Question to moon chart followers and Alabama Rut Hunters? It appearsthat there will be a full moon on Jan. 10 2009. Do you believe this will kick the deer in to full rut activities or not? Or will the better hunting be found when the moon isn't full in January 2009?

Which rut? I live in East Alabama and I will hunt a Nov, Dec & Jan rut, all withing 35 miles of my house. I have never noticed any significant difference in the timing of the rut, due to the moon phase.

It has been confirmed by scientist that a full moon can stimulate does and send the rut into a frenzy. I was wondering if the full moon around the tenth of January would have this kind of effect on the alabama deer herd.

I've watched this moon phase topic for awhile now, listened to all the arguments, read all the theories and agree with the conclusion that the moon does not control the timing of the rut...it happens the same time every year.
However...I do believe the moon phase has definate effects on the rut. I hunt in SW Alabama, and have noticed from my log books that if the full moon occurs in the first week of January there will be pronounced rut activity. Years that the full moon occurs at end of month (like last year)usually see very little activity here. The best explanation of this I have seen I read in "Hunting Trophy Whitetails" by David Morris. Also, there is a biologist on Tennessee Deer website by the name of Bryan Kinkel (?) who also gave a similar explanation regarding moon phase and how much daytime rutting activity takes place. His screen name is BSK. He used to work with Dr. Grant Woods. Maybe you could do a search there and find what I am talking about. Here's the link:

http://www.tndeer.com/tndeertalk/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=18