Do you plan hunts around the moon phase?

[Adam Gibbs]

Looks like peak full moon next year is September 14th. If you had 10 straight days of hunting, would you rather hunt the front side, leading into the full moon? The front and backside of the full moon? Or start during the full moon and hunt the backside of it until the end of September? Or am I thinking too much into and and rutting elk are gonna do what rutting elk do?

 

[WYCFM1]

I like the getting the best shot at finding elk that are beginning to scent check everything and keeping an eye on cows. It’s almost like any bull that reply’s to cow calls is so killable every time. So the week before the full moon for me.


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[Nathan_Douglas]

In for ideas

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[LostArra]

For planning? No

But the moon is a convenient excuse when elk (or deer) sightings are slow

 

[cnelk]

Even tho the full moon is on Sept 14th, there are areas where the rut is in full swing long after that.

Now if you're asking about the effects of a full moon and hunting the rut, those are 2 different conversations.

I know when I'll be going

 

[adieatrick]

Care to elaborate Cnelk?

 

[cnelk]

Care to elaborate Cnelk?

Which part?

 

[adieatrick]

"Now if you're asking about the effects of a full moon and hunting the rut, those are 2 different conversations."

While I have not let the moon phase dictate when I hunt as I have a limited schedule and have to play the cards delt...I'm curious to hear why for elk.

 

[Adam Gibbs]

I guess a simpler way to put my question is if you had to hunt before, during or after the full moon, which would it be? The goal is to be around vocal animals.

 

[5MilesBack]

I guess a simpler way to put my question is if you had to hunt before, during or after the full moon, which would it be? The goal is to be around vocal animals.

I've never really given it that much thought. It's September, I'm going to be elk hunting most of the month if possible. There will be a full moon at some point during the season every year. I've killed elk before the full moon, with a full moon, and after the full moon. I do adjust some of my techniques around it, but I normally don't adjust as to "when" I'm out there just because of the moon.

 

[Gumbo]

Nope. I plan hunts based on my wife's days off, if she's got the kids, I go hunting!

 

[reaperukon]

I definitely take it into account and adjust my tactics according to the moon. That being said, I haven’t adjusted my timing too much. I think weather another large effect on their activity so if I had to choose I’d take no moon and warm over full moon and warm (like it was this year). It was hard to catch them out of their beds this year.


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[westernarcher]

Nope.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I hunt whenever I can. I will say, walking up a trail at 4am without the need of a headlamp will turn even the most optimistic guy into a bit of a pessimist.

 

[Jimss]

With that said, if I was waiting years for a special tag I would likely wait for a year with no full moon during prime rut dates to pull more things in my favor. If I was hunting a unit that I could draw every year or so I would pray for overcast skies, cooler temps, and hunt the full moon hard! It may not matter as much if you are hunting an area that's at high elevation where temps are generally cooler and there is more chance for overcast afternoon showers. Moon phase also may not matter as much if hunting open sage country. Obviously things can vary quite a bit from one area to the next! If I only have limited time to devote to a hunt I may not make a decision on hunting dates until close to hunting season when I have a better feel for the weather conditions.

 

[tdhanses]

I don’t, I hunt when my schedule allows it. Now if retired then the answer is still nope as I’d hunt the entire season, lol.

 

[cnelk]

This topic comes up a lot.

Since you asked about the full moon, I thought you all might enjoy this moon phase exercise I did back in 2014.

We've killed a pile of elk since then and havent kept any more data

*****

I went thru this with another guy who ran my numbers.

Me and my buddies have taken 22 elk [archery] in the past 10 years

16 harvests were in a moon phase of 50% visibility OR LESS [some were new moon, 1st quarter, etc] 6 harvests were in a moon phase of 90% visibility OR MORE [very near or at full moon]and quick research shows 3-4 days on either side of the full moon date have > 90% or more. Shall we say 7 days are 90% or more visibility? And approx 14 days have < 50%

Category Observed Expected # Expected

1 <50% 16 11 50.000%

2 >90% 6 6 27.273%

3 50-90% 0 5 22.727%

Chi squared equals 7.273 with 2 degrees of freedom. The two-tailed P value equals 0.0263

According to the analysis we did better than expected when the moon was dark, about what you would expect near a full moon, and less than you'd expect (zero) when the moon was out but not bright. It shows some evidence that it's better hunting during darker moon, but I wouldn't schedule a hunt around it.

Good luck

 

[Adam Gibbs]

This topic comes up a lot.

Since you asked about the full moon, I thought you all might enjoy this moon phase exercise I did back in 2014.

We've killed a pile of elk since then and havent kept any more data

*****

I went thru this with another guy who ran my numbers.

Me and my buddies have taken 22 elk [archery] in the past 10 years

16 harvests were in a moon phase of 50% visibility OR LESS [some were new moon, 1st quarter, etc] 6 harvests were in a moon phase of 90% visibility OR MORE [very near or at full moon]and quick research shows 3-4 days on either side of the full moon date have > 90% or more. Shall we say 7 days are 90% or more visibility? And approx 14 days have < 50%

Category Observed Expected # Expected

1 <50% 16 11 50.000%

2 >90% 6 6 27.273%

3 50-90% 0 5 22.727%

Chi squared equals 7.273 with 2 degrees of freedom. The two-tailed P value equals 0.0263

According to the analysis we did better than expected when the moon was dark, about what you would expect near a full moon, and less than you'd expect (zero) when the moon was out but not bright. It shows some evidence that it's better hunting during darker moon, but I wouldn't schedule a hunt around it.

Good luck

I found that old post the other day after doing some googling and such. I think what were going to do is leave our dates as such and hope for the best weather possible and just hunt. This isn't going to be a once in a lifetime, and I'm sure we'll learn something no matter what.

 

[ElkNut1]

During Full Moon times this is one of our favorite times to hunt elk especially when a full moon is between Sept 8th towards end of the month. The Rut Trumps a Full Moon any day! If having difficulty receiving response from our daytime bugling in a running and gunning style we will then switch gears and resort to calling for elk at night or an hour before daylight. We drive away from base-camp to pre designated areas where our Bugles will carry well. We'll stop and Bugle every mile 2-3 times & move on until a bull is located. If you're packed in it's good to call at these times for a bulls location from your camp as well as leaving camp an hour before light and Locate bugle until elk are found. While still dark bulls often times bugle back to us from short to very long distances, nice thing at this time is you're basically guaranteed it's a bull and not another hunter!. When elk are vocal while still dark they're in their feeding/watering/wallowing & nighttime bedding areas.

Once located, this area gives us a starting point before or right near daylight! If driving, we have our packs in our rigs ready to go, with good wind and cover on our approach we head their direction being careful and not get too close, a couple hundred yards is plenty until daylight, the moonlit sky helps, you rarely need a headlamp but care must be taken as you trudge through the woods avoiding its many obstacles as there are no roads or maintained trails leading to these elk. It's up to us as hunters to use the best possible methods to either ambush them on trails as they exit feeding grounds towards bedding or lure them in with calling.

Whatever you do; don't let the moon dictate whether you'll hunt or not at specific phases. Rutting times Trump the full moon!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[Poser]

So long as we are talking about the effects of moon light and not somekind of hippie-speak, pseudo deer biologists redneck theory about the moon phase being responsible for females going into estrous Because of the gravitational forces associated with the full moon. Heard enough of that BS hunting whitetails in the Southeast.