Do lunar/moon & deer activity predictors work?
08-28-2011, 06:27 AM
#1
Fork Horn
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Join Date: Feb 2003
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Posts: 417
Do lunar/moon & deer activity predictors work?
First of all understand that I've been hunting deer since 1964, guiding since 1989, and doing deer research since 1999 (for 10 years). One of the things I looked at was if deer lwere affected by the daily position of the moon. I als0 looked at was how they were affected by any weather condition I could think of, if the rut was affected by the moon, and if monthly activity was affected by moonlight, gravitaion or electomagnetics.
The RUT was not correlated with the FULL MOON, moonlight affects deer on a daily bais, depending on how much light there is; moonlight and/or gravitational pull affect deer weekly (not daily) deer activity is afected based on the phase and closenes of the moon to earth, electromagnetics affected deer on a weekly basis each month.
There really is a lot that afects deer, but the average hunter should pay most attention to the weather. Her is an axion I coined back in th ealry 1990's
T.R.'s Game Animal Actvity Axiom:
If it is too hot, too cold, too wind or too wet, or there is too much human beavior or predatory behavior - the animals are not going to do what they normaly d. That, if you think about it, is just common sense.
On our farm I had deer bedding in the backyard. They bedded nightly in a line of pine trees, about 50 yards form the highway, and the same from the house, where they would have been visible from the highway if a person had cared to look. I used to watch them from the downstairs bathroom window every morning, 7 does and fawns. I used to say that I did deer research while sitting on the throne reading the paper.
One doe bedded at the base of a big willow tree in the creek bottom behind the house, in a line from the kithchen window to the old pump for the barn. She would raise her head and look while my wife went out the back door to go to the garage 40 yards away, to start the car and bring it to the back door, and she would go back to sleep as soon as the wife left the place.
And I can tell you that after watching the deer in our yard for several weeks, and checking the Feeding and Fishing Times, Moon Guide, Solunar Table and a few other deer movement predictors, that they did not get up, nor were they active, at times predicted by any of those tables more than 11% of the time. So, THE POSITION OF THE MOON HAS NO EFFECT ON DEER ACTIVITY TIMES.
I extended that moon position study to another 6 years, on all of the deer within 5 miles of our house, and still never saw any correlation with deer activity times, feeding times, bedding times, and the position of the moon, which is to say that MOON PREDICTORS FOR DEER ACTIVITY DO NOT WORK on a regular basis. Sure they might work for a few deer, a few times a week, but day in and day out, over a month - they will not work.
If you have questions about deer biology and behavior, or deer hunhting - feel free to ask. I'm here to help. Ask here or e-mail me at [email protected]
God bless,
T.R.
The RUT was not correlated with the FULL MOON, moonlight affects deer on a daily bais, depending on how much light there is; moonlight and/or gravitational pull affect deer weekly (not daily) deer activity is afected based on the phase and closenes of the moon to earth, electromagnetics affected deer on a weekly basis each month.
There really is a lot that afects deer, but the average hunter should pay most attention to the weather. Her is an axion I coined back in th ealry 1990's
T.R.'s Game Animal Actvity Axiom:
If it is too hot, too cold, too wind or too wet, or there is too much human beavior or predatory behavior - the animals are not going to do what they normaly d. That, if you think about it, is just common sense.
On our farm I had deer bedding in the backyard. They bedded nightly in a line of pine trees, about 50 yards form the highway, and the same from the house, where they would have been visible from the highway if a person had cared to look. I used to watch them from the downstairs bathroom window every morning, 7 does and fawns. I used to say that I did deer research while sitting on the throne reading the paper.
One doe bedded at the base of a big willow tree in the creek bottom behind the house, in a line from the kithchen window to the old pump for the barn. She would raise her head and look while my wife went out the back door to go to the garage 40 yards away, to start the car and bring it to the back door, and she would go back to sleep as soon as the wife left the place.
And I can tell you that after watching the deer in our yard for several weeks, and checking the Feeding and Fishing Times, Moon Guide, Solunar Table and a few other deer movement predictors, that they did not get up, nor were they active, at times predicted by any of those tables more than 11% of the time. So, THE POSITION OF THE MOON HAS NO EFFECT ON DEER ACTIVITY TIMES.
