The Moon - What do we know?
- Thread starter bowhunter1023
- Start date
- 25,155
- 261
"Peak times" are figured on the rise and fall of the moon. There are three windows. An hour or two on each side of the rise and set, and an hour or two each side of when it is directly over head. The rare days (Nov 13), that the moon rises close to sunrise, and sets close to sundown you have the makings for a perfect storm in the deer world.
For anyone thinking about trying to track this stuff this season, pay attention to the days that the woods are absolutely dead too... I mean the days squirrels don't even come out to play.
For anyone thinking about trying to track this stuff this season, pay attention to the days that the woods are absolutely dead too... I mean the days squirrels don't even come out to play.
- 25,155
- 261
You're still gonna see deer, especially towards the end of the week. I just think the 13th is when every deer in the woods will be on their feet during daylight, provided we have temps under 45. I don't think they can handle the heat with that heavy coat when it's warmer than that....that is one of the things Charlie Alsheimer wrote that I agree with 100%.
JohnR and Brock are saying Nov. 13th....11-13
Oops... I thought they meant the 11-13 of this month. My bad!
that's why I teach History and Science and not reading comprehension.
Big_Holla
Senior Member
Yeah I'm not too worried, that week has some of my best hunting days in it ever and with how everything looks, moon and all, if those temps are like they are trending to be I will be juuuust fine!! LOL
rgecko23
*Supporting Member*
I'll take that day off as I have a floater, and I'll bring this back up as to what I have seen.
I'm making notes from this site http://solunarforecast.com/solunarcalendar.aspx and writing the peak times on my calendar. I'm interested in seeing what develops from this.
My plan is to compare sightings as well as trail cam pics.
My plan is to compare sightings as well as trail cam pics.
http://primetimes2.com/pages/4-astrotables.html
Try this site out. Click on the "View Best Days Animation" and check out November. It appears the 13th is balls on.
Also, check out October. Mid October seems to be the best and then later on it looks like we will be bitching about the October Lull.
Try this site out. Click on the "View Best Days Animation" and check out November. It appears the 13th is balls on.
Also, check out October. Mid October seems to be the best and then later on it looks like we will be bitching about the October Lull.
JOHNROHIO
Participation Trophy Winner
- 2,851
- 149
I guess I would have to change my statement about hunting when I can. To ,my schedule allows me to hunt a lot, and that's what I do no matter what the moon is.
JOHNROHIO
Participation Trophy Winner
- 2,851
- 149
That's all I ever do, I try to combine all the info and make heads or tails of it. I normally get aggravated with it and say fugg it and just hunt.
- 25,155
- 261
I am convince the "October Lull" is solely a product of temperature. Early in the season, deer still do not have their winter coat. It develops almost overnight, actually a progression over a couple of weeks. It dawned on me about ten years ago. I could go to KY and hunt from the first weekend in Sept. It was often in the 90's, yet the deer still moved to feed every evening. I shot a doe on opening morning in Ohio, at the time it was October 1. I had already killed a couple in KY that year and the doe I shot in Ohio was noticably different...she had about half of her winter coat coming on. It's just part of nature...they are ready for cold weather before it arrives! By the second or third week of October, they are dressed for a blizzard, yet most generally we are still having mild temperatures. Imagine if you were stuck in a snowsuit that time of year, you just wouldn't move much either till it cooled off! Well, that's my pointless thoughts on the October Lull...
You'll be fine. "They" is Brock, predicting Nov 13th to be a phenomenal day. If you follow Alsheimer's predictions, his research suggests that prime time initiates on the 2nd full moon after the autumnal equinox... sooooooo, that full moon occurs on Oct 29th... so according to Charlie the last week of October and the first week of November this year will be dynamite. By the 13th, the breeding phase could have already sunk in, and bucks could be locked down.
Moonrise/moonset be damned... I'd still bet my chips on the first week of November than the second week this year.
Brock and Ruttin pretty much hit the nail on the head. If I was a person who enjoyed typing, I would give some examples, but as of lately typing is not my favorite thing to do. Once again I will recommend MoonStuck! by Jeff Murray as well as Jeff's "Deer Hunters Moonguide". Do not get one without the other, as they work together. The book educates you, the Moon Guide ( or dial, like someone mentioned earlier ) helps you decide when and where to hunt. Like mentioned before, its scary accurate. Way too much to be learned here to read over a message board. If you are someone that wants to increase your hunting knowledge and know WHY you are seeing deer instead of just the fact that you are seeing them, buy the stuff and it will be one of the best hunting investments that you could make. Too me that's what makes a great hunter, someone who is always asking why and expanding their knowledge every year. Jeff Murrary's writings made a huge impact on how I hunt. Wish I could have met him.
