I would never argue with anybody over the phase of the moon and buck movement, all of us have our own ideas and idiosycrasies.I have kept journals on my personal experiencesspending hundreds of hours in the stand each year, some years hunting at least a portion ofeveryday from the end of October to the end of November and nothing jumps out at me concerning moon phase and buck movement; nothing. As much respect and admiration that I have for Charles Alsheimer I can't agree with him 100 % on his views concerning the moon phase...but then what do I know, I am a nobody.

The biggest buck I ever drew down on (a booner that I couldn't close the deal on)wasn't anywhere near the rut (Oct. 7th). If a fella is planning a trip for whitetails in the midwest I certainly would pick the month of Novemberfor obvious reasons. However, if you are just picking days to go hunting; then a guy should hunt every opportunity that he has a chance too if he wants to be successful. The besttime to hunt isevery chanceyou can.

On more than one occasion I have been in the position where time on stand was scarce. I can think of times when by the time I got ready and got to my stand I would have less than 30 minutes to sit until dark. More than once I was dragging a buck out of the woods under those conditions.

There is a school of thought that believes a full moon is detrimental to hunting. The idea being that the extra amount of light reflected at night causes more nightime movement which reduces daytime movement due to energy loss. Again I think there are too many variables in the life of a mature buck in any given area to make any kind of a blanket statement either way.

Hardcore I think your plan is a good one but in my little pea brain way of thinkingit doesn't have anything to do with the phase of the moon. Time of the year, and this statement "so I am going to take off and hunt the 2nd through the 8th and live in a treestand " lead me to believe you have good odds at being successful.

Good luck, and be sure and show us the pics....