I keep wanting to learn this type of hunting but never get around to it or finding fellas that actually practice it. Info for me has been a few steps above voo doo!
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I keep wanting to learn this type of hunting but never get around to it or finding fellas that actually practice it. Info for me has been a few steps above voo doo!
Missouri did a study.
Regardless of lunar phase, rut fell +/- 1 day, on 5 November.
Other weather factors I'm sure will effect results.
;)
Bow season in a week!
I do think it helps, especially fishing by the moon. That being said, I'm not gonna sit home and wait on the perfect day. I'll take my chances with the retarded animal I am chasing
I see more effect with fishing than hunting myself from my years of reading Field and stream and careful use of their tables.
Weather IMO does and will effect everything, bigger the weather the bigger the effect.
I have seen high wind years of deer hunting where you had to step on a deer to get it up. The few deer we did see were all bedded out of the wind inside dry spots in a cattail swamp. Nothing moves through a cattail swamp very far, or very quietly. So deer seemed to position themselves to use it as a safe zone down wind. Making it very hard for predictors to come upwind at them quietly.
Once something gets close enough to threaten them.
Deer have the option to either break out of the cattails into the open where they can use their speed and maneuverability. Or to dive deep into the cattails.
You could see them most often for 1 or at most 2 jumps. Pretty much thumbing their noses at any gun hunter that was smart enough to figure out where they were.
Turn the situation around. Put yourself in a deers position.
"How do I survive hunting season?"
"Where do I go? Where and how do I hide?"
Think about it, think hard. Think about every time you ever saw a deer but were unable to get a good shot at them. How did they do it?
%
Factor in the fact that 90% of hunters don't want to walk more than a quarter mile through tough going. They'll walk a mile and a half of easy going, the good ones.
Let those thoughts guide you.
I have found the the solunar tables to be fairly good at identifying when I should be predator hunting. Of course dawn and dusk are always good, but when I go midday in accordance with the peak acticity, I see a whole lot more wildlife.
I been thinking of that also in recent years. Here is my take on it,
We all know about the scent thing, and color blindness, and movement, and the bucks getting stupid in the peak rut, I'm not going into all that.......
But, I do believe in the moon phase thing as far as eyesight goes. I believe deer are nocturnal up to a point. Yes they have very good eyesight at night, but they dont have radar.
I believe they have to eat as often as we do, every 6 hours or so. They can see good at night, but if a no moon night, and especially dark, I dont think they got radar, nor see very well, and they would bed down rather than stumble around trying to eat. However,,, give them a sliver of a crescent moon of light, and they can see quite well at night.
Hunting the moon for me is the small crescent moon at dawn or at dusk; because they know it is pitch black at midnight feeding. And another one at the new moon at noon day.
I use the moon as a guide too.
mostly for fishing, but our deer hunt is a month away from the rut which is generally the second week in November.
I hunt the 3 days before and the 3 days after the full moon and generally manage to scratch my buck out during that time frame.
the weather will push deer around a lot but they will settle in after moving.
last year the deer I had been watching for weeks were pushed out and down almost 20 miles overnight [as the crow flies] by 18" of snow.
so I changed areas for the 3 days after and we got three bucks in three days same as the year before.
I like to hunt when it is raining or snowing. Quiet, and the animals seem to be not as much on the alert.
I've also noticed a difference in how my arthritis feels during the phases of the moon and high and low pressure. It could be that it also affects animals the same. That might cause them to be more reserved in movements and more likely to bed down except for feeding.
I feel lots less like hiking through brush when I'm hurting. :(
never put much faith in hunting by the moon phases
been proven wrong to many times
like to hunt when a storm is on the way or in a light rain or snow
Help's keep the spirit up when you see those 4 star days coming ? :coffee:
http://www.solunarforecast.com/solunarcalendar.aspx
Very interesting, very interesting. I always try to hunt a day before a storm or rain is moving in. I much prefer hunting in rain if given a choice and snow if I can find any! I hate strong winds in all directions.
Don't know about the game, but I do know that predatory fish are more active right before a weather change hits. I'm thinking of spring when storm fronts are coming. Best days I've had fishing, particularly for smallmouth, are when either bad weather is coming or during a light rain. Last year I caught both largemouth bass and crappie off of the dock at the boat ramp when it was getting real rough; that's why nobody was using the ramp or dock for its intended purpose.
Years ago someone told me to watch cattle to see what deer are doing. That theory seemed to hold up pretty well back when I deer hunted.
I remember one year a friend co-worker and I were out fishing after work
we were catching walleye on what seemed like every cast caught fish casting trolling
we just couldn't miss then we found out that a massive tornado had hit a town not ten
miles away we were completely oblivious to the weather conditions at the time
An approaching low pressure area will drive the critters to eat. New moon cuts down on their ability to feed at night. Our rut is triggered by the first frost. That's usually around the same time the mast is plentiful. If the frost isn't long lasting or very cold there will be a second rut. Our deer season started yesterday and goes to the new year. I like a little breeze in my face.
