Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

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Busch Light Bandit
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Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby Busch Light Bandit » Fri Oct 16, 2015 3:31 am

Recently a friend of mine stated to me that moon phases has absolutely nothing to do with deer movement or the rut. This was in response to me relaying information that I read that said the rut was possibly going to start up a bit early this year due to the full moon on the 27th of Oct. I had watched this video https://youtu.be/gDBBfS6pJfU and we had a discussion, or I thought it was. I know with the information I have used from this site I find that there is correlation with deer movement and moon phases. He quoted a Dr. Grant Woods and posted a video for me to watch. The address is here http://1source.basspro.com/index.php/all-videos/111-grant-woods/video/1098-moon-phase-deer-activity I'd like to hear some insight from everyone. Thanks!


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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby Busch Light Bandit » Fri Oct 16, 2015 3:34 am

My rebuttal was:

James Kroll has spent 35 years debunking popular misconceptions about America's favorite big game animal – the white-tailed deer. Kroll, a.k.a. Dr. Deer, is a professor of forest wildlife and director of the Institute for White-tailed Deer Management and Research at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches. "There is a correlation between the full moon and the peak whitetail rut," Kroll said. "In a healthy deer herd, the peak of the rut tends to occur three to five days after the full moon."
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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby attackone » Fri Oct 16, 2015 6:40 am

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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases Question

Unread postby Busch Light Bandit » Sat Oct 17, 2015 6:03 am

I was really hoping more people would contribute here...
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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby Rubline » Sat Oct 17, 2015 6:32 am

Well with the full moon on the 27th, that would mean the peak of the rut will be Oct 31st.
I think the rut occurs during the same time frame each year, pending where you live.
The moon phase helps increase or decrease the intensity of the rut. I disagree with your
friend about moon phase having nothing to do with deer movement. Plenty of evidence
on this site debunking that idea.
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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:48 am

I think the moon influences all animal movement - however, I think other factors weigh more heavily. For instance, You give ma a falling/rising barometer in conjunction with a cold front in early Nov and I am going to be in the woods I don't care what the moon is doing. Same with after a heavy rain/snow - first day the weather breaks and you get that high pressure I am there. But to me the number one factor is always human pressure. If it is real intense bucks and older does will go nocturnal no matter what the moon is doing - until another factor influences them otherwise (like the rut). All just my opinion of course
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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby Stanley » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:36 am

In all my years of hunting I have never been able to put any correlation with moon phases and the rut. It has more to do with the sun than the moon. The length of days "sun" is what influences the timing of the rut. The fawns are born the same time every year, year after year. This is mother natures way of having the fawns born in the best time of year for survival. The moon has no part in that.

I am also going to predict the peak of the rut will not be October 31st at least where I hunt. It will be closer to November 7-10 as it has been for the 50+ or so years I have been hunting whitetails. In some instances bucks are killed when the moon is right according to the moon charts. In more instances bucks are killed when the moon is not right according to the moon charts. The reason for this is there are more non moon days than moon days. :think:

So in the big picture the moon phases, moon times, and such contribute very little, if anything to deer movement. If I had a dollar for every buck killed on a non moon day I'd be wealthy guy. :think:

So in answer to the question I'm going to side with the friend of Busch Light Bandit.
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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby iowa whitetail » Sat Oct 17, 2015 12:56 pm

I think the moon has alot to do with when deer move. If the moon isnt shining bright at night you will have more daytime movement from what ive seen.I dont think it brings the rut on at all but the full moon is early this year it rises an hour later every night so the closer you get to the good part of the rut the less moon their will be. I think the rut will be very good this year because of that. Im not sure why they move more at night with a bright moon mabe they can feed better and faster because of vision idk.
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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby Jphunter » Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:40 am

