2011 moon days...

[dan]

We have been talking about the moon and how it effects deer movement quite a bit lately. I really don't understand what the gravitational effect does to deer, I just know that they are more active when the moon is over head, or under foot. I was a doubter until my friend Andrae kept out hunting me in the mornings outside the rut, a time when most bucks are bedded before daylight. I questioned him about it and he confided that he uses the moon as a guide as to when the deer are moving late in the morning. If the moon is over head, or directly below, and its the 1st couple hours of daylight, he said the bucks will be late getting back to there beds... I have never known Andrae to be one to believe in pixie dust, but I still had my doubts even though he had knocked down some incredible animals on those moon above/below mornings.
That night while staying at Andraes he asked me to look at the times and dates on his trail camera photo's and compare them to the guide.
It was amazing at how accurate the guide was. The one discrepancy it had was thrown out when we checked the weather for that day. It was the perfect test cause Andrae was running 2 dozen cameras in 2 states and if we pencil graphed the peak movements they coincided with peak movements on the chart ( Jeff Murry moon guide chart )
I have heard some say that moon directly above has more effect than below, but I see good results with both. Andrae believes the over head days are better. ( red )
Weather will change results. And I, nor Andrae believe everything the guide or moon charts try to sell. Big bucks hold tight midday regardless of moon most of the time... However, you will see smaller bucks and does feeding midday during peak moon.
I also believe that mature bucks will rise and enter there staging area prior to dark regardless of moon, but may move farther beyond the staging area before dark on the right moon phase which can be key for those set ups where you can't get close enough.

Anywho... Here are the mornings this season I would want to be perched over the top of a mature bucks bed waiting for daylight based on the moon:

RED=OVERHEAD

SEPT 3
SEPT 4
SEPT 5
SEPT 19
SEPT 20

OCT 3
OCT4
OCT 19
OCT 20

NOV 2
NOV 3
NOV 4

NOV 18
NOV 19
NOV 20

DEC 2
DEC 3
DEC 4
DEC 18
DEC 19

JAN 1
JAN 2
JAN 3
JAN 16
JAN17
JAN 30
JAN 31

Here are the best days for evening sits... By best, I mean the bucks should move earlier than normal, so this should be good for those spots where you can't quite get close enough for daylight shooting due to noise, vision, wind, or some other factor.

SEPT 3
SEPT 4
SEPT 5
SEPT 19
SEPT 20
OCT 2
OCT 3
OCT18
OCT 19
OCT 31

NOV 1
NOV 2
NOV 16
NOV17
NOV 28
NOV 29
NOV 30

DEC 1
DEC 14
DEC 15
DEC 16
DEC 17
DEC 28
DEC 29
DEC 30
DEC 31

JAN 13
JAN 14
JAN 15
JAN 16
JAN 27
JAN 28
JAN 29
JAN 30

[BigHunt]

thanks alot dan this will help

[gjs4]

Thanks Dan......thsi skeptic will try it out

[cornfedkiller]

Awesome! Thanks Dan

Sticky??

[Stuart]

Thanks Dan
Are these dates from the Jeff Murray Moon Guide....

[Swampthing]

Thanks Dan

[NatureBoy]

I've been waiting for this post. Thank you much sir! You ROCK!

[kwaldeier]

I've been waiting for this post. Thank you much sir! You ROCK!

x2

[lynchpin]

I've been waiting for this post. Thank you much sir! You ROCK!

x2

X3... I get excited for the "red" morning....

thanks!

[dan]

I've been waiting for this post. Thank you much sir! You ROCK!

x2

X3... I get excited for the "red" morning....

thanks!

Me too, Lynch!

[tim]

thanks dan, good post!

[GRFox]

Awesome Dan. This is exactly what I was looking for.

[ Post made via Android ]

[PLB]

Very good sir!!!

[wibowhntr]

Thanks Dan!

[headgear]

Thanks a bunch Dan, these moon days really worked out great for me last year.