Help understanding moon phases and deer?

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Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby elite_archer » Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:57 am

I understand that moon phase effects deer movement, i am just confused on how. Overhead and underfoot? Full moon vs no moon? Im sure there is something on here about it already but i could t find it. Any help explaining or a link would be great guys! Love you beasts!

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Rubline
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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby Rubline » Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:31 am

If you search this topic there are many threads about this here on The Beast. Moon phase is important, but more important is the transit times when the moon is directly overhead (or underfoot). These times change each day just short of an hour. The two phases which are great for daylight deer movement (before sunset, after sunrise) are the first and third quarter phases. Full moon phase shows more midday movement, but I think evenings and mornings are good on this phase as well. Moon effects deer movement through the gravitational pull the moon has on the earth. Same with the ocean tides. The greatest gravitational pull is when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot.
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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby tbunao » Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:40 am

wired to hunt has two good podcasts where Mark Drury and Adam Hays go into detail about the use of the moon phase

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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby tgreeno » Fri Jul 29, 2016 7:19 am

Rubline wrote:If you search this topic there are many threads about this here on The Beast. Moon phase is important, but more important is the transit times when the moon is directly overhead (or underfoot). These times change each day just short of an hour. The two phases which are great for daylight deer movement (before sunset, after sunrise) are the first and third quarter phases. Full moon phase shows more midday movement, but I think evenings and mornings are good on this phase as well. Moon effects deer movement through the gravitational pull the moon has on the earth. Same with the ocean tides. The greatest gravitational pull is when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot.


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elite_archer
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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby elite_archer » Fri Jul 29, 2016 8:18 am

Rubline wrote:If you search this topic there are many threads about this here on The Beast. Moon phase is important, but more important is the transit times when the moon is directly overhead (or underfoot). These times change each day just short of an hour. The two phases which are great for daylight deer movement (before sunset, after sunrise) are the first and third quarter phases. Full moon phase shows more midday movement, but I think evenings and mornings are good on this phase as well. Moon effects deer movement through the gravitational pull the moon has on the earth. Same with the ocean tides. The greatest gravitational pull is when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot.

Awesome! How do you figure out when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot? Weather website?

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tbunao
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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby tbunao » Fri Jul 29, 2016 8:27 am

About 10 posts down jeff25 posted about a solar chart. If I remember right when overhead within an hour of nightfall or underfoot an hour after sun up are the times when they "may" be on their feet sooner or later.

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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby Whitetailaddict » Sat Jul 30, 2016 12:27 am

Lots of hunters have tried to understand the moon but as you research it you may be even more confused. Some hunters like full moons (Mark Drury) while others say they see more movement with a new moon. Adam Hayes talks about red moons and lives by the moon chart which if I understand it correctly has more to do with when the moon is overhead or underfoot during prime hunting times in the AM or PM. Some also believe Perigee (moon is closest to the earth) and Apogee (moon is furthest from the earth) has influence on deer movement. Yet others believe the 2nd full moon of autumn may have an influence on when the rut begins. I would form your own opinion based on personal observations and journal entries along with trail cam data showing when the deer in your area tend to move best. Ultimately I think weather and hunting pressure play a bigger role than moon but moon can help add to those factors. FYI if you believe perigee has any affect on deer movement then you may want to look into Nov 14th this year. I found that moon will be the closest to earth it will be for this century so that should be a good day if you believe in moon factors. Hope this helps.
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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby Buck snort » Sat Jul 30, 2016 1:31 am

I believe I read on here somewhere, that Dan was saying Andrae started noticing a big difference in mature buck sightings on his trail cams, when the Moon Transit overhead times matched up with sunrise/sunset times.

For example.....

Sunset 7:00 pm
Moon transit 5:30 - 7:00 pm..... They get up on their feet, to go feed, a little earlier than normal.


Sunrise 6:00 am
Moon transit 6:00 - 7:30 am..... They get back to their beds a little later than normal in the morning.
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<DK>
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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby <DK> » Sat Jul 30, 2016 2:30 am

1 Hour Before Morning - 2 Hours After
2 Hours Before Dark - 1 Hour After

When the rut hits, use the times during the day for Cruising Times. You can buy Murray Moon guide or use websites. Don't get confused by sites saying its a good day to be in the woods, when its not a good o/h - u/f day. This specific moon stat is an extra tool to push bedding areas or if you have a deer you cant get a look at during daylight.
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<DK>
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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby <DK> » Sat Jul 30, 2016 2:31 am

tbunao wrote:wired to hunt has two good podcasts where Mark Drury and Adam Hays go into detail about the use of the moon phase

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Re: Help understanding moon phases and deer?

Unread postby JoeRE » Sat Jul 30, 2016 2:33 am

Man, I wish I knew the answer to the question how and if moon effects deer or any other wildlife for that matter. I have spent a lot of time and thought on it and will continue to and am not certain of much. Overhead and underfoot transit gets talked about a lot and may have some vague enhancement for deer movement. Moon rise and moon set times also seem to have this effect when they coincide with morning and evening "prime time."

One effect I am pretty certain of - on mornings after full moon nights, there is usually less early morning movement but deer are more likely to get back on their feet and move around a bit mid to late morning. I am certain of that, if there is one moon-effect I would put money on that would be it.

A second thing that I am certain of - weather trumps moon every time. Hunting pressure trumps both.

It also seems like I see spikes in evening activity around full moons, particularly during the rut....due to moon rise (which is usually in the evening with full moons) or something else? Not sure.

Beyond that, I have backed off from taking anything moon related for granted...the Mark Drury podcast was really interesting.


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