I just hunted this past opening weekend in MN. Didn't do so well as previous years. All of the trails we were on were covered in tracks and the trail cam had deer on it every day. Got up there Friday evening and went out to put the seat foams on our stands and bow hangers up, while doing so we heard a wolf howling in the distance. Obviously not good, but there were still fresh deer track around. We were hunting Saturday under a waxing gibbous with a moonrise/set of 5:08pm and 3:11am. Sunrise/set was 6:53am and 7:17 pm. We had three guys sitting the morning and evenings on Saturday and Sunday and didn't see a single deer. One did see a bear opener morning at 7:15. Can anyone tell me if the moon conditions had the deer moving during the afternoon or late at night? How do i go about planning my hunt around the moon conditions? I was just puzzled because we have shot deer opening weekend every year that I can remember. Thanks and sorry for the long post.
Jeff Murray has an excellent moon guide and predicted movement. I always see the best movements on rising moons and the darkest days around new moons. The second full moon of the autumn equinox is usually when rut kicks off, although the moon is crucial, wind and temperature are just as equal! If you get an awesome cold front and the right wind then depending on the time of year i would setup outside of bedding. Alot goes into playing the moon, if its Oct. stick close but just outside the bedding and look for good buck sign, then when the wind and rising moon is right dive in. The biggest mistake i see people make is hunting to hunt, and not doing any scouting during season. If your just hoping a big buck walks thru an area your prob doing more harm than good by constantly hunting it. IMO go in when the conditions are good for him and ok for you and usually you will be successful. Good luck this year bud!
I agree, there is alot of truth to moon phases, best activity and feeding times, but like what rutin said, you must pay attention to the other factors nature throws at us, like weather and so forth!
Correct, usually on full moons its like having the sun out at night for them. So theres no need to rush out and eat or move before it gets dark bc the moon acts like a spotlight. If your getting alot of pics on ur cam on a trail but there at 15 mins before sun down and you just want to kill a doe then i would go 100 yards back where there coming from in the transition area and post up that way you have plenty of light for a shot
ok, think thats a possibility of why we didn't see anything? Both nights the moon was high and bright.
