Do you believe that the moon plays a big part in deer activity times?

Seems to me that I usually see more activity on the days that the moon guide tells me I should.

I plan my precious vacation days around the full moon in November, and usually get to at least see some nice bucks. I buy into the theory.

 

Well I could go on and on with this topic and trust me I have but for the short version , yes the moon definitely plays a role in a whitetails activities. To what extent and will we ever fully understand it, now that's not so definite. The moon is a light source, deer have specific glands in their bodies that detect or are impacted by changes/intensity of light(either daylight/photoperiod or moonlight). On blacked out nights such as the new moon week and for the record we are starting to come out of a new moon week right now (Oct 16-22 with Oct 18th being the actual new moon night) the melatonin output of whitetails from the pineal gland is greatly increased. Melatonin is linked to higher testosterone levels in bucks and higher estrogen levels in does. We all know what that means, so in short if you can go hunting between now and the beginning of November any day, I would go.

Also take a look at the Moon Rise/Set Times for that week. There is no moon at night because during that week the moon rises during the day and sets just before or shortly after sunset. So very dark nights, for the most part. Look up the moon is out right now it should be overhead between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. this afternoon.

RISE SET
Oct 16, 2009 5:33 AM 5:22 PM
Oct 17, 2009 6:42 AM 5:52 PM
Oct 18, 2009 7:51 AM 6:24 PM
Oct 19, 2009 8:58 AM 7:01 PM
Oct 20, 2009 10:04 AM 7:43 PM
Oct 21, 2009 11:05 AM 8:31 PM
Oct 22, 2009 12:00 Noon 9:24 PM

 

i find during a full moon deer move early in the day and not just before dark like the normal pattern.seems like here in the midwest Halloween is the start of the magic ten days then i just hunt trails leading to and from doe bedding areas and do pretty good.

 

I have been keeping records for over 6yrs now and with the help of trail cameras all I can say is that on our property the answer is a big yes. That and over all weather conditions also play into the picture. deerman

 

You know what your problem is? You don't have your BK hat on!

 

hi deerman69, so with your trail cams can you tell us if the deer movement times were? i see movement during the full moon about three hours earlier in the day and very little at near normal peak eve movement time how about you,

thanks for any imput.

 

I pay attention to the moon alot. It's seemed to work for me over the years hunting and fishing.