Moon guide

[PSE Shooter18]

Worth the money? What's the pros and cons. Do any of yall use it?

 

[ZachMarkus]

Yes sir, I'm a firm believer in hunting the "red moon" i have found on the red moon days mature bucks are on their feet more during daylight hours. This is based on stand sightings and trail camera consensus. It's not about the moon phases it's about the gravitational pull of the moon during those days.

https://moonguide.com/store/


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[scn]

Worth the money? What's the pros and cons. Do any of yall use it?

I tried to believe in it once upon a time. However, there has been pretty good statistical analysis of the moon phase bs that indicates the moon phase charts are pretty hokey. I'm not sure if the same research has been done on the moon underfoot/overhead stuff.

Definitely not worth the money IMO.

 

[WTM]

its the solunar major and minor periods and particularly moon rise and set times you want to look at. the moon phase business doesnt play a roll, except during a full moon night which probably due more to the amount of night time light projected from the moon. there has been research done for both deer and fish movement and feeding during these times and of all the research ive read, there is something to it, at least the studies that use gps collars instead of daytime sightings.

here is one study that is fairly comprehensive and take note of what they found in the problems with most solunar calendars:

http://www.rnr.lsu.edu/bret/BretWebSite ... an2016.pdf

BUT, you also have to adjust for environmental factors such as weather, hunting pressure, etc. which can affect deer movement. the same goes for fishing. mr mann from the infisherman staff completed a study that involved over 10k hours of his personal fishing data. what he found was, "He found that catch rates were significantly higher on the Major +1 (the hour following the midpoint of solunar majors); the following hour (Major +2); the Minor hour; and the following hour (Minor +1). He ran statistical tests on these results and found that they were highly significant, meaning that the chances that these results were random were slight." but he also found that solunar activity did not matter during the spawn and during winter months when fish were feeding less, both environmental factors. one theory as it pertains to fishing is that invertebrate movement is higher during these times such as it has been observed in oysters.

 

[infoman jr.]

I've had my best evening hunts when the moon is visible. I wouldn't say that the moon influences when or where I hunt, but it can change my expectations.

 

[Mike Belt]

If you believe in the moon phase theories then by all means hunt accordingly. I believe most of that hype to be just that; hype. The only part I believe in is a full moon directly overhead just past mid day. I've seen more early afternoon deer movement on those days but only with crisp temperatures in the 35-45 degree range.

 

[Andy S.]

Not a believer at all, science debunks the moon myths about timing of estrus, breeding, etc. With that said, if I could hunt the highly cherished low pressure spots that Adam Hayes hunts, I might believe anything. Just know the areas and the deer he hunts is nothing like the 100% wild deer the majority of us hunt. Adam purchased the rights to Jeff Murray's moon guide when Jeff died and tripled the price of the guide. All of the moon phase information contained within the guide can be found on the internet with a simple Google search. My .02

 

[WTM]

i woulnt buy that "moon guide", not for that money. the app below does the exact same thing, for free, and 3 bucks for the pro version that allows more than one day in advance. it uses solunar position and not moon phases as outlined in the 2016 study posted above. like andy s. and myself stated, during breeding, weather and other environmental factors its not as predictive. during an early bow season or late december or january hunt, it might be more effective. that said i wouldnt use it solely to pick days to hunt. i use it for fishing mainly.

https://apko.org/apps/fishing-hunting-s ... 2-6-2-apk/

 

[MUP]

Been hunting for years by the moon, sorta. When the moon is out, I don't hunt, when the sun comes out and the moon disappears, I hunt. It has worked pretty well for me over the years. Seriously, IMO you can't replace time in the woods, hunting smart that is, paying attention to the wind direction and scent control. That's about all I do.

 

[Dully]

Just go hunting!

 

[poorhunter]

Been hunting for years by the moon, sorta. When the moon is out, I don't hunt, when the sun comes out and the moon disappears, I hunt. It has worked pretty well for me over the years. Seriously, IMO you can't replace time in the woods, hunting smart that is, paying attention to the wind direction and scent control. That's about all I do.

:tu:

 

[mattmillard510]

Andy is right. I do believe there could be something to the overhead/underfoot times but the environmental factors (especially hunting pressure) make it hard to fairly evaluate it. The same information can be had for free though. I look at it but it doesn't change anything for me

If Jeff Murray still had it, I would say buy it and support him since it's such a small


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[knightrider]

Just hunt when and as much as you can! It's pretty simple

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Im with zach on this, moon distance (in miles) from the earth is more influential than the phase. However, I dont know what exactly a "red moon" is.

 

[duckriver]

I've had my best evening hunts when the moon is visible. I wouldn't say that the moon influences when or where I hunt, but it can change my expectations.

Agreed. Especially the super moon early November

 

[dhpro]

Yes it does except when the the rutt us in full swing then sometime there movement and where you see them have no ryme or reason

 

[Remington700]

I really think a lot of it depends on hunting pressure. Deer tend to move more at night if pressure is high.

 

[Andy S.]

I really think a lot of it depends on hunting pressure. Deer tend to move more at night if pressure is high.

Your are dead on. You cannot compare highly pressured wild deer, to mildly pressured wild deer, to highly tolerant yard deer. It is asinine to even you think you are comparing apples to apples considering the vast differences between those three categories, and that is oversimplifying the subject a ton.

 

[double browtine]

I tried using some of the free online solunar charts a few times during rifle season one year. I would always try to be in the stand at least an hour before the peak times started. I remember only one time, I saw it to be accurate. I was walking a field edge of a large field with two winter wheat plots on the way to my stand. It was 1pm. The chart said peak activity started at 2pm. I spotted deer bedded in the broomsage adjacent to the plot about 300 yards away down hill from the stand I was going to hunt. There was also a plot directly in front of my stand. I was able to sneak in the woods and then get into my stand undetected. At a few minutes after 2pm the does got up and fed for about an hour, then headed off to the timber. Around 4pm more does entered the field in the same plot from the the opposite direction the other deer had left the field. Didn't see a buck till 445. It got dark at 500.

My philosophy is, hunt as much as you can, when you can, and make sure the wind is right for your setup. Washing your clothes and yourself in scent free soaps helps, but that wise old doe is still going to bust you, so kill all those old does when you get the chance.

 

[JDBinTN]

Yes sir, I'm a firm believer in hunting the "red moon" i have found on the red moon days mature bucks are on their feet more during daylight hours. This is based on stand sightings and trail camera consensus. It's not about the moon phases it's about the gravitational pull of the moon during those days.

https://moonguide.com/store/


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I can say that I have one buck who follows it to a T or at least he did last year according to trail cams, I have plans of hunting him according to "Red Moon" days this year

 

[Kirk]

In past years I used the Dan Barnett Feeding Times calendar and had mixed results. Now that I have more vacation time I do't have to be as picky and just go when I want to.

 

[Andy S.]

My philosophy is, hunt as much as you can, when you can, and make sure the wind is right for your setup. Washing your clothes and yourself in scent free soaps helps, but that wise old doe is still going to bust you, so kill all those old does when you get the chance.

Very well said.