Full Moon effect..?

[Captcurt]

Back when I worked maintenance second shift I would see 4 or 5 times as many deer on the road during a full moon than I would during a new moon. It was a 45 minute drive and I drove home at midnight. I have also noticed that I see more deer movement midday when the moon is full. My last 2 good bucks were shot around noon.

 

[Savage30L]

I don't know if this would work for y'all up north, but in the south, a full moon in the fall is a dandy time to catch fish in the middle of the night....try it, if you haven't.

Also, try hunting at noon at the full moon.

 

[Masonlaw1]

Deer do tend to feed and move more at night when there is a full moon. They also move to bedding areas and cover earlier. But they are still in their territory. They don't have caves to hide in. They sometimes move during the day. The people I hunt with like to only hunt to 9 AM, then again after 3:30 or 4 in the evening. And they like to all move to stands together. I have shot many deer during the day when I hunted alone. This year I went to my stand about two PM and shot a deer before anyone else even got out. I told them you can't shoot your deer sitting on the couch.

Interestingly, multiple people in this thread postulated moon phase had nothing to do with deer activity and here we have someone who matter of factly with only anecdotal experience says it does. Data folks, we need data. Which is why the Pennsylvania study is interesting

 

[d2wing]

Interestingly, multiple people in this thread postulated moon phase had nothing to do with deer activity and here we have someone who matter of factly with only anecdotal experience says it does. Data folks, we need data. Which is why the Pennsylvania study is interesting

I trust my own observations over many years. but like I said, I don't give up on hunting because of minor effects. The deer are still in their territories.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Data folks, we need data.

Well, virtually nobody gathers data. They tend to make observations over time without actually recording the events in real time or near real time...because they aren't particularly posterior retentive. They tend to note when things fit a preconceived pattern and don't give it, or confirmation bias, much of a 2nd thought. We all do this with various topics throughout our lives, so I am not fault-finding the lack of rigorous record keeping, but I have been through this process with hogs and solunar periods. Hog hunters are as divided on this as deer hunters. In all, I think I gathered 21 months of hunting data form 2019 and 2020 that I summarized here...

Solunar Correlation Hog Hunting Results: 2019 & 2020

I know some hunters live and hunt by solunar tables. If so, my results may not fit your paradigm Years ago when I got into hunting, I was looking for anything to help increase my success with hogs. I learned about the solunar tables and major and minor peak periods when animals were most apt...

www.thehighroad.org

Basically, what I found was that solunar peaks comprise approximately 1/4 of each day and slightly less than 1/4 of my hog observations were during peak periods. 3/4 of the time was during non peak periods and strangely enough, slightly over 3/4 of the hog observations were during non-peak hours. In other words, it was pretty much random and neither peak or non-peak hours made any difference. There was a difference in favor of non-peak period hunting, but the difference was only slight and was NOT statistically significant.

 

[rdnktrkr]

When I was in a hunting club I had an electric golf cart I used and would stay at camp and clean up, get dinner ready for the grill, sit around drinking coffee, whatever until about 9:00 or so then go get in my blind and be setup before everyone started coming out for lunch, I would see a lot of deer and I think they were moving because of everyone moving around on 4 wheelers and trucks. I think before a weather change made a bigger change than the moon the way I liked to hunt.

 

[Hugger-4641]

If you want to track down the sources these guys used, feel free.
Personally, I agree with thier statement that deer are individuals. I've noticed in some areas I hunt that deer are more active at night and at mid day during a full moon and I'm less likely to catch them moving from food to bedding areas at day break. Other areas where there is less hunting pressure it doesn't seem to matter.

https://www.bowhunter.com/editorial/does-moon-phase-affect-deer-movement/368567#:~:text=GPS%20data%20from%20current%20biological,moon%20phase%20and%20deer%20movement.

 

[entropy]

I don't know about deer, but I've shot more than a few coyotes during a full moon.

