Monday, July 24, 2006
Moon Phases: Do They Work?
Much has been made of hunting the different phases of the moon in recent years. Some believe hunting is best on a full moon, during the dark of the moon, and almost every other time.
Do I pay attention to the moon phases? Nope, it doesn’t interest me, and for one very good reason.
I hunt every evening anyway so why worry about a specific moon phase. Perhaps if just shooting a buck was the only reason I hunted, perhaps I’d pay a bit more attention to how different moon phases affect the deer. But I hunt to spend time in the woods with bow in hand, and I simply don’t worry about such things. I’d rather spend my thinking time trying to puzzle out a big buck.
One theory says the best time of all to hunt is just prior to the second full moon following the autumnal equinox. Follow this theory over a period of several years, and you’ll find yourself hoping to hit the rut in late November and you’ll have missed all the action.
Our rut in northern Michigan begins with the chasing phase or pre-rut period that begins about Oct. 20 in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, and about Oct. 25 in southern counties. The rut reaches its peak sometime between Nov. 8 and 13, and the post-rut will occur in late November or early December.
That period of a week before a full moon almost always will have deer moving, and although some deer move well during a full moon, much of the movement takes place long after full dark. At times, especially if it corresponds with the rut, I’ll see some mid-day action as bucks go chasing after does.
Some hunters swear that the new moon period is best. Low light levels and earlier deer movements, they say, make deer a bit more susceptible to a well-placed hunter.
In truth, because I do hunt every day, I find that I’ve experienced some wonderful hunting during all phases of the moon. I really can’t say that I favor one moon phase over another.
The secret, if that is what it is to my success, is to be afield as often as possible. I know people who avoid hunting during the full moon, and I’m not sure why. It has produced some good big bucks for me over the years.
The new moon period has been very productive, but I’ve seen times when this moon period seems to fall flat with very little deer movement. Perhaps it is directly or indirectly tied in with the weather, but I can’t say it makes much difference to me.
The quarter moons have blown hot and cold for me as well. I can’t attach too much importance to one over another.
Being afield as often as possible, and hunting every night during peak periods of the rut, will produce more action for hunters than hunting only when a moon calendar tells you to go out. Years ago the newspapers would publish tables of the best fishing times, and one supposed that it also applied to deer, and I followed them for quite some time.
There were times when the tables were dead on and other times when they were not. Of course, hunting pressure, east winds, too much wind, and a thousand and one other things could have made a difference by affecting how fish fed and deer moved.
I won’t say they don’t work. All I’ll say is it means very little to me simply because I hunt every day, sometimes in the morning and evening, but mostly in the evening.
Does this work for me? Of course it does, and rather than hinging all of my hunting efforts on moon phases, I’d rather hang my chances on being afield every evening, rain or shine, snow or wind, and over many years it has paid big dividends for me.—The Whitetail Wizard