November Full Moon
 

I noticed the full moon for Nov. is going to be on the 5th this year. This seems earlier this year. I have planned a trip to Pike Co IL starting on the 10th- 16th and thought it would be the week preceding the full moon however just realized it would be preceding the new moon. Will the full moon on the 5th bring does to estrus or will it happen towards the middle of Nov. like usual??????

RE: November Full Moon
 

Do you really believe the moon makes does go into estrus? If so, why wouldn't the other eleven full moons have a reaction? Just courious.

RE: November Full Moon
 

The moons phase should have nothing to do with the rut time period other than they will do more chasing at night than day. I hate when that happens. I remember this a few years ago, full moon over into the second week of Nov and I stayed in the stand long after dark, full moon lit everything up, I was in a stand overlooking a cut corn field and I heard every deer in the woods come into the field, running, chasing grunting, fighting...I wanted to run out and scream at them....lol

This year, I'm off the week of Halloween and the next week, I'm dreading the full moon, I'm hoping for crisp days.

RE: November Full Moon
 

Personally, I will take the pre-rut seeking/chasing phase over the full blown rut anyday! When those big boys are holed up with hot doe, it can get pretty slow out in the woods. I think you made a great choice in the days you picked. Although I would pick Nov 1st-20th next time if I were you. lol And had a boat load of vacation time. Your bound to hit it just right within 20 days of hunting.

RE: November Full Moon
 

Charles Alsheimer has written that the peak of the rut begins on the second full moon after the autumnal equinox (please don't make me say that again...[8D])

I always thought it was a light thing...some gland of theirs reads how much daylight there is and that dictates their estrous....BUT..if that's the case, wouldn't the rut be more predictable and the same time every year?

RE: November Full Moon
 

It pretty much is, peak rut is always pretty damn close to the 15th of Nov, give or take...that's pretty exact. Isn't it? :)

RE: November Full Moon
 

I agree with Rob

I am a photperiodism man myself............

The timing of the peak rut (the4 to5 days that 80% of the does are breed) is very predictable IMO.

Just because you ain't seeing it...........doesn't mean its not happening:)

That full moon just seems to kill morning and evening activity.............time to go in at 9 and stay till 3;)

RE: November Full Moon
 

OK....then why is it different north and south? I mean, the amount of daylight is the same, so why do does in say.....Texas, come into estrous in December? I just don't get any of this.....[&:]

RE: November Full Moon
 

You'll be fine. I'm going to Ohio for a week starting the 7th. Moon just mean I better be spending some midday time in the tree.

RE: November Full Moon
 

The closer to the equator the longer the days......so its not the same......

The timing of the rut has everything to do with the fawn drop.......

Up north it better be timed right..

Close to the equator the rut is all year and some bucks are velvet some bucks are hard horn....its a mess...........because it really doesn't matter when the fawns drop and the amount of light is very constant

RE: November Full Moon
 

The moon phase is also the same, around the world yet the rut is different from the North to the South...it's more daylight hours/photoperiodism as Rack has mentioned.

RE: November Full Moon
 

Yes, the moon phase is indeed the same, which is why I was more confused than I normally am. [&:]

OK....so Alsheimer don't know his elbows from his knees, and it's photoperiodism.....I can buy that, in fact, that makes more sense than the moon thing.....

RE: November Full Moon
 

It's the amount of daylight that sets off the rut, but in conjunction with the moon it can and does effect daylight movement. Your ideal would be to have a blackout on the 14th or so. If it's a full blown neon moon, you can look for more movement during midday than at first and last light. I haven't looked, but probably optimum movement will be like 8 or 9 at night and 2 or 3 in the AM and then 11-1 or so during the day

RE: November Full Moon
 

I have noticed that the deer don't move much when there is a full moon they kinda hold up until after dark or around noon they move a little bit but if your hunting in Pike Co. don't worry about a thing just about all the big bucks that came from there in the past.

RE: November Full Moon
 

Photoperiodism, not moon phase, period! No pun intended.;)If temps aren't right, they move at night. That sounded pretty good.:D:D

RE: November Full Moon
 

That kinda sucks that there will be a full moon on the 5th, I was planning on bowhunting that weekend and was looking forward to a little action in the evening and in the morning. In MO, that weekend is the weekend before rifle season andIMO is the best time to take a big buck with a bow......

RE: November Full Moon
 

What if itis cloudy at night for 1 week straight during the full moon phase? - are they still moving more at night?

Are you saying that for whatever reason they like to move by the light of the silvery full moon?