 

[wombat13]

wombat, the study has completely 10 years and 1200 deer studied and it ongoing. They apparently released more up to date data, but the folks that seem to be talking about it don't seem to have an original citation and I haven't found one yet...but there is supposedly more data available. Of course, it is going to be somewhat geo-specific

You're probably already aware of this, but the study has a webpage, blog, etc. I've just started looking at it. www.deer.psu.edu

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I don't know about deer, but I've shot more than a few coyotes during a full moon.

I am sure you have!

--------------------

I was speaking to a buddy of mine about full moon and hogs and he swore that hogs were more active during a full moon. My buddy didn't use NV or thermal. That got me to thinking about his hunting success and I chatted with him some more and what I learned is that his full moon patterning of hog behavior was more of a full moon patterning of his hunting. First, he can see a whole lot better during a full moon than during lesser brightness nights. So if he can see better, his chances of getting hogs increases. Also, he didn't hunt a lot of nights that didn't have a full moon. When I asked why, he said, "Because I don't see many hogs on nights when there isn't a full moon." Go figure. So he only tended to hunt when there were very bright moons or full moons with clear skies and not hunt when it was cloudy or when the moon wasn't bright or full. Unbeknownst to him, his sampling was hugely biased and that influenced his assessment of hog behavior.

 

[sage5907]

I don't know about you guys but I'm going to go hunting whether the moon is full or not. But there are other things that you need to think about when dealing with a full moon. First, the moon comes up later every night so you usually don't have a full moon both in the morning and evening. Animals tend to look for cover earlier in the morning when the moon is bright and they come out closer to dark in the evening when the moon is bright. Rather than being that concerned about the moon a better choice is to hunt only with the wind in your face and avoid letting letting animals see you when you move around. And there are two other factors that are equally important. First, the best time to hunt your favorite spot is directly after a 15 or 20 degree drop in temperature. For example, if the temperature is 70 day after day and it quickly drops to 50 that is the time to go. And, watch for a rising barometer. When the barometric pressure rises over 32 it is time to go hunting. So, if it is hot, the wind is not favorable, and the barometer is below 30 go to your worst hunting spots. If the wind direction is right to hide your scent, and you have a 20 degree temperature drop and a rising barometer over 31 go to your best hunting spots.

 

[jmorris]

I watch the cows. They seem to do the same things as other animals running around. If they are laying down, I might as well be doing something productive. Doesn't get much more local than that.

Once the grass goes dormant, that goes out the window, because we are feeding the cattle and everything else is chasing acorns and anything else they can find to consume, even if it takes all night.

 

[Hookeye]

Kill most of my deer between 10 am and 2 pm.
Late Oct through mid Nov.

 

[Hugger-4641]

Kill most of my deer between 10 am and 2 pm.
Late Oct through mid Nov.

This just supports my thought that deer are individuals. Looking back through my trail camera pictures from two different locations this year, I only have a couple between 10am and 2pm. Both of these stands have delivered a couple deer each already. The majority of daylight pics are early morning and late afternoon. One location has a ton of night pics but the other has very few. The one with very few night pics is deep in the woods on top of a ridge that borders a swamp.
The one with a lot of night pics is a few hundred yards from a road, horse pastures, and a few houses.

 

[sage5907]

I made a mistake when I posted earlier about barometric pressure affecting deer movement. I should have said that the most predictable deer movement occurs when the barometer readings are above 30.00 and higher up toward 30.50. I've been posting the readings each day on a calendar and when I pull my camera cards about every three weeks I look at the pictures and I check to see the dates when the deer activity is the highest and then I compare that activity to the barometer reading for that particular day. I just did this for the month of January and sure enough on January 15th when the barometer reading was 30.48 there was a mass of deer activity. Doe usually travel in family groups during the fall but this time of year here in Oklahoma these family groups tend to mix with other family groups and travel in larger groups back and forth to the feed sources. That is what I saw on January 15th when the barometer was so high.

 

[Mercy Me]

I believe that deer eyesite in the dark is so good it don't mean crap.

 

[sage5907]

I believe that deer eyesite in the dark is so good it don't mean crap.

What are you talking about? I think you must have been replying to the original post about the full moon.

 

[buck460XVR]

I watch the cows. They seem to do the same things as other animals running around. If they are laying down, I might as well be doing something productive. Doesn't get much more local than that.

