What are your thoughts on the above?

I am particularly interested in your thought on the moon phase and position for the best hunting. Also comments on which weather patterns are best to hunt.

I live on a golf course with lots of whitetails on it. Some of the things I see don't follow conventional wisdom.

Thanks.

larry
after guiding big game and chasing the moon for 20 yrs
i consider the 3 or 4 days before the first night of the full moon,to be the best hunting days of the month.
the daytime activity peaks during this time frame and drops off significantly thereafter.
good luck

I dislike clear, full moon nights for hunting past the early morning hours. Most deer in my area are bedded up pretty early during the full moon.

However, to answer your question better, once a doe starts her cycle, she does it every 28 days, just like a human female, or until she is bred. This is why you can possibly have a buck chasing a doe in Feb or March. If she doesn't get bred in the "typical" rut, she can come back into heat and bucks will chase her.

This can bring up management questions later on. A fawn that is concieved in Nov will have a couple of months advantage over one concieved in Feb or later. This can lead to the old "spike" vs. forked antler question.

Moon makes no difference to me, and I've never paid it any attention, ever.

Weather, ceratinly.

We are about done in eastern CO with our whitetail/mule deer hunts. We've shot about a dozen whitetails, 7 of them over 170". All types of moon, weather, bow and rifle, etc.

Nothing you can do about it anyway, so I just go hunting.

weather makes a difference, ime. i believe deer move more just before a front, and less when it is hot. as for the moon, many swear by the effect is supposedly has on deer movement. one thing i am certain of, if an estrus doe is out and about, the bucks will be too, regardless of what the moon is or is not doing. since deer hunting techniques, tactics, and practices are different in montana and mississippi, i suspect people's experiences (and opinions) will be different. good hunting.

I believe the weather is upmost important, and the moon very minor in importance. Those I've heard talk about the moon, consider a full moon a detriment because they assume the deer feed more then at night and move less at other times (the same thing is said of other wildlife, particularly ducks). Personally, I think the moon matters little with our local deer hunting.

The weather is the big thing, with the wind conditions being the star of the show. Lots of wind, I stay home. Some wind, I go but skip the open fields and stick to the woods. No wind's best. Then I prefer the fields (like this afternoon, 6 mph wind, so I hunted a field's edge and got one).

I do agree that the few days before a front can be good with all forms of hunting, but I think the reason for that is at those times you frequently have days of little wind.

Now, having said all that, I'm talking strictly about farming country. Deer conditions like Larry mentioned on a golf course would I suspect be totally different, in the same way that city back yard birds and squirrels are on a different timeclock than their country cousins. So, what schedule country club or golf course deer adhere to is harder to say.

quote:

Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:
Moon makes no difference to me, and I've never paid it any attention, ever.

Weather, ceratinly.

We are about done in eastern CO with our whitetail/mule deer hunts. We've shot about a dozen whitetails, 7 of them over 170". All types of moon, weather, bow and rifle, etc.

Nothing you can do about it anyway, so I just go hunting.

+1

I am not going to skip a hunt because of either weather or moon phase.

Typically the seasons are so short I have no choice anyhow.

I will say after choosing a couple of cat hunts in Africa based on "best" moon phase and being unlucky, to me its a non issue- go when the guide says to go. Rut and calving/foaling are much more meaningful anyhow.

quote:

Originally posted by ravenr:
i consider the 3 or 4 days before the first night of the full moon,to be the best hunting days of the month. the daytime activity peaks during this time frame and drops off significantly thereafter. ..

quote:

Originally posted by Ryan Campbell:
I dislike clear, full moon nights for hunting past the early morning hours. Most deer in my area are bedded up pretty early during the full moon. ..

quote:

Originally posted by LBGuy:
weather makes a difference ...deer move more just before a front, and less when it is hot. ...since deer hunting techniques, tactics, and practices are different in montana and mississippi, i suspect people's experiences (and opinions) will be different. ..

I agree with all the above.

When you have a Full Moon that occurs between 10PM to 3AM, the Deer "typically" have high movement between 10AM to 3PM. A lot of our LARGEST Trophy Bucks have been Killed during that time period, while 95% of the Hunters were out of the fields/woods/swamps, in a restaurant eating BBQ.

