You're really asking about the
Solunar theory of animal behavior. Some oysters or some other shellfish were taken from a bay and placed in an aquarium, but continued to open their shells in unison at specific times during each 24 hour period, AND were found to be in sync with the shellfish of their same speicies left back in the bay..., but in the aquarium there was no "tide". After some study it was discovered that they reacted to the movement of the moon. You can find a table and input your zip code to find best times based on lunar tidal influences for both fishing and hunting here :
http://www.solunarforecast.com/solunarcalendar.aspx
Now I've seen this work quite well with squirrels, but not nearly as much, with deer, though it does seem to have some effect.
The problem with the "
light theory" is what if it's overcast at night? Does that mean hunting during the daylight that follows the blocking of the moon's light will be good hunting? Then explain why some hunters, such as myself have shot deer between noon and 2 p.m. without problems, if the deer are "hold up" in the brush all day because they fed at night?
The answer is it's more complicated than that. For example if deer become accustomed to something in thier area, they will adapt behaviour, so if there is a lot of farm activity at certain times, and quiet in others, they will adjust. If you install an automated corn feeder to toss corn down on the ground each day at 8 a.m., and there are enough deer and other critters in the area to quickly gobble it up, the deer will learn to be nearby listening for the whirrrr of the feeder dumping corn in the morning. They also get into rhythms during their life. So if they get used to eating in the middle of the night, the varying amount of light doen't effect that as much as folks seem to think.
Another example is cold and damp. Deer can only keep warm in one way..., food.
Their stomachs can only hold so much food, and the colder it is, the faster they burn off that food, and need to eat again. Add damp like a rainy drizzle, and their hair does less of a job at insulation, so they have to eat even more. So when folks say they will
graze at night in a full moon..., that may be true, BUT you need to check on when does that moon set? The hours of darkness sometimes last longer than the moon is in the sky. So in cold, damp weather they are going to need to eat, and that will include no light hours, and daylight hours, even at or just after,....Noon.
Another factor is changes in their environment. A lot of hunting pressure means noise, and scent. All the scent-bloc in the world doesn't change the fact that boots on the soil kick up the scent of loam, and a lot of that scent in the air is a change, and tells the deer that something is different, and different can = danger to a deer. Couple that with the noise of humans moving about through brush, coughing, working coat zippers, and they can be pushed out of an area or can freeze in place, thus altering their personal pattern. This is why folks that hunt, should hunt all day, especially if you're on public land that has a good amount of hunters...and if it's a weekday. Humans move in before dawn..., up goes the scent level on the wind, and noise, and the deer hold in place. Then at about 11:00 the half-day hunters, and the not as serious day hunters leave, either for work or for lunch. IF you stay put long enough..., the sound of the hunters departing is followed by quiet. Scent is reduced, AND if it's drizzling that rain will help to "scrub" the air of scent and reduces the noise if you move, which means the deer consider moving. Since they've not been out eating, if it's a cold damp day, hunger will be your ally and make them move during those daylight hours. This is why some guys like me have gotten lucky between noon and 14:00....it was cold, it was damp, and the deer had to move.
So look at the solunar tables, and use them as only one component, and couple them with air temp and dampness, plus pay attention to the wind direction, and you should see better results.
LD