I think it's possible for the moon to have an effect on deer movement and Maybe it could be noticed in certain situations where outside factors could be controlled, for instance a no to low pressure property. But in the areas that I hunt I haven't been able to link the two together. From what I have seen human pressure overrides everything ,followed by weather...Changes in weather patterns seem to have the most effect from what I've noticed..Cold fronts after higher than average temperates, first clear day after a few days of nasty weather or a major wind shift after a few days of a constant wind..etc

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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby Stew » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:42 am

Stanley wrote:In all my years of hunting I have never been able to put any correlation with moon phases and the rut. It has more to do with the sun than the moon. The length of days "sun" is what influences the timing of the rut. The fawns are born the same time every year, year after year. This is mother natures way of having the fawns born in the best time of year for survival. The moon has no part in that.

I am also going to predict the peak of the rut will not be October 31st at least where I hunt. It will be closer to November 7-10 as it has been for the 50+ or so years I have been hunting whitetails. In some instances bucks are killed when the moon is right according to the moon charts. In more instances bucks are killed when the moon is not right according to the moon charts. The reason for this is there are more non moon days than moon days. :think:

So in the big picture the moon phases, moon times, and such contribute very little, if anything to deer movement. If I had a dollar for every buck killed on a non moon day I'd be wealthy guy. :think:

So in answer to the question I'm going to side with the friend of Busch Light Bandit.



I just posted in another thread about survival of birthed fawns being the basis of when the Rut starts.

The idea the Sun and the length of days triggering the Rut is intriguing to me. It makes a lot of sense really. The one constant correlation year after year are the day's becoming shorter and the position of the Sun. The Moon is too inconsistent with its cycles and tempetures can vary year over year.

Thanks for sharing that!

For the OP...check out this graphic. I posted it on another thread earlier.

Image

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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby Wlog » Mon Oct 19, 2015 4:07 am

Stanley wrote:In all my years of hunting I have never been able to put any correlation with moon phases and the rut. It has more to do with the sun than the moon. The length of days "sun" is what influences the timing of the rut. The fawns are born the same time every year, year after year. This is mother natures way of having the fawns born in the best time of year for survival. The moon has no part in that.

I am also going to predict the peak of the rut will not be October 31st at least where I hunt. It will be closer to November 7-10 as it has been for the 50+ or so years I have been hunting whitetails. In some instances bucks are killed when the moon is right according to the moon charts. In more instances bucks are killed when the moon is not right according to the moon charts. The reason for this is there are more non moon days than moon days. :think:

So in the big picture the moon phases, moon times, and such contribute very little, if anything to deer movement. If I had a dollar for every buck killed on a non moon day I'd be wealthy guy. :think:

So in answer to the question I'm going to side with the friend of Busch Light Bandit.


X2. I've read all of the articles from Alsheimer and his books. While he makes a compelling case for his theory, I just haven't seen it play out that way. I've paid attention to his predicted dates in the past. There is a lot of open ag area around me and deer numbers are fairly high. There is always a five to seven day period where you can't drive down the road without seeing at least one buck cruising a field edge or crossing a road. It's always around the end of the first week of November.

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Re: Deer Movement In Relation To Moon Phases

Unread postby Rutnstrut » Mon Oct 19, 2015 4:44 am

There is one point of common sense thinking that will tell you that PEAK BREEDING occurs roughly the same time every year. That is the fact that in most northern/midwestern climates if does were bred too early they would be dropping fawns when the weather is still very likely nasty. This wouldn't give offspring the highest odds of survival. Does are hardwired to breed when fawning times would be during opportune weather in late spring/early summer. There are always some exceptions of earlier and later breeding. Actually some older does generally come into heat in mid October or a bit later. But this is a very small population.

Now bucks especially immature bucks may start acting "rutty" in mid Oct. But there really is no such thing as an early rut, nor will the moon or anything else move peak breeding. IMO I would rather hunt the chasing seeking phase than when most does are hot anyway. This is generally a few days to a week before most does are ready. This is all my experience along with friends and relatives from the past 30+ years.


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