I don't believe that the moon has anything to do with "triggering" the rut or anything like that. For the most part the rut will hit the same time from year to year and many studies have all but proven this. But, I've always been under the impression that deer would move more at night during a full or bigger moon. Last year Novembers full moon was on the 4th and according to my trail cameras and me actually hunting I noticed way more night time activity in the days leading up to and following the full moon. I just listened to a podcast featuring Mark Drury where he said that in fact just the opposite is true. That deer will move more during the day when there is a brighter moon than they will at night. How does that make sense ?
I always see more deer on a new moon. On a full moon I hunt middle of the day only. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
"Full moon, shoot a buck at noon." Never believed it until two years ago and then it proved me wrong. I think the rut is the same time every year but even cross referencing camera pics and moonsign show that there is something to it. Plus, everybody needs some sorta trick they believe, it kinda keeps you going.
It is not the light it is the effect of the moon to the deer . Think of it as the moon effects the tide water full moon ,perigee moon, new moon as well as moon rise and moon set. all of it effect movement that I have seen over the years.
Anytime you listen to Mark Drury ask yourself, what's he selling. J/k, not really. I have heard it put a little better. In areas with higher predator populations non-predatory animals move less on full moon nights and more during the day. Whether its true or not, idk. I can only speak for myself, I use moonsign for a lot of different things and can read all the symbols in the farmers almanac bc my grandpa lived by it. To me it's something I hang onto bc I reminds me of him.
I think it influences daylight movement at all times of the year, not just the rut. I see little point it getting up for a morning hunt when the moon is full on a clear night. The deer do their rutting at night and head to bed early. Late morning into the evening can be great though. I like to sleep in during a full moon.
The rut always happens at the same time in my area, regardless of what the moon is doing. Factors such as high and low pressure systems, weather front's...warm and cold...windy and calm, hunter pressure or lack there of and moon transit...majors and minors play a BIG role in movement. I've never really noticed much difference in moon phases as it correlates to movement. But give me nice cool evening, light breeze in my face with a waxing moon straight overhead just about 45 minutes before last light....I get excited just thinking about it. I've had a many mature buck stage up under my tree in that exact scenario.
For what is worth. The Benoit’s have always said that they observe way more movement on nights that it’s dark and over cast verse the cold clear starlit and moon lit nights. I agree with them. For all practical purposes I pay zero attention to the moon. Let’s just say for the sake of conversation that is has some effect ( not that I believe it does), exactly what does it trump in terms of other variables? Is it more important then weather? Timing of the rut? Location? crepuscular activity? What I am getting at is even if has some effect it doesn’t supersede any other variables. So how exactly does it factor into our decision making? It doesn’t and it shouldn’t. But hey...we need something to talk about.
That's because I wasn't saying that moon phases have anything to do with triggering the rut. Just day time movement during the rut. I think at this point most everyone knows the rut is at the same time every year.
I don't put too much stock in moon phase, because how would it come into play with thick cloud cover?
I agree. It's probably pretty far down the list of what gets them to move, but like anything I'm sure it plays a factor. I just bring it up because if you asked 100 people if deer move more during a moonlit night or a pitch black night I bet the split would be pretty close to 50/50.
Maybe I should of called it night time brightness and not mentioned actual moon phase. Do you think deer move more at night if it's a bright night or if it's a darker night?
I think it all comes down to receptive does in a given area, if there are hot does there will be rut activity regardless of the amount of light.
I know this is a little off subject but I tend to swerve all over the place, lol. I've got roughly 25,000 trail cam photos saved from the past 15 years. This is what my cam's tell me about spike's in movement...in order...#1 darkness...#2 evening...#3 morning...#4 just before a storm front December through March...#5 just before/during a cold front October through November. #6 moon overhead and moon underfoot. Then there's combinations of the above that act as multipliers and frenzies of movement. And there's a few other factors that are known unknowns or uncontrollables, such as the first doe coming in on a ridge or the positives/negatives of when and how pressure is applied by other hunters.
I don't know how much if any the moon effects overall rut activity; but if I can help it at all I won't schedule my deercation during a full moon. Just hardly any activity in the AM.
They say the moon has an effect on the does heat cycle. In Kansas so far it had held true for full moon being the best Sent from my SM-G892A using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
