How big of a part does the moon play into Elk hunting? I hunt 3rd season rifle for Elk in Colorado. This year the moon is pretty much going to be full the entire week. Should I change my tactics at all, or hunt like I normally would?

My experience has been that with a full moon the elk seem to be even more active at night thus reducing their need or desire to be out and about during the day. This makes the dawn and dusk minutes even more precious than normal, being absolutely "on stand" an hour before sunrise and staying on stand until it is dark thirty becomes even more important, buttttt....

Change of tactics? No, we do the way, way early and way, way late thing anyway. The nice part is that a full moon makes walking to and from your kill zones in the dark a much more enjoyable, even special, time.

Hunting the third season, the elk know the "heat is on" relative to hunters and hunting pressure, I would think would make them even more "vampire-like" (sunlight avoidance) relative to their night time behavior thus making them even more scarce during the daylight. Exceptions could be them migrating or being "bumped" by other hunters.

Just my opine.

EKM

Good question, when you find out let me know. Bobby

EKM is right on. I find that they lay low all day and are more active at night. Probably just like day to them with a full moon and no harrassment. I prefer no moon and walking out in the black. Good luck on your hunt.

The morning hunt is nothing short of ruined w/ a full moon, you HAVE to be out in the dark and "on stand" if you want to call it that, because the elk WILL NOT be active into full light in the morning as they will w/ no moon. The evening can be just as productive as before, but usually is slightly less active. One good thing though, the full moon allows you to see something of whats going on at night if you want to take a look at night, you may be able to locate them, then stalk in when legal light hits.

I checked the Farmer's Almanac and we will have a predominantly "new moon" for the first rifle season here in Colorado. Perfect, walking in the dark will be very black however but that is what headlamps and GPS is for!

EKM