Moon and rut corelation

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sunset samurai
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Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby sunset samurai » Mon Jul 04, 2016 11:07 pm

How are you guys corelating the moon and rut? Does rut trump moon, does moon trigger rut, are there any similaritys? Historically here in NC the 2nd week of Nov which is the first week of muzzleloader is the hottest week of the year. By the second week either theyre winding down or the smoke poles have got them pressured. However, this year according to the moon chart the second week is way better. How would you guys weigh this on when to take vacation. Historical patterns or moon chart? Iv heard all the opinions of locals about 2nd full moon triggering rut, or rut is same time no matter what. But would like to hear some observations from you guys!

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DaveT1963
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Mon Jul 04, 2016 11:24 pm

I'm from the camp that believes the rut happens same time every year for a given area. I believe it is triggered by the amount of daylight hours.

Moon might influence what we see and preceive. Most fetal studies show that peek of rut remains the same year after year.

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Rich M
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby Rich M » Mon Jul 04, 2016 11:40 pm

I had read something about the rut being a certain moon phase and based on my limited experiences, can not agree. It is solar period.

I've only hunted good ground the past 3 years and the rut kicked within a day or two each year, even with a full moon. I liked the full moons - later deer movement in the morning. The lease holder guy still shot good deer every Nov 4, as he has for many years.

The weather did have some influence - we had a cold snap 2 weekends early and it kicked a few does into heat - a nice 10 pt fell opening day trailing a doe, then it went to 85 degrees during the day and the deer movement wasn't like years past, BUT the deer were in rut.
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby dan » Tue Jul 05, 2016 12:47 am

I am with Dave on this one... The rut is at the exact same time every year. It happens because of the amount of daylight in a 24 hour period. They actually make doe in heat urine all year by keeping does indoors and bringing them into heat by timing the lights on and off.

The reasons it may seem to differ is the amount of daylight activity vs night time activity. And that can be because of outside factors like weather, moon, heat, etc.

It also differs region to region. Near my house peak rut activity is about Nov 4th. in the South Western Wisconsin hills i hunt I see it around Halloween. where I go to in Iowa its around the 10th of Nov. But, in each of these areas its the same time each year. If you ever think the rut ain't going on just shine at night and you will see.
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:00 am

The rut in our area is the same time every year. The weather, cool temperatures and moon do have a influence on the rut. But to me it seems it just helps the day time movement. If the weather is hot. Seems there is more night time activity. If it is cool. There is more day time activity.

Down south at the farm. The rut is first an second week of November. Over at Bayou Meto seems that the most activity is week before an week of Thanksgiving. Could be partly because of duck season.
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby Stanley » Tue Jul 05, 2016 2:56 am

DaveT1963 wrote:I'm from the camp that believes the rut happens same time every year for a given area. I believe it is triggered by the amount of daylight hours.

Moon might influence what we see and preceive. Most fetal studies show that peek of rut remains the same year after year.

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I agree.
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby Ravenhunter » Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:05 am

Dave nailed it. Rut occurs pretty well the same time every year. But I do believe that the moon phase does increase game movement. But when it comes to hunting whitetails you can't beat November. So I'll get out regardless of moon phase or weather temps /conditions.

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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby Tufrthnails » Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:10 am

Second week in nov in KY on the farm. Weather makes or breaks what we see during the day, but cameras don't lie! I absolutely love it when bow season runs through the second week and gun doesn't kick off till like the 13th. I'm in the woods when the orange army is still sitting on the couch during the hottest chasing we see.
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby JoeRE » Tue Jul 05, 2016 4:52 am

I agree studies have pretty much concluded that peak breeding is triggered by daylight and occurs the same time every year for most of north america.

HOWEVER...peak breeding and peak daylight rutting activity are different things, and we all know observed rutting activity varies day to day, not to mention year to year.

