Moon phases and the rut
 

Do you guys believe the moon phase affects the rut? Specifically, that the full moon is what triggers the does to go into estrous?

I'll admit to avidly reading the Deer and Deer Hunting magazine's annual rut prediction articles by Charles Alsheimer and Wayne Laroche. Maybe it's just confirmation bias on my part, but it seems to me like their predictions for what types of deer movement you'll see and on what days seems to be pretty accurate.

What are your thoughts?

A great way to sell magazine articles. I've never read a credible scientific study that indicated moon phase was an overriding influence over day length for predicting the rut.

No I don't believe. The rut still occurs approximately the same time every year. I do believe weather can have an effect of daylight activity based on warmer temps, heavy rain or snow, etc.

I've read somewhere that the amount of light in a day has an effect on it, but who knows? I'd have to agree with Rob, the rut occurs at the same time here as well. Give or take a few days. I think the weather has some factor to it. Last year was a very warm season here and stalled the rut a little. It was very depressing... :(

Actually Brushpines, it is the amount of daylight that triggers the rut in deer. It is the diminishing ratio of daylight to darkness that affects the pituitary gland which releases a hormone that starts the ball rolling. The moon or temperature has nothing to do with it unless deer think it is romantic. :biggrin:

So what I read was true?! First time for everything! :biggrin:

according to a long time deer farmer in central wi mating " begins " around nov 10 to the 15th every year no matter what

There is no "no matter what". When the correct ratio of light to darkness is reached and the pituitary gland releases the hormone the rut starts. It may be close to those dates, where he is, North America is a big place and the trigger isn't the date.

It is in those dates where he resides Central Wi What he is saying is it does not matter moon phases or anything else even reasonable temp fluctuations he says if it is quite warm they mate at night more than usual

I will try again for the last time. What matters is not the moon as you have noted or the temperature. What matters is the amount of daylight compared to the amount of darkness that triggers the rut. The temp doesn't matter, it is the contrast between daylight and darkness that matters. It could be cold, so long as the daylight darkness ration is right, the pituitary will send out the hormone to start the rut.

Far from it. Rut usually starts around Christmas and ends around middle of January here.

The only thing temp has to do with the rut is when you actually see them out chasing. If it's warm to hot, they are still chasing, just not in the heat of daylight. Especially in places that are warm like your deep southern states.

Its all about survival IMO. They breed when it makes sense for survival. Everything else is more correlation than causation IMO.

Breeding when the days are short and the weather is cool correlates with giving birth in the spring and assuring the best chance for survival.

Luckily as hunters correlation is really just as good as causation as we really just need to know when not why.

The further north you go the smaller the survival window becomes and the more predictable the rut is.

I have to disagree Rocky. With all the old wives tales and anecdotal nonsense that is passed around as fact, I believe is is just as important to know why as well as when. The crux of what you said it true, evolution worked it out for the survival aspect, however I think we as hunters should know the whole story.

Well it certainly doesn't hurt to know why. I'd have to disagree that its just as important as knowing when but it is better to know both for sure.

I bet if you look at peak vegetation growth in your area and subtract 200 days you will find the rut in most cases.

We can agree on that.

I hunt public land in Florida. We have 4 WMAs about 20 miles apart and all have a different rut. Most I hunt, so I know they are different. The other couple of WMAs, they actually changed the dates of the hunts to correlate with the rut, to give hunters a better chance.
The rut is Usually with in a couple weeks of each year on each WMA. ( late October on 1, Dec on another and January on another).

I know the more I think I know, the less I do.

Roger that. 100% correct and the rut goes on regardless of temperature however the action might be after dark since it's cooler. Same time, every year...

The moon and deer is a debated topic. Though have heard no proof.

But when a guy says, he is telling me for the last time, I start thinking the other guy is right.

Arguements over hunting, will never end, and I hope they don't.

As for moon activity in general, many say no proof. I know I have none. But I prefer when deer season does not have a full moon. Many think deer are magial creatures that can see with zero light. No animal can do that.

interesting subject/phenomenan...rut in georgia fluctuates by only a few days east to west,north to south...in alabama the rut could be 45 to 60 days different..only a couple hundred miles away...go figure....ain't this fun!!!

thank you...and you're the same distance from equator that I am in georgia

i have never heard or read that, but that is definitely something to consider..i did the math and it was dead on for my area..i would say peak vegy was june 1..makes rut nov 7ish...cool

There are so many factors that come into play that can cause the rut to be dead or active in your area to specify that it is simply due to moon phase is inaccurate. I agree with Oldtimr somewhat that daylight vs darkness assists with triggering some of the rut activity but do not feel that is not the sole factor. Temperature does play a part in regards to how active deer are going to be. The rut may be on but if it is 80+ degrees out deer are not going to travel as far from their current location regardless if a doe is being pushed or not by a buck. Daylight also plays a role that if there is a full moon currently nighttime activity will typically be greater than daytime activity. Each one of these are not hard set rules though as it greatly depends if you also have does that are in estrus in your area. Studies that I have read show that moon phase and weather conditions do not play a role at all in when a doe comes into estrus but is more is based on when the deer is born, health and normal life cycle. Some does start coming into estrus in October as well as some spring fawns will come into estrus later that fall the year they were born. Depending on deer density in your area will play a large role in if you have a lot of activity or not. The rut can be on and you may have a hot doe 80 acres away that has 5 bucks trailing her but you may never see her or the bucks and think the rut is non-existent in your area. Best bet is to be in the stand as much as you can be near the end of October through the first two weeks of November in the Midwest. Good luck to you this year.

I believe weather can alter the rut by a week or so but as for the moon phases all these articles talk about , no way. It's usually the same time every year give a take a week

I agree with this.