I've hunted more hours then life should allow. Just when I think I "may" have something figgered out, WHAM, Just hunt when you can. As a side note, yep, I DO believe there are some factors like moon,temps,snow,wind,rain, barometric pressure that help, it ,ay take (several) favorable conditions for it to all come together?
Ever since I picked up a bow I followed what Charles Alsheimer had to say about the moon. That guys knowledge of whitetails was amazing. I can't say I have enough experience to truly identify a correlation to the moon and activity/rut. But, when Alsheimer said it would be a good day to be in the woods I was doing whatever I could to get my butt in the stand.
deer are live animals. they eat, sleep, drink, and breed. moon phases probably do influence some movement, with that said, when they get hungry, get the urge to breed etc, they do it, regardless of the moon
I have found that they feed earlier on a bright (full) moon. That is why I tend to hunt mid day on a full moon. They are already in their core area well before daylight most of the time. When the rut hits everything goes out the door!
I seem to always consult moon sign when heading out. My grandpa did everything by the Almanac right down to cutting the lawn. Whether its true or not, who knows but we all need something to believe in and if it gets a hunter excited and helps to get them into the woods then it has done its job whether its true or not.
I see this with elk. When there is a full moon they just don't leave heavy cover during legal shooting light. They don't come out into the clear cuts to feed until it's already dark and they are back in heavy cover by the time its light the next morning. The two main things that hamper an elk season for us is a bright moon and/or hot weather. They just go completely nocturnal and it makes for some tough hunting. Best things I've seen create a good day to be in the elk woods is the first frosty morning of September or a cool rainy day after it hasn't rained in quite a while. For whitetail the best kind of condition I try to never miss getting out and hunting is after there's been 3 or more days of steady rain. The morning of the day that the rainy weather breaks is a fabulous morning to see a ton of movement.
I was going to suggest the same thing. I have learned more by using Weather Underground than anything else. I used it just this morning. When I pull my SD cards and I see daylight movement of bucks, I can go to Weather Underground and see what was going on at that time. (Wind Direction, Barometric Pressure and so on.) It's a great tool. I bought the Moon Guide once, 2018, before there was an app for it and it was no help for me. I am sure others have had better luck with it.
I wanna know what a red moon is. Their website videos say hunt the red moon but cant find a thing on the web about it.
And when I tried to figure out what the red moon was, I always end up reading about the blood moon. The blood moon only happens like twice in a hunting season. I dunno.
Been using this for hunting and fishing for years. Love it. I'm a big fan of the barometric pressure/weather. It's nice for sunrise/sunset as well too.
My take on hunting the moon is sort of a combination of moon phase and where the moon is. These are just my thoughts on what I’ve observed, so feel free to agree, disagree or just take it with a grain of salt. Hunting the full moon and the new moon, in my opinion, is pretty much based on moonlight. On a full moon night the deer’s world is brightly lit at night and they move and feed more freely and then go back to their bedding area earlier. I don’t know if they just get thirsty, hungry or whatever but they move more mid-day during a full moon. During a new moon the nights are dark. Sure, deer can see in the dark but the more light the better they can see. I believe they move more slowly and cautiously during a new moon and therefore tend to move earlier in the evening and later in the morning to take advantage of better lit feeding opportunities. I mentioned the position of the moon. Based on personal experience I’m a firm believer in the fact that deer tend to move better when the moon is overhead or underfoot. A couple of years ago my son in law and I were sitting in camp. The moon was supposed to be directly underfoot at about 2:15 pm. We got ready and headed out with my brother kind of scoffing at us for heading out so early. I shot my buck at 2:05 and my son in law had a shot at a giant at 3:00. I have no idea what makes the deer move when the moon is overhead or underfoot, but I’ve learned to pay attention to it. I agree with everyone who said that during the rut the deer are going to move anyway, but if you have a new moon during the rut it gets even better and I’ll sit all day. I’ll also do my best to be on stand when the moon is overhead or underfoot during daylight hours. I always keep in mind though that “weather trumps all”. I know lots of folks think hunting the moon is silly. That’s fine. I’ll keep on doing it because it definitely works for me.
So says the guy that holds the record for most deer killed in single contest. I wonder if he knows what he is talking about... I completely agree. I first noticed it a few years ago on an elk hunt. The full moon was smack dab in the middle of the hunt for three days. Early mornings were dead and bulls were bugling like crazy from 11a -3p then shut up for the last few hours of daylight. I have found it holds true with deer as well the last few years.
I kind of had to chuckle at a thought I just had. Most of us spend all kinds of money on stuff we hope will give us a slight edge on the deer and the weather conditions. I know I do. I have no idea if half of it works either. Since I will do dang near anything to see more deer during season, free info about moon position is fine with me and I'll lump it in with the rest of my tools. Sent from my SM-G781V using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
The super new moon is on November 4th this year, Ill be arriving in camp in NW Missouri that day. I will be doing all day hunts from the 5th thru the 10th hoping for a toad to step out within bow range. Ive been studying the moon times for that week and feel that the first few days should be My best chance . But as Little Chief said it will also depend on the weather. All I can do is pray for a good cold front and rutting bucks.
Or just pray that what happened last year doesn’t happen. It got hot and the deer all but stopped moving. @cantexian and @Ridgerunner3 were there for it. Bu the way, where in NW Missouri are you headed to this year?
Ill be hunting Worth Co with Cody and Dave at NW Missouri outfitters. , I was there for the first week of November last fall and it was a tad bit warm , I saw a lot of deer but the Mature bucks were not moving much during daylight hours.
Farmers almanac says November 19 is the Full Beaver Moon. Wonder what activity that phase will bring.