...yep, same here. Same goes for when the hawks are hunting. Those days I see a lot of Raptors out and hunting, I generally see more game animals than usual. Same goes for fishing. Then onset of rut is not influenced at all by moon phase, altho some believe it does affect rutting buck movement. The onset of rut is based by photoperiodism - changes in the amount of sunlight as the days grow shorter. Thus, the onset of rut in any given areas is always almost to the day every year, regardless of moon phase. As far as the full moon and deer activity, here's a great article......https://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsession/blogs/cuzs-corner/the-effect-moon-phase-has-on-hunting-deer

 

[Double Naught Spy]

What are you talking about?

I believe he is taking the perspective that moon phase pertains to how much illumination is available which impacts their movements. People believe that deer are more active in a fuller or brighter moon because the deer feel safer because they can see better than they can without a moon. When they feel safer, they are out and in the open more often than when they feel insecure and bed down more or hide in the woods more. There is some more to the argument that I recall this old guy telling me at the Dairy Queen in St. Jo, Texas, and why he only hunts to the full moon...which I found really interesting because I swear I think he was talking about poaching. So people believe illumination affects movement. So what he is saying is that they see so well in the dark as it is, the difference in illumination doesn't matter.

 

[sage5907]

I watch the cows. They seem to do the same things as other animals running around. If they are laying down, I might as well be doing something productive. Doesn't get much more local than that.

I also agree with jmorris, My dad taught me when I was very small to pay attention to the cows. If the cows are up and around most other animals are up and around. If the cows are all looking the same direction it's good to see what they're looking at because they will likely see movement before you do. And if you're going deer hunting and you see mice and rabbits on the road in the head lights the deer also moving around. One bad sign is to see deer on the road in the dark because they are most likely on their way to bed while it is still dark. That means very little movement after daylight.

 

[sage5907]

I believe he is taking the perspective that moon phase pertains to how much illumination is available which impacts their movements. So people believe illumination affects movement. So what he is saying is that they see so well in the dark as it is, the difference in illumination doesn't matter.

Have you ever noticed though, that if you see a deer in the early morning twilight or in the evening in the failing light when it is still light enough for you to see they will be afraid and run like hell. But if you shine a light on a deer in the full dark they will be unafraid and not break into a run to get away. Deer act different when it is full dark.

 

[Hugger-4641]

Have you ever noticed though, that if you see a deer in the early morning twilight or in the evening in the failing light when it is still light enough for you to see they will be afraid and run like hell. But if you shine a light on a deer in the full dark they will be unafraid and not break into a run to get away. Deer act different when it is full dark.

Not true around here. In town, yes, they will stand there and look at your headlights with no concern. Out in fields they high tail if light hits them for more than a few seconds.

 

[troy fairweather]

Have you ever noticed though, that if you see a deer in the early morning twilight or in the evening in the failing light when it is still light enough for you to see they will be afraid and run like hell. But if you shine a light on a deer in the full dark they will be unafraid and not break into a run to get away. Deer act different when it is full dark.

There just not morning deer.

 

[md7]

I’ve only started to log details for hunting this year.

Shot an 8 point on 12/25 and 10 point on 12/26 this season less than 24 hours apart. Waxing Gibbous moon phase with 93% and 98% illumination respectively. Very close to full moon illumination.

Who know what that means, though. Can confirm the 8 point was full on chasing and the 10 point stunk to high heavens. Maybe they had mating on the mind to the point that all bets were off?

Can also confirm that late December to early January in these parts are times I see a lot of rut activity, historically speaking.

Bottom line, I have no clue about deer and the moon and I’m hunting regardless of moon phase if possible.

 

[jmorris]

Have you ever noticed though, that if you see a deer in the early morning twilight or in the evening in the failing light when it is still light enough for you to see they will be afraid and run like hell.

Pressure, seems to be a huge driver we have had them follow us as we were baiting for pigs...

Baiting the hog trap

www.youtube.com

...but there is very little pressure on the deer at our place. We have had to stop shooting long range when they walk out into the lane.

Like lots of things, a number of contributing factors.