Might be illegal to post that copy writed material that they try to sell people.[8D] It's all mumbo jumbo.

Butch how do you access the hunt , fish option on your GPS? I have the e-trex& can't remember where the instruction papers for it are...

I'd suggest taking a look at TR Michaels website to take a look at actual studies made on this kind of stuff. It's pretty interesting.

I believe weather has a bigger impact. BUT I have noticed that where I hunt there is almost no human activity and the deer do move more during these peak times.That is, on days when the weather is normal.

That's an awefully late rut for us folks in Wisconsin. Usually they are really chasing the first of November or so.

It's in the Main Menu under "Accessories". In there is where you'll see:

Calendar
Sun & Moon
Hunt & Fish
Calculator
Area Calculator

Edit: On Garmin's website, they have a section where you can download the owners manual and all sorts of stuff.
http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexLegend/

Hello all,

Hunting the moon and timing the rut can be downright confusing. However, one individual who has done extensive research for quite a few years, has it pretty much nailed down. His name is Charlie Alsheimer. What makes his studies differ from others in the fact that he uses data from all over the states, and in addition to that he has a special unit in maine that the deer being studied are not affected by hunter pressure, nor by temperature. All this mumbo jumbo stared making sense after hearing him in a seminar. What is really impressive is that his data in the controlled environment mirrored exactly what was transpiring in the other locations across the states. In case you are wondering, no I am not an affiliate of his, nor does he even know me. But I do have a good bullcrap sensor and his collected information is not a gimmic or smoke and mirrors. Here is a link to his site.

http://www.charliealsheimer.com/ca/moon.html

Hunt safe, and thank God for his creation.

~David

I have researched this issue. One author, I forget who, had kept a log for over 40 years of hunting. He recorded the moon phase and compared that to the lunar tables. He said that the only statement he could make about hunting by the moon phase was that he saw significantly more deer activity after a dark night and less after a bright night. None of his data corresponded with the tables. As far as predicting the rut, most state wildlife authorities have on their websites a page where the rut is predicted for different areas withing that state. The biologists have the ability to predict the peak rut by estimating the birth date of most fawns born in a given year, and then backdating the gestation period of whitetail does. I have tracked this here in southern Alabama and Mississippi and those guys are right on the money. During the rut, all projections are out the window, bucks may move at any time, best to hunt all day if possible.

The rut seems to be tied to the length of day versus moon phase. However, look for the 2 week period before and after the predicted rut and if you have a full moon during this time, hunt all day every day around this period. Deer movement seems to be predicated on the brightness of the night before, storm fronts, and other environmental factors rather than the moon phase.

Estrous cycles are almost completely predicated by circulating concentrations MCH, dopamine, and T4/T3. These are innately linked to the hypothalamus/pituitary, and in essence release GnRH/LH which correlates with increased ovarian activity.

And in case you haven't guessed, these are all linked with decreasing amounts of daylight, or shorter photoperiods.

Climate can also play a role, as can nutritional status.

But more importantly, is the doe:buck ratio. The higher this ratio, the more does each buck must breed. This is bad, because not only do the does cycle longer, but the activity of the bucks is greatly diminished; ie. if you have a fridge built-in to your recliner, you need not walk to the kitchen to get a beer...[8D]

Alsheimer may have some interesting data, but decipher it for yourself, do not rely on his intepretations.

I follow these four rules when hunting by the moon:

1) hunt mornings hard during the new and waxing moons
2) hunt afternoons hard during the new and waning moons
3) hunt mid-day during a full moon
4) hunt whenever I can from 0ct 15th to Dec 1st.

During the month of November, there are also many other celestial bodies which appear and oftentimes "align" in the night sky. Many of these were traditional hunting "signals" to the Native American Indians...

I like the quote from Strut&Rut, so I enlarged it for all to re-read. It makes sense when reading all the articles and Charlie Alsheimer's site and T.R. Michels' site, etc...