I extended that moon position study to another 6 years, on all of the deer within 5 miles of our house, and still never saw any correlation with deer activity times, feeding times, bedding times, and the position of the moon, which is to say that MOON PREDICTORS FOR DEER ACTIVITY DO NOT WORK on a regular basis. Sure they might work for a few deer, a few times a week, but day in and day out, over a month - they will not work.
If you have questions about deer biology and behavior, or deer hunhting - feel free to ask. I'm here to help. Ask here or e-mail me at [email protected]
God bless,
T.R.
Last edited by trmichels; 08-28-2011 at 08:15 AM.
08-28-2011, 07:29 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
My no.1 buddy and I did a similar, though non-scientific, study in an attempt to try to correlate mom.on phase with deer movement. We kept a record of every deer we saw ... recording sex, time, estimating age, etc. for a 4 year run. We made no attempt to go at any particular phase. We did record the phase, temperature, time of day , wind direction etc. We go so much that we covered all phases several times. I kept a spread sheet and the graphs I developed form the for years, but have long ago deleted them. Bottom line for us two, where we hunt (SE Al.), there is no distinct, strong correlation I could find related directly with moon phase. What we did find was that full moon = later in the day. No moon = more movement overall. Moon phase = nothing to do with rut time. East - South east wind = stay home !! Cold, still or gentle NW breeze = be there. Rain ? Sleet? Snow? Be in the woods when it quits !
08-28-2011, 08:05 AM
#4
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 417
MojoTex,
Good work, keeping records is probably the best wya to figureout what kind of weather or moon phse or t ime of day may be acitive.
One of the big problems with such studies though is, to be as acurate as it can be, a "study" or research project needs to be conducted every day of the week ( or at least every other day), month etc, for all months of the hunting season or fall, and at the same time or times of they day, for approximatley the same number of hours each time - so that you record not only the deer on the days you hunted, but on the day you did not hunt, Leaving out even one days data can through the whole project off.
Adbn you need to do it for about 3 years, because one year may be an anomally.
When I researched deer, I spent from about an hour before sunrise to 9 AM and from 4 PM until about an hour after sunset, at least 4 days every week, from about Sept. 1- Dec. 31 for 10 years. That makes for a very acurate study.
Let me knw how you guys do this year, 'cause I can't hunt. Read the "Thank you to all" thread to find out why.
God bless, and good hunting.
T.R.
Good work, keeping records is probably the best wya to figureout what kind of weather or moon phse or t ime of day may be acitive.
One of the big problems with such studies though is, to be as acurate as it can be, a "study" or research project needs to be conducted every day of the week ( or at least every other day), month etc, for all months of the hunting season or fall, and at the same time or times of they day, for approximatley the same number of hours each time - so that you record not only the deer on the days you hunted, but on the day you did not hunt, Leaving out even one days data can through the whole project off.
Adbn you need to do it for about 3 years, because one year may be an anomally.
When I researched deer, I spent from about an hour before sunrise to 9 AM and from 4 PM until about an hour after sunset, at least 4 days every week, from about Sept. 1- Dec. 31 for 10 years. That makes for a very acurate study.
Let me knw how you guys do this year, 'cause I can't hunt. Read the "Thank you to all" thread to find out why.
God bless, and good hunting.
T.R.
08-28-2011, 08:38 PM
#6
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location:
Posts: 56
my theory is not scientific at all. here is what i believe, if there is a full moon at night, morning and evening deer activity will be less because they are in the field feeding all night. the extra light from the moon allows them to see predators while remaining more concealed themselves, and therefore they feel safer in the field at night. with that being said, here is the rule i hunt by. full moon all night...hunt in the trees. no moon, hunt a field edge. am i an expert no, but it seems to have done me well.
08-29-2011, 04:08 AM
#7
Fork Horn
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 417
Except that predators also see better at night, thus, they harass deer more during fullmoon light nights. And,studies show, that deer are more active during the week of the full moon during the day (full moon with no clouds at night) than during other moon phases. At least three scientific studies that I know of (including my own 10 year research project, a 3 year study from Georgia, and a 2 year study from Texas) show that.
But, deer activitymay be less during the morning and evening during the full moon, becuse of the increased light, which may make them nervous. Deer generally avoid bright light situations - which is why they move atdawn and dusk.
But, deer activitymay be less during the morning and evening during the full moon, becuse of the increased light, which may make them nervous. Deer generally avoid bright light situations - which is why they move atdawn and dusk.
