Where can I find a good Moon Phase
10-09-2002, 12:20 PM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Jackson Mo USA
Posts: 323
RE: Where can I find a good Moon Phase
Here is something that might help you out.
http://www.mosportsmen.com/deer/moon.htm
Works for me. I always suggest printing it out hightlight the days you see deer and maybe you will see a pattern. Good Luck.
Host of The Missouri Sportsmen's Radio Show
www.mosportsmen.com
http://www.mosportsmen.com/deer/moon.htm
Works for me. I always suggest printing it out hightlight the days you see deer and maybe you will see a pattern. Good Luck.
Host of The Missouri Sportsmen's Radio Show
www.mosportsmen.com
10-09-2002, 05:59 PM
#4
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Little Rock,ARK USA
Posts: 249
RE: Where can I find a good Moon Phase
I've found no better place for moon phases and sunrise/sunset times than the US Naval Observatory website...heres the link
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/
10-10-2002, 11:54 PM
#6
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Saskatchewan Canada
Posts: 6,921
RE: Where can I find a good Moon Phase
Well the other guys have all said it.
I have found the best time to hunt or days is always the dark side of the moon. Also the worst time to hunt is 2-3 days prior and 2-3 days after a new moon. The only exception is a cold front that may get the deer moving earlier but it doesn't seem to happen that often.
I have found the best time to hunt or days is always the dark side of the moon. Also the worst time to hunt is 2-3 days prior and 2-3 days after a new moon. The only exception is a cold front that may get the deer moving earlier but it doesn't seem to happen that often.
10-11-2002, 11:44 PM
#7
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: oakdale ct USA
Posts: 65
RE: Where can I find a good Moon Phase
The moon phases have less to do with it than do the Moon Up or Moon Down times. The solunar tables list these and they mean when the moon is directly overhead or directly below. I agree right before during and right after a full moon is the least likely times to see deer. Feeding times are generaly linked to the up-down times of the moon. This may sound like a lot of hogwash, but it's not. I've been hunting using the moon times for nearly 30 years. They work because deer feed, drink and sleep every day, even in the coldest or nastiest of weather, they may not go as far but they do. I talked a fellow I worked with into tring them out. He did and watched for the right times and took his first deer in 5 years of hunting and has havested at least 1 every year and several times 2. That was 10 years ago.
Misplaced Buckeye
Misplaced Buckeye
10-12-2002, 11:25 AM
#9
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 417
RE: Where can I find a good Moon Phase
My name is T.R. Michels, I write for several publications, including several internet publications. I've been doing deer research for 9 years, turkey research fo4 years, elk research for 2 years and duck and goose research for 2 years. I write down the temperature, dewpoint, windchil, wind speed and direction, heat index, amount and type of precipitation, barometric pressure, moon position time, moon phase dates, anomalistic moon cycle dates, time of day, deer seen, sex, # of points, activity etc. I'm just trying to figure out what makes the animals tick, and figure out the best times, places and techniques to hunt. I've worked my butt off at it, and I hope I've learned a few things. I also read a lot of research papers on game biology/activity.
As a result of all this I've come to the conclusion there are a lot of theories and charts that just don't hold up. When I write I am trying to give you the best information I have, from my personal research/studies and the research of game biologists. So, I'm going to give you my thoughts on the moon.
After 9 years of deer research, plotting 4000 deer sightings on an hourly graph, and using every overhead/underfoot moon position chart I could get my hands on, I found no correlation between deer sightings and overhead/underfoot position of the moon. I also found no correlation between deer signtings and any of the game tables that predict hourly movment of deer. In other words, they didn't work!!! Scientific studies by severaldifferent researchers show that peak fall deer movement times are at dawn and dusk. After talking to several deer researchers I can tell you that none of them have ever found any correlation between the position of the moon and the time of day that deer move.
In his research thesis Dr. Kent Kammmermeyer found no correlation with deer activity and tidal charts. So they didn't work either. However, he did have more deer sightings (and activity by radio-collared deer) during the full moon than during the new moon. Several other researchers found more deer activity during the full moon. Kammermeyer also found that deer were more active during the dark portion of the night when there was a full moon, and they were more active during the light portion of the night when there was a new moon. In other words; deer prefer to move (at night) when there is neither too much light nor to little moon light. When they can't move at night, they move more during the day.
