moon phase

I like to hunt whenever I can. There are so many distractions from hunting- family commitments, work, maintenance of the home, etc. I dont need another reason to NOT go hunting. I'm not convinced that the phase of the moon even matters much.

I think if you start a log of what you see, where and at what time, and the moon phase at the time you will change your mind. Storm fronts and cold or hot days will change things some but everything being even you will see more game per hour out if you follow the tables.

I personally have always had better hunting on new moon then full, however, I also like to hunt the fronts.  I was just interested in seeing how much weight yinz guys put into the moon.  Doing my scheduling this soon in advance, I only have the moon to work with.  Personally, I like to hunt evenings before a cold front gets here, and mornings the day it blows in, on a waning moon or a new moon. 

Once the rut is in hard though, I don't think much can happen to shut it down.  Last year it was hot as hell and they were still fighting before daylight, and they were chasing after daylight.

I'm going to start keeping an outdoor log.  Fishing, hunting, bug hatches, moon phases, and weater patterns.  See if I can crack the code by the time I'm 75.


and thanks for the responses guys, I thought for a while that no one was interested!

I have a good buddy who puts a lot of focus on what the moon is doing. He fishes a lot for musky, and is very successful at it, and takes his share of good bucks with the bow. Of course, like most of us, he'll hunt or fish whenever he can, but he swears that the absolute best time to hunt or fish is when the moon is down or rising. Even better when the down or rising moon is waning from full to new and it coincides with a front moving in or after a front has moved through and high pressure is building back in.

Personally, I've never really given it a thought, nor have I ever kept any records. Just sharing what a pretty successful musky fisherman and deer hunter has shared with me.

The best moon phase data I have is based around the daily lunar angle and moon phase. Basically as the theory goes there are 2 major & 2 minor periods of highest activity during every day. All four of these periods are seperated by 6 hours and occur when the moon is directly over head, directly underneath(the two majors), and one when it is on each horizon (these are the minors). As you approach Full & new moon periods major & minor periods become more likely to see increased activity. For hunting, when these times fall within an hour or so of sunrise or sunset, LOOK OUT, good night to be afield. Joe Bucher a professional musky fisherman has sworn by this method for years. I actually charted deer activity one year and found 70-80 % was within these time periods. It all sounds very complicated, but it isn't. Casio sells a watch (actually 2, one for fishing called the fishin time and one for hunting called hunting time{both deliver the same data}) that gives you the times for each day and any day in the future you would like to know. They are about 40.00 depending on where you get them.

I highly reccomend this watch to hunters & fishermen. I have bought them as christmas gifts for people who have made fun of me for even talking about it, only to have them come back a year or so later amazed at how accurate they actually are.

All this said, I hunt & fish anytime I can regardless of moon time, but I definitely see more deer during these periods than any other time and always be sure to try and be afield for the really good times.