But, a stray Dog passing through, or a Man Drive on adjoining property can have the same effect.

quote:

Originally posted by CRButler:
I am not going to skip a hunt because of either weather or moon phase. Typically the seasons are so short I have no choice anyhow.
..

And he will get Deer that many folks will never know even moved, for whatever the reason.

I absolutely believe that the moon phase effects the movements. While I believe deer move during a full moon, I believe they move at a different time. I am looking for a system/method to pinpoint that time.

When the wind is howling, I think it is a total waste of time to go.

I think the weather has an impact, sometimes. When we have had hurricanes coming, I have noted a lot of deer movement. On the other hand, it is the dark of the moon now. We have the coldest night of the year expected tonight. I went running just at first light this morning and I didn't see a single deer. I normally see about 20 and have seen 50 or more numerous times. I would have thought I would have seen more.

What are you thought about high pressure versus low pressure? Cloudless days versus cloudy days? Rain?

I've had trouble actually seeing a clear coordination of what the solar-lunar tables predict as best hunting days and times with what's actually happening in the field. I hunt when I can, but also have tried to see if the solar-lunar tables are correct, and I just haven't been able to see it.

However, I have seemed to notice a peak in activity of deer when the moon is directly overhead or directly under foot in the early morning or late evening times.

I am also like others, in that I have found the daytime hunting when there is a full moon at night the most difficult--with the least deer activity. My feeling is they are so active on those bright moonlit nights that they bed down early the following days.

I know that weather has an effect on deer movement. During really cold snaps the deer seem to move more. During extremely windy weather, they move less. Just before a major frontal system passes there seems also to be a peak in activity.

I wish I had kept a log of deer activity vs sun-moon-weather conditions through the past 25 years of pretty hard deer hunting I've done. I believe it would be helpful. I didn't, so I rely on my memory of the way things were.

I thihnk Aaron said it best, it's out of our control but the season is only so long so you hunt when you can basicly. Now maybe we can use these things when planning a hunt ahead of time but the weather specificly changes daily.

Since you live on a golf course I would assume those deer are not hunted. THAT more than anything could account for the differences you see. Hunting pressure - even very mild pressure - has a dramatic effect on deer living in close proximity to people. How they sense the difference between hunting and normal human activities is beyond me!

I have always assumed that the problem with the wind is that deer can't hear as well and so they're reluctant to move for fear of getting caught by predators. Are we all pretty much in agreement on how that works?

One other thing that hasn't been mentioned here, and that's how fog affects deer hunting. I really have had historically over the decades very good luck on foggy days. I don't know why. Maybe because that's associated with low wind or something. But I like to see a foggy still morning. I consider it a good omen.

We can hunt a little over 4 months here. The moon phase is something we can plan around. Also the rut is not as defined or as intense here as it is other places.

The reason I brought up the deer on the golf is to point out that I often see things that vary from conventional wisdom. For example, I came home on the last full moon. Conventional wisdom says that they feed all night. I pulled into the drive way and could see 6 deer laying there in the yard. Seems conventional would say that these deer should have been up feeding.

I was at one of the places I hunt several weeks ago. I thought the moon phase was pretty good. I tried to hunt hogs and saw absolutely none. I then noticed the moon was very strange. As I recall, it was in its first quarter but was very red. Everything we saw was laying down.

I find that my luck is generally better on cloudy calm days. I don't do as well on blue bird days. I have also had luck in fog.

Here in Mississippi, much like Florida Larry, our season is very long. We also do not have a very well defined rut, in most parts of Mississippi and Alabama there are far too many doe so bucks don't have to travel very far. By using scouting cameras I can refrence days with good activity with the lunar calendar. I usually see good movements when the moon is black, ie before the new moon, and a few days before the full moon. I belive it does have some affect on movement in the daylight hours, just as it does fishing. That being said deer are wild animals and can show up at any given times. Given our long season I do try and maximize my efforts during times of the months that the I belive the moon phase is faverable. As far as weather goes before a front is good, sustainded cold weather is good here but a hard cold snap usually causes our deer to shut down. Overcast and misty rain has been a good comibnation for me in the past. I think some of the points on weather and moon phases depend on where you hunt. When I was in the midwest wind did not seem to affect movement as much as it does in the south, however the wind blows alot more there. In parts of Texas I have hunted with a very low buck to doe ratio the full moon is a very good predictor of when doe will cycle the first time signaling peek rut activity.