Rutting activity depends on weather conditions like temperature and pressure not to mention hunting pressure, and I am certain the moon is another significant factor as well I see a significant surge in rutting right around full moons that occurs from late October to late November. For instance last year the full moon was October 26 and there was a ton of pre-rut activity right around then, followed by more of a trickle through November...there was another late surge of rutting activity around Nov 25th, the next full moon. In 2014 the full moon was Nov 6th and it was a traditional peak rut right at that time period...I could go on to 2013 and all the way back to 2006, 10 years of observations, when I first started tracking flurries of rutting activity. Usually a full moon is associated with good late morning and evening movement but poor early morning movement. My early mornings after full moons seem to be dead, but then I see a lot of deer on thier feet, both bucks and does, starting a couple hours after daylight.

This fall the full moons are Oct 15th (there will be a nice flurry of early pre-rutting activity around then) and then Nov 14th (when the November full moon doesn't line up with the traditional peak movement first 10 days of November, we get more of a trickle rut. 2013 had a similar full moon, Nov 17, with similar results). Any big cold front in that time period of course can also lead to a good surge of rutting activity too of course...and to complicate matters I often see differences in movement by location.

Why do I see the moon have an influence on observed daylight activity? I have no idea if its a light thing, a gravity thing, or something else. Maybe some day I will talk myself out of thinking the moon plays a role but man it sure seems a major factor to me right now.
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby Buckshot20 » Tue Jul 05, 2016 5:09 am

These guys nailed it. The fetal data does not lie. The deep south gets a little trickier. there is a lot of overlap but the majority of breeding will still happen on the same dates. The curve just doesn't have as big of a bell. I also agree in N.C. if you sit out the muzzleloader season you will miss it. I use to hunt stokes county and that second week was always the ticket for rut action. I think breeding dates would be highest the first week of rifle.

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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby Dewey » Tue Jul 05, 2016 5:17 am

Around here the rut peak is always Nov. 1-5 no matter what the moon phase is. Reading my logs Nov. 2nd has by far been my best day. The only thing that changes it is very warm weather and even then it likely occurs at night under cooler temps. Some years it's more intense than others but always consistent. If you miss those days you likely missed out on the best chasing of the season.
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby sunset samurai » Wed Jul 06, 2016 1:50 am

Thanks for all the great info guys, I will be making a few trips to hunt the mountains that I dont have time to get to on average evening hunts during the week I take off and am trying to up the odds as much as possible (as always.) Last year for this trip we went early based on the moon and nothing was happening. Granted we found ourselves in a major warm front and sweated the whole time, so I know that made a huge difference. I gotta go with my gut this year n put vacation in for the traditional hottest time of the year. Thanks!

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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby rizzo999 » Wed Jul 06, 2016 3:12 am

Another variable that I have seen around here where I hunt (river bottoms) is the effect of water height. In years that it is "dry", the greatest rut activity is the initial week of November. In the years that it is "wet" and flooded, the rut activity is supressed to around the third week of November which is also when the IL gun season begins.

I do concur with Joe that the moon has an effect on movement/activity and agree that the breeding occurs at that same time annually which full moons do not!
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby JoeRE » Wed Jul 06, 2016 4:15 am

Another thing that complicates many observations is gun seasons in November. Even with a lot of bow hunters, bow season doesn't suppress rutting activity like firearm seasons do.

Those of you that have any November gun seasons don't get to observe the full rut - that goes for even Wisconsin, that last third of November often has a surge of late rutting activity after lockdown tails off but you guys don't get to see it.

In areas w/o that gun pressure those late rut flurries can bring out the biggest oldest bucks in broad daylight more than any other phase of the rut...I am a bit obsessed with predicting those early and late flurries of activity which lead me to look closely at the moon...during the traditional peak rut time, centered around Nov 5-10th here, everyone and their brother is out in the woods and its more a random lottery if a big buck will walk by and in my opinion actually lower odds if you are after specific mature animals.
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Re: Moon and rut corelation

Unread postby sunset samurai » Wed Jul 06, 2016 11:06 am

This pretty on point with you guys, pretty decent read.

http://www.realtree.com/brow-tines-and- ... ut-will-be

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