full moon hunting

[Kritter Gitter]

Just wondering some opinions. How do your adjust hunting, if any when there is a full moon?

 

[landman]

If I had a choice it evenings over mornings
and if possible I go in at 1pm

 

[156p&y]

I'd rather hunt a full moon more than any other. I just hunt the same

 

[szuliman1]

If I know there's a good buck in the area I hunt all day.

 

[Nealmeally]

I hunt the same. Never saw a big change in activity during a full moon. I think it's just another excuse for not being where the deer are moving, therefore hunters aren't seeing anything.. Then the old saying comes.... "dang moon got em messed up"...

 

[Kritter Gitter]

i am purty sure u gotta wait till daylight just like any othjer day

I agree. Good one!

 

[AllOutdoors]

i am purty sure u gotta wait till daylight just like any othjer day

I agree. Good one!

Yep!

 

[catman529]

it sure makes walking into the woods nice

 

[UTGrad]

Saturday morning the moon will be over head at 4:44 am CST. It's going to be absolutely beautiful walking into the stand under an almost full moon Saturday morning. Can't wait...those are some of the best memories ever.

 

[Mike Belt]

It kills me when I hear because of a full moon the deer could see better and fed all night and were laid up by dawn. Deer see perfectly well with no moon.

...Off to take a moonlight stroll in another 5 minutes...

 

[Winchester]

I kinda like a full moon myself, especially in Nov. Seems to make mid day movement even better than normal this time of year.

 

[BONE-HEAD]

I hunt the same but if only hunting evening I try go in around 12

 

[whistlinwingman]

I'd rather hunt a full moon more than any other. I just hunt the same

Me too.

 

[bowriter]

Love me a full moon. It has almost no affect on the deer and it makes the werewolves a lot more active. Say, how do you spell wherewolves? Is it wairwolves? Maybe wearwolves?

Seriously, two of the biggest bucks I have ever killed with bow, I killed on full moon mornings. With one, it was also 98-degrees that day. One, I shot at 7:30 a.m. The other at 8:20.

Short answer, I don't adjust a thing except my underwear.

 

[bowriter]

Saturday morning the moon will be over head at 4:44 am CST. It's going to be absolutely beautiful walking into the stand under an almost full moon Saturday morning. Can't wait...those are some of the best memories ever.

If I go Sat., that will be just about an hour before I walk in. But aint it post to rain Saturday? If so, I aint going. Sunday looks pretty good.

 

[jlmustain]

It's surely impossible to say whether or not the full moon matters. Way too many hunters for way too long have noted that there IS a difference. And way too many hunters for way too long have noticed there ISN'T a difference. There's no reason do act as if there's a fact on either side of the discussion when there's no evidence to support one or the other.

What's more important than "the moon matters" or "the moon doesn't matter" is what you've gathered in your own scouting on the land you'll be hunting. I have one spot on which the so lunar major/minor times have been spot on almost all season. I have another field on which I can't even trust the wind predictions, much less the solunar calendar.

 

[stalkndeer]

I pretty much hunt the same, it just seems wrong somehow to be going into the woods later than usual. I saw 6 does and 2 small bucks around 8am. Putting the moon issue to the side. I hunt because i love to hunt. My passion doesnt change with the moon. I enjoy getting up early having my coffee. I love the night walk into the stand and watching the sun peak over the trees. I think we all love those moments thats why we do it.

 

[benellivol]

I've noticed a lot more movement betweent 9 am and 1 pm on full moons. I don't have any scientific reason for it, it's just been years of hunting and watching.

 

[bowriter]

It's surely impossible to say whether or not the full moon matters. Way too many hunters for way too long have noted that there IS a difference. And way too many hunters for way too long have noticed there ISN'T a difference. There's no reason do act as if there's a fact on either side of the discussion when there's no evidence to support one or the other.

What's more important than "the moon matters" or "the moon doesn't matter" is what you've gathered in your own scouting on the land you'll be hunting. I have one spot on which the so lunar major/minor times have been spot on almost all season. I have another field on which I can't even trust the wind predictions, much less the solunar calendar.

Actually there is. IA, DNR did night surveys over a two month period 8-10 years ago. They went out every night, shining fields and counting deer. Found no variance between no moon and full moon in terms of deer nocturnal feeding. However, weather did affect numbers. Richard Bishop, then head of the DNR, showed the figures to Stan Potts and I. I do not know if it was ever published since they did count at the same time they were looking for poachers.

As to time of day deer feed, no way to attribute any variance to the moon. Can't prove the moon did or did not change times. For several years, I was convinced they fed somewhat later in the morning on a full moon. I have since revised my thinking to thety may perhaps feed earlier in the afternoon. As far as my hunting times, I have changed nothing and my kill figures have remained about the same in terms of time spent and deer killed.

 

[jlmustain]

I agree with that last sentence. A two month period of spotlighting in Iowa a decade ago is valuable, but inconclusive. The variables--hunting season, herd patterns, pressure, etc.--are too many to make blanket statements on either side. Most studies are used to say that moon doesn't matter when really they seem to point to our inability to know one way or another.

It works for me on one field, but not on another.