Buy your things here. http://www.moonguide.com/
Buy your things here. http://www.moonguide.com/
Last edited:
By default, many deer are going to be killed the first week of November. It's pretty much a given that they will be rutting and on their feet. But if you are going solely on the phase of the moon, you are missing the complete aspect of hunting by the moon. It's not just Brock saying the 13th, its science.
ohio mossy oak
Senior Member
If you go off the tens of thousands of P & Y and Buckmaster records from the past 20 years and cross referenced them back to past moon times..You would find that a day or two leading up to(and sometime a day or two after) a full moon OR new moon seem to provided the most harvests....These same times of the moon phase seems to show that AM/PM and midday may all produce results..
Going off what I stated above I am with Brock on this.Im going to say 11-15th though.I still think anytime late oct through gun could be great(blanket statement I know)
...I am still learning about overhead an underfoot an all that,and how it might relate etc..But that is what you fellas are for.....Right?
Full moon Oct 29th.. I am planning my first all day sit for this yr for the 28th. Thoughts?
11-13 = november 13.
Going off what I stated above I am with Brock on this.Im going to say 11-15th though.I still think anytime late oct through gun could be great(blanket statement I know)
...I am still learning about overhead an underfoot an all that,and how it might relate etc..But that is what you fellas are for.....Right?
Full moon Oct 29th.. I am planning my first all day sit for this yr for the 28th. Thoughts?
Last edited:
- 25,155
- 261
Charlie's moon theory (which has merit imo), rotates solely around the rut. I personally don't care to hunt when every doe in the woods is being bred, if it is being done at night. I want to see deer, so if I could only pick one week, it would be the week the moon is most overhead during shooting hours. I know what my personal observations have shown over the last fifteen years or so. It will be interesting to see what others find.
I totally get that. And I appreciate your referral to the Moon Struck and moon guide books... I am definitely going to look for those. I'm just basing my opinions on my own personal observations over the past 10 years. (I know, that's not very long) I've been following Alsheimer's predictions, and have been hunting week-long vacations ever since. Sometimes we're a week later than he's predicted, sometimes a week earlier, sometimes right on the money. I can say this, the year's we've been a week late, the action was anything but intense. To me, it would seem like the position of the moon would be irrelevant to a buck that's locked down in a nasty thicket with a hot doe.
But truth be told, I fuggin hope you and Brock and lunar science are right this year. I'll be in North Dakota from Nov 2nd to the 10th, so that moon's going to be waiting on me when I get back!
Last edited:
There are only a select few of those "Magical" days in a hunting season when the Moon is both directly overhead and directly underfoot with a couple hours of sunrise and then again sunset. Moon overhead seems to have more of an impact then moon underfoot, but they both influence activity. The forces of nature that move the oceans tides in and back out are the same forces that cause ungulates to get on their feet and feed. It's not that hard to believe if you think about it that way. There has also been research that shows that the gravitational pull of the moon has an impact on us humans as well. Any buddy work in a prison or emergency room? If so start paying attention to the moon.
Just as with anything, there is no guarantee you see a lot of deer when hunting by the moons location. If there are no deer in your area, you probably wont see deer. If it is 100 degrees, you probably wont see deer. If a truck load of Yoders just hunted your woods, you probably wont see deer. BUT, if you know you are in a good area that has deer, and you have predetermined the best place for you to sit in relation to the moons location, your chances of seeing deer and killing deer have just increased significantly.
Just as with anything, there is no guarantee you see a lot of deer when hunting by the moons location. If there are no deer in your area, you probably wont see deer. If it is 100 degrees, you probably wont see deer. If a truck load of Yoders just hunted your woods, you probably wont see deer. BUT, if you know you are in a good area that has deer, and you have predetermined the best place for you to sit in relation to the moons location, your chances of seeing deer and killing deer have just increased significantly.
Last edited:
Oh yea, I believe that whole-heartedly. That's an ongoing "joke" at the office. Pretty much every month, close to a full moon, we deal with some really strange people and events.
I know you said you don't like to type much, but could you elaborate a bit more on how/why the gravitational pull affects ungulates, making them get on their feet to feed? We don't need it all, just a little synopsis...
- 25,155
- 261
I will go so far to say it affects people's feeding patterns too. I have never looked at the moon times to match them up with busy times in our pizza joint, but I swear people go on a feeding frenzy at the same time. We can bump along doing business, and then suddenly everyone in town wants food - NOW!
There are other factors to look at with people too though, sometimes a game letting out or something siimilar sets those busy times off too. The feeding frenzy of humans will be something interesting to look at against the moon times. Heck, we've all seen fish turn on and suddenly shut down. Being able to accurately predict that would be gold, but other factors aren't so predictable...like storm fronts.