That means that they may come out into open areas later in the day (than normal) when there is a full moon, and they may go back into protected/wooded areas earlier in the morning (than normal) when there is a full moon. Because they still need to eat, and they are more active during the full moon, expect to see deer moving in wooded/protected areas during the day when there is a full moon.
There is also no evidence that the full moon (or any moon phase) affects peak breeding of whitetails. Peak breeding occurs roughly during the same 7-10 day time frame (in each area) every year. But, the second full moon after the fall equinox (the so-called rutting moon) can occur from as early as late-October, to as late as late-November. You guys know that peak breeding in the northern states generally occurs in mid-November, ask any deer biologist. In fact, a recent study of 2,500 does between 1980 and 1987, conducted by Dr. Karl Miller and several other researchers (at my suggestion,) showed that in 11 states (from Vermont to Minnesota and from Georgia to Mississippi) there was no correlation between peak breeding in those states and any moon phase. You believe what you want, I'm just trying to give you the best scientific evidence available.
If you have other question on deer, elk, turkey, ducks or geese, scents, calls, decoys, rattling, flagging etc.; fire away, and I'll do my best to answer.
T.R. Michels
T.R. Michels
As a result of all this I've come to the conclusion there are a lot of theories and charts that just don't hold up. When I write I am trying to give you the best information I have, from my personal research/studies and the research of game biologists. So, I'm going to give you my thoughts on the moon.
After 9 years of deer research, plotting 4000 deer sightings on an hourly graph, and using every overhead/underfoot moon position chart I could get my hands on, I found no correlation between deer sightings and overhead/underfoot position of the moon. I also found no correlation between deer signtings and any of the game tables that predict hourly movment of deer. In other words, they didn't work!!! Scientific studies by severaldifferent researchers show that peak fall deer movement times are at dawn and dusk. After talking to several deer researchers I can tell you that none of them have ever found any correlation between the position of the moon and the time of day that deer move.
In his research thesis Dr. Kent Kammmermeyer found no correlation with deer activity and tidal charts. So they didn't work either. However, he did have more deer sightings (and activity by radio-collared deer) during the full moon than during the new moon. Several other researchers found more deer activity during the full moon. Kammermeyer also found that deer were more active during the dark portion of the night when there was a full moon, and they were more active during the light portion of the night when there was a new moon. In other words; deer prefer to move (at night) when there is neither too much light nor to little moon light. When they can't move at night, they move more during the day.
That means that they may come out into open areas later in the day (than normal) when there is a full moon, and they may go back into protected/wooded areas earlier in the morning (than normal) when there is a full moon. Because they still need to eat, and they are more active during the full moon, expect to see deer moving in wooded/protected areas during the day when there is a full moon.
There is also no evidence that the full moon (or any moon phase) affects peak breeding of whitetails. Peak breeding occurs roughly during the same 7-10 day time frame (in each area) every year. But, the second full moon after the fall equinox (the so-called rutting moon) can occur from as early as late-October, to as late as late-November. You guys know that peak breeding in the northern states generally occurs in mid-November, ask any deer biologist. In fact, a recent study of 2,500 does between 1980 and 1987, conducted by Dr. Karl Miller and several other researchers (at my suggestion,) showed that in 11 states (from Vermont to Minnesota and from Georgia to Mississippi) there was no correlation between peak breeding in those states and any moon phase. You believe what you want, I'm just trying to give you the best scientific evidence available.
If you have other question on deer, elk, turkey, ducks or geese, scents, calls, decoys, rattling, flagging etc.; fire away, and I'll do my best to answer.
T.R. Michels
T.R. Michels
10-16-2002, 12:23 AM
#10
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NJ USA
Posts: 21
RE: Where can I find a good Moon Phase
How easy is this? All times are influenced by deer hunting pressure and weather!!!
http://espn.go.com/winnercomm/outdoo..._02_at_10T.jpg
Edited by - stucbuc on 10/16/2002 01:29:05
http://espn.go.com/winnercomm/outdoo..._02_at_10T.jpg
Edited by - stucbuc on 10/16/2002 01:29:05