I find the deer move more during a New moon rather than a Full Moon.I also think weather has more to do with deer movement than moon cycles.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
...I think the weather has an impact, sometimes. When we have had hurricanes coming, I have noted a lot of deer movement. ...What are you thought about high pressure versus low pressure? Cloudless days versus cloudy days? Rain?

I agree the Low Pressure moving into an area gets all the animals(and fish) in a Feeding Mode.

Now those Clouds are really something I like. Tends to extend the Prime Time(Twilight Periods). That is only true " IF " a person is using a LARGE Objective Scope with a HEAVY Duplex Reticle, or my current favorite - the Illuminated Reticle.

One of the very beast make that best times of all, for me, is immediately following a shower or rain(no Lightning). The Deer will get up, shake off and move around a bit. An additional advantage is it is extremely rare to see another Hunter on anyone's property during these same conditions. So, if you do spot a Deer, chances are that it is not alarmed or skittish.
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Wind tends to shut-down the best Defense a Deer has -it's Nose. Normally they move into the wind, or quarter into the wind. Not always, but enough that I prefer a slight wind(able to move a String Taped to the Barrel) coming toward me.

And of course our Scent tends to Rise right after Sun Rise as the air warms. While it Descends as the Sun Sets due to the cooling.

The only way to logically handle an area with shifting wind is by having multiple Stands and/or multiple Entrance Paths to where you want to Hunt. If it is "swirling" , then leave the place alone if it is a Prime Location and Hunt elsewhere.

http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/...rvices/rs-one-day-us

I use this site to figure out when the moon is directly overhead, the moon transit, or directly under foot, about 12 hours after the moon transit. I have been watching this for a few years, and it does work. Of course, dusk and dawn are good too, and the best days seem to be when the moon transit is an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset. At least two of three bucks killed at our farm this year were killed at the moon transit or 12 hours off of the moon transit.

The moon's gravity has a strong affect on animals. The moon transit is high tide, a good time to fish.

Weather matters too. A noisy windy rainy day is a good day to stalk through the brush, but a bad day to hunt a field in a rickety tower.

More than the moon phase I think windy days are a bigger problem as the deer tend to bed down or find thick cover and not move. Anyone else experience this? Would be intersted to hear others thoughts.

You know, it's possible we're all trying to be way too technical about this.

What the moon and weather are doing doesn't mean a thing if you picked the wrong stand or part of the farm to hunt.

I fine tune this only to the extent of avoiding wind, rain or extreme cold, and the last two of those are mainly for my convenience. I also avoid places that don't have a whole lot of deer to start with.

Come to think of it, that's your real secret to deer hunting...having a good place to hunt.

In Sweden, rodjur(deer) seem to to be more active in the daylight during a full moon.
The first several hours prior to a storm can also bring some activity.

I never had the time to worry about the moon phase if I had time off I went hunting. If one waited for every thing to be perfect one would never go.

quote:

Originally posted by reddy375:
More than the moon phase I think windy days are a bigger problem as the deer tend to bed down or find thick cover and not move. Anyone else experience this? ...

Agree. However, a stray dog, Coyote, people moving around, etc. can cause Deer to get up and move even when they do not want to.

We have a Traditional Man Drive slated for 1Jan each year. Wind nor rain nor moon phase will deter the Deer from making controlled Exits from those Bedding Areas. And they do it along the same Flight Paths year after year. As long as the Woods and Fields are not radically altered, we expect them to keep moving the same direction, along the same route as always.
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However, I also agree with P Dog Shooter, if you wait for things to be perfect, you will miss alot of Deer. There is always something going on in the woods and swamps to keep your mind occupied.

By the way, if the cattle are laying down chewing their cud, we tend to believe the Deer are doing the same thing.

quote:

Originally posted by reddy375:
More than the moon phase I think windy days are a bigger problem as the deer tend to bed down or find thick cover and not move. Anyone else experience this? Would be intersted to hear others thoughts.

Agreed.