Depends. If I'm sitting and watching I like to hunt the evening before a big storm because the animals seem to be out earlier and more determined to browse, or early in the morning when there's been no moon, as the animals seem to stay in the light longer. On very cold, bright mornings in Maine I've often been lucky looking over a south facing woodland edge as it seems the bucks will linger until they get a little sun on them before bedding down. If still hunting, I prefer snow or rain as it's quieter and the game seems less wary, and more likely to stay close to their beds. But for deer, the rut rules. In Maine it's around the 15th of November. And the biggest bucks I've killed have all been between the 14th and the 16th, all out during the daylight with only one thing on their minds.
i've noticed that deer will stay out later at night with the full moon and bed down during the day.
I, like I think most of us do, hunt when I get the CHANCE, but I do like to pay attention to the moon phases and solunar tables. Nothing is "foolproof" when it comes to deer. They are governed by lots of things. They have to be. The recent hurricane/tropical storm and power outages demonstrated to me just how dependent we can STILL be, ourselves, on things like moonlight at night. It was very dark, and I mean REALLY dark in the aftermath of the storm here. Haven't been paying attention to the moon phases lately, but there couldn't have been more than a 25% moon out, and it was pretty cloudy to boot. Food is probably THE most important element for deer. When and where they can eat provides a very powerful determinant of when and where they can be found for us to take a shot at. If anyone gets it all figured out, lemme know, will ya'? I've patterned a particularly large buck for 3 years, and never DID get that rascal! Saw patches of hide through holes in the brush twice, but that's as close as I ever got to having a shot. He whupped me, fair and square. I'm just glad I had the character and pluck to go for him mano-a-mano, even if I did lose that battle. This guy was as slick as oil on glass! Time and time again, he gave me choices, that always left him with a route out. That deer taught me about hunting BIG bucks, and I'll always owe that to him. What a magnificent animal!
Watch cows. If they are down, so will everything else be. If they are up, chances are better that you will be successfull. Also, follow the old farmers almanac.
I used to hunt with the moon in my early yrs but the game wardens kept chasing me so I quit.
Now, the truth. Yes, I hunted the major hunting/fishing times morning and afternoon. During the major, it seemed to me more game stirred. I've used the farmers almanac too.
I have had less luck with whitetail on a full moon, I attribute this to them being able to see better therefore they browse more during these brightly lit nighttime hours and stay bedded the next day because they are not hungry.
Love to go to water when a sudden cold front drops temps, mother nature tells Bambi to go to water because it will freeze and there will be no water to drink.
Don't much like to hunt real windy days either, since deer hear SO well, the wind in their ears prevents them from hearing predators so they don't move unless spooked on these windy days.
I kind of like hunting bedded deer. It takes a lot of use of the binoculars, and really paying attention to the wind. And hunting sloooooowwwwww.Quote:
Originally Posted by DougGuy
I've killed six bucks in their beds over the years. I figure if I can catch a bedded whitetail buck, I've won the game. All have been shot at under 40 yards.
Yea but with a full moon you don't need a spotlight??? I do a lot of driving at night in deer country and see that the deer here move less during a full moon night. Boy were they out last night 35 in one 10 acre field!
You're good. I've done it but it takes patience and you have to know what you are doing.Quote:
Originally Posted by waksupi
on full moon days I hunt 10 Am to 2PM killed a many at 11AM-1PM
And, with a full moon, if your out there in the dark, just before the moon drops and daylight starts to show, you can see the deer heading into the thickets, and deep timber. They go in and bed down, take a little nap, chew their cud, then late in the afternoon, they'll start moving a little just before dusk. You have to be in the right place at the right time. I literally bedded down 3 dandy bucks one evening, got up the next morning about an hour before light was within range of the exact location i'd seen them bed down. They never moved, i about froze my butt off waiting for them to get up. loll.Quote:
Originally Posted by tdoyka
I knew guys that called themselves hunting by the moon, their claim was deer didn't hold for a spotlight any where near as good on a full moon, so they did their hunting on darker nights. lol
I don't remember him worrying about the moon for hunting, he hunted when he could, but my dad was adamant abut planting the garden by the moon according to the farmers almanac, also for castrating the animals.
Like to hunt when it is cold and a light rain during the day. They are beded down, takes a lot of time with field glasses but the big guys horns will show their position. Need a good accurate rifle some of the shots are on the long side. A lot of fun on a cold day. A day after a full moon is usually not so good unless the rut is in process.
That is very true.Quote:
Originally Posted by starmac