blood moon this past year in October. I don't know the frequency with them. Looks like partials happen from time to time, with greater frequency.

Anyway, red moon. Do you use the Moon Guide App then?
 
There was a blood moon this past year in October. I don't know the frequency with them. Looks like partials happen from time to time, with greater frequency.

Anyway, red moon. Do you use the Moon Guide App then?
Yes
 
I forget the moon phase. I wish I could find the article I read a couple years ago, but it was a credible source that did a study on whitetail in MI. I believe it stated 80% of does were bred between November 8th thru the 18th. So that 10 day period would be the rut, year after year in Michigan.

PSU has done the same in PA and got similar results.
 
I'm a believer, when it come to deer movement due to different moon positions. I also believe that in regards to hunting deer nothing can be considered a 100% thing. Too many variables exist that create negatives to the normal. I've maintained what has become a detailed deer hunting journal since the 1968 season. It started off pretty simple through the first 8 season so I'm missing data that I've recorded since then. I know for a fact (not counting this season) while sitting on a stand 8,980 hours during 3,537 hunts I've enjoyed 6,520 deer sightings and didn't have a deer sighting during 1,832 hunts.

In regards to moon position, I knew that I had twice as many recorded deer sightings during the first and last moon quarters than I did during the new moon and full moon combined. I just couldn't figure out why until Jeff Murray came out with the Deer Hunters Moon Guide. Comparing his guide to my sightings, I realized that during the first quarter & last quarter the moon position is basically overhead or under foot during the early mornings & late evenings... Prime Time. And, during the new & full moon the moon position is basically overhead or under foot during the mid day.... Bedding Area Time.

During the years after I started using the moon position times, I've been amazed at how many times that it has proven to be accurate. I consider it another tool to aid in having more deer sightings.
 

Steve Demarais and Bronson Strickland are professors at Mississippi State University. They discuss their findings on deer behavior and the effects of various environmental factors on them. If you're interested in the specific studies, you'll have to dig a little deeper than I did while listening to the episode.

I listened to the podcast. Very good stuff!

I emailed Dr. Strickland to clarify a few things. Hopefully he'll respond.

I noted two things related to your comments on weather: Dr. Demarais very specifically stated that a hunter may have experienced more deer movement during the rut because the weather was cooler at 1:22:36. The other, is that Dr. Strickland says that they did not find any statistically significant correlation between deer movement and "weather". It does leave the door open on a few things. I was not convinced that they had looked hard at relative temperature as a variable related to daytime deer movement.

We're off topic a bit on this front. But I'm hoping my email/his response can offer some clarity, or beg some more interesting questions.

Two more things stood out: Money offers the best avenue to good data. And second - they tranquilized deer, cut their antlers off, and made fake ones to figure out if does like big antlers, big body size, or the age of a deer the most. We are weird weird monkeys for sure!

Back to the moon!
 
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I'm a believer, when it come to deer movement due to different moon positions. I also believe that in regards to hunting deer nothing can be considered a 100% thing. Too many variables exist that create negatives to the normal. I've maintained what has become a detailed deer hunting journal since the 1968 season. It started off pretty simple through the first 8 season so I'm missing data that I've recorded since then. I know for a fact (not counting this season) while sitting on a stand 8,980 hours during 3,537 hunts I've enjoyed 6,520 deer sightings and didn't have a deer sighting during 1,832 hunts.

In regards to moon position, I knew that I had twice as many recorded deer sightings during the first and last moon quarters than I did during the new moon and full moon combined. I just couldn't figure out why until Jeff Murray came out with the Deer Hunters Moon Guide. Comparing his guide to my sightings, I realized that during the first quarter & last quarter the moon position is basically overhead or under foot during the early mornings & late evenings... Prime Time. And, during the new & full moon the moon position is basically overhead or under foot during the mid day.... Bedding Area Time.

During the years after I started using the moon position times, I've been amazed at how many times that it has proven to be accurate. I consider it another tool to aid in having more deer sightings.

Mr. Warren - do you find that the movement tracks the fact that the moon is overhead or underfoot, or does it track that the moon is overhead or underfoot at deer's preferred feeding times?

In other words, did you change tactics to start hunting when the moon was overhead/underfoot, regardless of time? Did this lead to an increase in deer sightings versus hunting dawn/dusk regardless of moon position?
 
Another factor to consider is that people who over hunt their spots usually don’t have much success. If something such as waiting for a specific moon prevents people from burning out their stands this alone may make them more successful regardless of what effect the moon is actually having.
 
Mr. Warren - do you find that the movement tracks the fact that the moon is overhead or underfoot, or does it track that the moon is overhead or underfoot at deer's preferred feeding times?

In other words, did you change tactics to start hunting when the moon was overhead/underfoot, regardless of time? Did this lead to an increase in deer sightings versus hunting dawn/dusk regardless of moon position?
Not Warren but for me it has if the weather is conducive for movement ie: not unseasonably warm and if I choose a stand location appropriate for the time of season such as close to bedding early season.
 
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