The moon, how it impacts your hunt

[James]

The old moon topic again, this one has been kicked around the block a few dozen times, however, bwwma's thread got me thinking about the impact of the moon on my own success. Being an analytical guy, I went back over the past 10 years and correlated my archery kills to moon data. (I care less about gun seasons, un-natural deer movement) My kill dates are spot on and the kill times are +/- 30 minutes based on memory.

What does the moon data tell me? In my case it appears a moon underfoot has had very limited impact on my own success. The one thing I do see is that within 1-2 hours of moonrise/moonset correlates very well. Thoughts from the beasts?

[Quick edit note] these are big buck kills only, I wasn't concerned with doe kills in my research.

9/24/16 MN, 4:05p kill - Moonset 3:39pm Moonrise 12:34am Waning Crescent
11/13/15 WI, 9:00a kill - Moonset 6:30pm Moonrise 8:38am Waxing Crescent
10/26/13, WI 4:30p kill - Moonset 1:57pm Moonrise 11:25p (previous day) Last Quarter
10/26/12, WI 5:50p kill - Moonset 4:30am Moonrise 4:27p Waxing Gibbous
9/28/12, MN 7:05p kill - Moonset 5:40am Moonrise 6:03p Waxing Gibbous
10/24/09, WI 6:00p kill - Moonset 10:59pm Moonrise 1:53pm Waxing Crescent
9/19/09, MN 5:50p kill - Moonset 7:20pm Moonrise 8:09am Waxing Crescent
10/18/08 MN 6:00p kill - Moonset 12:40pm Moonrise 7:54p (previous day) Waning Gibbous
10/27/07, WI 8:00a kill - Moonset 9:48am Moonrise 6:04p (previous day) Waning Gibbous
10/30/06, WI 7:00a kill - Moonset 12:21am (following day) Moonrise 2:18pm Waxing Gibbous

[OTCHunter]

I've also seen a big correlation with the moonrise/set in relation to kills or buck sightings. Especially if those times are within and hour or two of sunrise/sunset. This last weekend I saw a 140-150 inch ten and two decent 3 year olds on an evening sit with a moonrise about 30 minutes before sunset. I saw the same 10 about 2 hours before dark the week before with a similar moonrise. Unfortunately closest he ever got was 50 yards. Hoping to get a arrow in him soon when I get the right conditions before gun season starts up.

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[BigHunt]

the only buck I killed in correlation to the moon was the 13 pointer...moon was over head at 130 pm that day..i shot the buck at 155 pm ..moon affect? who knows.........

[Kraftd]

For me, I can't typically hunt everyday, in particular early season, so it doesn't really affect when I hunt. That being said I have made enough personal observations to feel like it [dropshadow=blue]can[/dropshadow] matter. I still think there are more important influences like pressure, weather, and food.

[john1984]

I don't know if the moon is something significant or not BUT after hearing the reasons why Dan started believing in the moon and other people's observations, those best moon days now just give me yet ANOTHER reason to want to go hunting.

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[heavybeamz]

I have always dismissed the idea of moon phase. I would love to be more open-minded but I need to be convinced with data.

I am quite curious about this and it could affect how aggressively I hunt (if there is truly merit in it) and when I hunt certain spots.

What resources are you guys (the moon guys) using to learn about the moon trajectory and how can you infer what it translates to regarding deer movement. In other words, what is the moon situation that you definitely want to be hunting under and likewise the adverse moon situations for hunting?

Thanks

-Heavy

[Stanley]

I guess for some guys it plays a part in where and how they set up? For me it has no impact on how I hunt. If the buck I'm after is on a pattern I'm going after him when the conditions are right. If the moon is right and the wind is wrong I'm not making a play. If the wind is right and the moon is wrong I'm making a play. If the moon is right and the wind is right I'm making a play. I can't see how the moon would impact my hunts?

During the rut the chances of the moon having any effect on deer movement is even less. Yes hunters kill bucks during the proclaimed good moon periods. But when don't they kill bucks?

Basically it boils down on how much emphasis you place on the moon effecting buck movement. If the moon does effect buck movement, great. I'll be hunting regardless of moon phase, position, stage, etc. I am super thankful I don't have to rely on the moon to be successful. For those that do have to rely on the moon to be successful, may the Lord be with you, and with your spirit.

[tgreeno]

I try to hunt every day possible the conditions are right for a stand location I have. If there isn't one, I scout new turf. It doesn't matter if the moon is good or bad, I'm hunting if the conditions are right.

[Dewey]

Deer movement on good moon days is quite obvious. If it makes you pay attention more while on stand more power to you. There is enough evidence that it cannot be ignored just like so many other tactics. I believe in keeping an open mind and paying attention to the little things. Any advantage no matter how small can be huge.

[Whitetailaddict]

Maybe I missed this somewhere but I only see 3 of your hunts where you harvested a buck within about 1 hour of a moonset/moonrise time. So from what I can see it looks like you have harvested more without the moon's influence unless it matched up with an OH/UF time that wasn't listed. I think moon plays a factor but as others have said I think hunting based on wind/weather conditions will be more productive but the moon can enhance a good night/morning. I am no expert but have been trying to pay attention to these things in my journals and I've noticed for as many times I see deer around moon times I see just as many without so I'm not sure what to make of it. I maybe just need a bigger journal to pull from. Just my .02

[DaveT1963]

It's kind of interesting when someone kills a buck and the moon is over head or under foot they autimatically assume the moon has something to do with it and yet if they kill a buck on a non moon day crickets about the moon. There are 1000s of reasons any deer can move and just because the moon is flying overhead may or may not have anything to do with it. I'd just soon take a rabbit's foot with me as i would a moon chart.

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[Rich M]

There is a study on here somewhere - read it recently. There was a slight correlation but not much.

[HippiHuntr]

I have not killed a buck based on moon phase, however, I do believe in it. I have the Deer Hunters Moon Guide and I constantly compare trail cam photos to the moon. Id say 85% of the time, the moon guide times are almost dead on to the picture times.

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[mheichelbech]

I don't base my hunts on the moon but I am very confident and have seen enough evidence around where I live to believe there is a correlation. Every time I notice a lot of deer out early, either In ag fields or just in people's yards or moving behind my house, there is a positive moon correlation. In my area, Monday evening around 7 pm was a best day/time and I noticed 2 bucks running around as well as a lot more does out before dark. This is just one of multiple occurrences I can name.
I hunt when I can but I does help my confidence.

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[ODH]

Call me crazy, but what got me started is the only daylight pics I would get in Sept and Oct of mature bucks were on full moon days, but I would get them year after year, and in the same general places. I'm in NY, and they just don't come out in daylight. I agree this probably doesn't occur everywhere, but it does where I am. So I started tracking data.

I have written this before but I'll summarize what I see - I (try to) track temp, wind direction and speed, barometric pressure, precipitation, and moon OH/UF/rise/set. And I try to do it from mid Sept to end Nov. My conclusions are when two or more of the factors above are "favorable" then daylight movement (all deer) is up on those days. More factors = more sightings etc. And when I pair the data with the right location then I might catch the buck I'm after on his feet in the light. Again the difference can be seen in pictures and in stand time, something makes the mature buck late to bed/early to rise, or makes him walk out for an apple mid day. Bear in mind when the factors aren't present I still get pictures but they are all at night.

At the end of the day I don't care which factor it is but I know some combo of the above is influential, where I hunt anyway. Just like how no one picks a random tree in the open hardwoods to post up, I can't pick a random day to hunt targets where I live because they don't come out in daylight. So this is an edge I exploit along with every other strategy talked about here.