Moon Phases and Blactail/Muley Activity

[MighteyWhiteHunter]

Has anyone ever noticed a correlation between the phases of the moon and deer activity during the day or night? It seems to me that there is something there because I have noticed deer being active in the evenings for time leading up to the full moon and then after the full moon they seem to be more active in the early mornings. Is there any truth to that or does anyone else have an opinion on it?

[kcebcj]

I have never done any actual research on the movements of mule and black tail deer during the moon phases but have been hunting both for 45+ years and live on a very remote ranch with mule deer and elk all around and can tell you that it’s much better to hunt each in the black of the moon than any other time. If you draw a late tag (mule deer) and the weather is crappy it does not seem to matter and also when the rut is on it doesn’t seem to come into play as much but does somewhat. If I’m going to travel anywhere in the west to hunt the first thing I check is the moon and plan the trip accordingly.

If you like to jump shoot deer than the moon does not matter as your jumping them in their beds any way. If you are hunting long range and want a few more minutes at daylight and at dusk when animals are moving the moon plays an important role. At least in my world it does.

One other thing. Deer and elk are very active the 24 hours before a major storm moves in to an area. You will find them feeding all through the day and night regardless of the moon phase.

[Eaglet]

Originally Posted by kcebcj

I have never done any actual research on the movements of mule and black tail deer during the moon phases but have been hunting both for 45+ years and live on a very remote ranch with mule deer and elk all around and can tell you that it’s much better to hunt each in the black of the moon than any other time. If you draw a late tag (mule deer) and the weather is crappy it does not seem to matter and also when the rut is on it doesn’t seem to come into play as much but does somewhat. If I’m going to travel anywhere in the west to hunt the first thing I check is the moon and plan the trip accordingly.

If you like to jump shoot deer than the moon does not matter as your jumping them in their beds any way. If you are hunting long range and want a few more minutes at daylight and at dusk when animals are moving the moon plays an important role. At least in my world it does.

One other thing. Deer and elk are very active the 24 hours before a major storm moves in to an area. You will find them feeding all through the day and night regardless of the moon phase.

I heard about moon phases when I was growing up. My grand father would used it all the time for hunting, fishing, and to cut the cockscomb off of
the fighting roosters; this took place in Nicaragua, which back then and still today it's legal. My grand father believed that the rooster would bleed a whole lot less if it was done en the right moon phase. As I became a grown up, I kind of thought it was silly but the last 2 years, using my GPS hunting hours which are based on moon phases we planed our hunts. It proved to work since in 2006 and 2007 together our group got 9 animals; one Elk, one Antelope, and 7 deer. What kcebcj is saying is pretty much right on the money.


The screenshots above are from my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx.

Also, when hunting I pay attention to the cattle in open pastures, if the cattle are laying down don't waste your time throwing the fishing hook in the water nor expecting wild life to be feeding.

[silvertip-co]

Always hunt after the full moon. When moons on increase the dang coyotes cougars and bigfootts make so darn much noise all night long you cant sleep. And the deer and elk disappear during the day when moons increasing. ALso if you ever put a new roof on your house do it on decrease as if you do it on increase the moon will pull the roofing nails right out.

[Freebore]

I have noticed that during the full moon here in Pa. I see activity during the mid-day time not alot but enough that I only go hunting from about 9-10am till dark and forget about the am as they are in their beds by 5am.
Although alot depends on hunters in the woods too. Here I'm talking bow season, gun season all bets are off if you hunt pressured areas which here its the dang state.
I'm talking about eastern whitetails here.

[royinidaho]

My studies/experience show kcebj's post to be accurate.

After full moon - nothing.
During heavy weather - nothing. Unless you're ambushing a feeding/bedding spot.

Spot on with the laying down cows.

I watch the yard bunnies, pheasants and quail. The problem with that is you are sitting at home watching bunnies when you should have already been in the woods.

The so lunar tables have proven not very effective for my.

[MontanaRifleman]

For elk, I plan my early season bow hunting (during the rut) around the moon. Sept is still a warm time of year in Montana and the elk lay low in the heat and and get active during cooler periods such as night and bad weather. They seem to be more active at night during the full or almost full moon phases and a little more active during the day during the new moon phase depending on day time heat.

For deer, I plan the hunt for the rut, from about mid Nov to late Nov. I don't think the moon factors much then in these parts. Good weather is good hunting all day, especially for mulies, and bad weather is bad hunting, especially high winds. There have been days I have seen well over a hundred deer a day in good weather in Nov and nothing on cold windy days in the same place.

I think location and enviromental factors play a big role. Hunting in Alabama will be different than hunting in Montana which will be different than hunting in Arizona.

I think the biggest factors in order are probably, Rut, Weather and Monn phase.