Moon Phases?
 

Hey just wanted to hear some of y'alls opinions. I've never really done much research on moon phases until this year. I've been reading about the phases and I've been trying to figure out the best times to hunt during various phases. What are the best times to hunt during a full moon, new moon, etc? I'll be going up to KS this coming weekend to hunt and it looks like a full moon will hit on Sunday. What will be the best times to hunt? I read that during a full moon... mid-day is the best time to hunt for bucks because the moon is "underfoot" during the mid-day hours. Please let me know what you all think.

Go out in the morning before daylight, get in your stand and sit until dark. If you only have a few days to hunt this is your best option. Take some food and drink with you and you will be fine.

and an empty jug with a lid that seals, if ya aint figured it out yet, you will.

After nearly 30yrs of deer hunting I have seen considerable evidence that the afternoons of "the week-week half of full moon" (that being 3-4 days before and after full moon) ARE influenced positively by the FM. Especially the last hour, boy they really seem to "get busy". On the flipside, mornings sure seemed crappy and other than that first half hour of daylight, I've rarely seen much in the mornings of full moons. "Sometimes" I've felt a slight uptick in activity during 9:30-11 was noticed. I've also always felt that ESPECIALLY during warm weather/warm spells, the full moon REALLY puts a damper on daylight activity. If they are going to feed under a hot sun or can wait and feed all night in cooler temps with plenty of moon light... what do you think they are going to do?

I've sat all day and then hunted 9-3 during full moons (non-rut) and it was a waste of time IMHO. The mornings, despite the slow activity STILL offered the rare chance of a wall hanger. (You can't killem if you aren't out there) The ONLY time I sit all day is the 2wk prime pre-rut and rut itself. (moonphase be damned then)

I've killed far more wall hangers in the afternoon anyway, maybe I'm just partial to the pm hours!

I've seen some very respectable hunters use the moon guide with pretty good results. Murray Moon guide seems to be one of the more popular. It's not something to swear by but it gives the the better than average mornings to hunt and the better than average evenings. Weather and such also play a major factor but if I had a couple days out a a two week period in the non rut I'd use the moon guide to give myself an advantage. Even if its just a small advantage, its still an advantge.

I always will hunt all day during the rut and see a ton of mature bucks between 11-2pm and. Last year when i sat everyday all day, I saw deer moving all day long. Also you have to think about your property, do you have food or not? gotta think where the does will be and take that into consideration. Just make sure you hunt the stand that fits the wind... I hear so many people go to a stand because its the BEST stand. But youu have to get veryyyy lucky to shoot a mature buck.

Don't pay much attention to moon phase. Weather conditions down this way are much more of an influence. I posted what a bud and I did several years back years back in an attempt to figure in the moon phase. About all we saw for sure was if the night sky was clear and the moon full, the deer tended to show up cruising later in the moring ... often not until around midday. The number one influence on day time movement was weather. Much more active in cool weather.

Moon phase is one of those things that I don't take into account much in regards to hunting. Yes, it is information and some additional information can't hurt, but I won't look at a "game movement" prediction that highlights the "peak activity" times. Rather, take into account as others have said, if you have a full moon and clear sky, the deer are going to move more at night and right after daylight and just before dark. I have found on cloudy or rainy nights, deer are more prone to move later in the morning the next day.