Aren'ttheir eyes almost as good at night as they are during the day?

Why would they need the extra light of the full moon to move more?

I believe people think they move more during the full moon (if it isn't cloudy), because WE humans can see them moving around since the moon is casting a lot of light for US to see them with.

The rut occurs every year within a 14 day period in the North, whether it coincides with the photoperiodism, the full moon, or because of the Great Pumpkin - it really doesn't matter to me.

I just wish I had a job and a life that would allow me to be in the woods as much as possible during that timeframe.

Instead, most of that time, I will be stuck at work looking at all of your swollen neck, multi-pointed, drop-tined, crab-clawed, split-tined,heavy-racked, kicker-pointed, broken-rack, heavy bodied, big buck pictures (before, during lunch break and after only of course).

Good Luck.

RE: November Full Moon
 

What happens if you haveheavy cloudcover for a couple weeks in October (as is very possible in the Northeast)?... I believe that the rut is pretty muchduring the same timeframe each year (though it can vary according to latitude) to insure that the fawns are mature enough to survive the following winter. This would explain why the rut is earlier in NY than in NC!

RE: November Full Moon
 

Well I'll be hunting eight days straight starting on the afternoon of 11/6

RE: November Full Moon
 

All I remember about the rutting moon is last year they went friggen nuts the very morning after. I don't remember seeing big bucks moving the very next day, but the small guys just went gonzo. There was all kinds of seeking going on. Was it associated to the rutting moon? I can't say for sure. But if it wasn't it sure was coincidental!!

RE: November Full Moon
 

Rut here in West Central IL is going to take place some time within the the first few weeks of November. If you're able to block off a couple of weeks away from work, this is the time to do it.

As far as what triggers the rut, who knows for sure. You can not just discredit someone (Alsheimer) that has spent the better part of the last decade monitoring, filming and recording deer behavior during those ciritical first few weeks of November in the North. He actually has years of data to back up his moon theories. I'm not saying he's 100% correct, but you can't just throw his thought process out the door.

Rather be safe than sorry...make sure you're in your stand as much as possible during the first half of November...

RE: November Full Moon
 

You can't hang your hat and rely on ONE thing. It's a combination of things. About the ONLY constant is that the breeding season will come and peak about the same time every year in an area. We try all year to put that big buck in front of us. And where is this big buck goinng to be with the rut... he's going to be with the girls. And where are the majority of the girls going to be. They're going to be doing the things they always do 24/7/365.... traveling from or to the smorgasboard of the woods. Just eating, except for the few hours she becomes so horny she can't help herself. So, the time is right(The Rut is ON) and the girls are hungry. Now come all the variables that can slide things around. Deer have to eat or chew the cud every few hours. One, they're nocturnal so their favorite time is after sundown. Bright night with a full moon they pack it in as they can see well and aren't so on edge. Dark nights, less movement, less feeding. If deer have fed heavily all nightthey're probably bedded up before or right at close to first light. Horny buck will be in tow. They'll get hungry 5 or 6 hours later near mid day)and get up to move and browse... horny buck in tow. If it was dark the night before they probably got up and fed a couple times and bedded near or in the last food source they hit. They'll get up and feed some more before or on the way to their favorite bedding area.... horny bucks in tow. Now you have all the other variables too... Weather, it effects movement greatly..especially at it's extremes of cold/hot.. dry/wet etc etc. The deers/does natural movement is still desireable but weather can make them choose option 2 or Plan B.... with horny bucks in tow. Another variable is hunting pressure. They aren't dumb, maybe less on guard during the rut....but they aren't dumb. They feel the pressure they will not come. The rut and breeding will always go on. It's just it's outward visual sidecan be effected by weather, daylight, pressure etc. So the moon could be the optimum for you with regard to the rut timing and you could still have a vey crappy rut hunt because of other outside factors. You could also hit it exactly wrong as far as moon light and have a weather system come in and rain them or snow them up until daylight making your worst time become the best during daylight hours. The rut will still go on... you have to be there to try.

The one thing that puzzles me about the rut is "Regional Annomolies". Most of the country seems to fall in the first week second week of Nov for the primary rut. Real oddities are say TEXAS, it's January I think for most of it. And look at Alabama. On one side of the Chatahoochie river in Georgia the rut will be Nov 10-15. Across the river in Alabama, it'll be January. Wierd.

RE: November Full Moon
 

I use a very reliable rut indicator, the interstate. When I-79 is polluted with deer carcasses I know the rut is on.