Your take on moon phase and deer movement?

[henbrook]

I have found in my 67 yr hunting experience that the best time to go hunting is when you can and nothing much else matters. :thumbsup:

AMEN!I hunt all day/every day that I can,and have killed the majority of my deer between 10am-3pm while the rest of the crew is in camp eating and napping.I do pay attention to the moon phases/solunar tables etc. and have a great deal of faith in them....not to the point that I'd plan a hunt around them specifically,but sometimes just knowing that the major activity period is coming up soon is enough inspiration to stay on stand that extra bit longer.I've seen too much activity during the major phases not to put any stock in it.Quiet mornings on the marsh for example,then at 10am the geese are up and flying just like clock work.Bucks standing in open fields during rifle season at mid-day,coinciding with the major,etc,etc....the list goes on.Like i said,I hunt all day anyhow most days whenever I'm able to,but I pay extra attention to the phases.Deer season is too short to waste daylight napping in the camp imho...I've got 11 months to catch up on sleep,lol.:grin:

 

[roundball]

I do pay attention to the moon phases/solunar tables etc. and have a great deal of faith in them....not to the point that I'd plan a hunt around them specifically,but sometimes just knowing that the major activity period is coming up soon is enough inspiration to stay on stand that extra bit longer.

I've seen too much activity during the major phases not to put any stock in it.
Quiet mornings on the marsh for example,then at 10am the geese are up and flying just like clock work.
Bucks standing in open fields during rifle season at mid-day,coinciding with the major,etc,etc....the list goes on.

Those have been exactly the same experiences I've had...I like hunting whenever I can as well, but when time is short, like right here over Thanksgiving holidays trying to juggle time...I do use the tables and have decided my best odds will be from 3-5 this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon...and we're scheduling family activities with that in mind, etc.
( My Bride of 43 years is great about that ! )

 

[jethro224]

...and we're scheduling family activities with that in mind, etc.
( My Bride of 43 years is great about that ! )

You're a lucky man Roundball.
You better hang on to that woman! :thumbsup:

 

[Mattole]

I use this Field & Stream chart...just substitute your zip-code in place of mine (27613) http://www.fieldandstream.com/weather_hunt_times?ZIP=27613&IDS=general&graphbtn=Get+Graph[/quote]

Looks like one needs to buy the program to see the chart for their zip code. And the program is only for the PC Windows platform, and I am on a Mac.. oh well..

 

[Supercracker]

( My Bride of 43 years is great about that ! )

pretty much why I got divorced years ago. haha And I'm fairly open with my GF about the fact I'd rather be single than told what to do.

 

[roundball]

I use this Field & Stream chart...just substitute your zip-code in place of mine (27613) http://www.fieldandstream.com/weather_hunt_times?ZIP=27613&IDS=general&graphbtn=Get+Graph[/quote]

Looks like one needs to buy the program to see the chart for their zip code. And the program is only for the PC Windows platform, and I am on a Mac.. oh well.

Unless they've changed something, you should just have to substitute your zip code...that's how I did it when I got the URL a few years ago.
The limitation is that you only get a rolling 3 days instead of the entire set of information that is apparently provided by the purchased program.

 

[roundball]

...and we're scheduling family activities with that in mind, etc.
( My Bride of 43 years is great about that ! )

You're a lucky man Roundball.
You better hang on to that woman! :thumbsup:

She's only ever taken one strong position on hunting...it was soon after we got married and went something like this:
"...If you promise never to bring a dead animal into the house, I'll promise never to cook it for you..."
Seemed crystal clear to me :grin:

And looking back now over 43 otherwise outstanding years of no complaints about my guns/shooting/hunting, it was a very small price to pay.

 

[KyFlintlock]

I have found in my 67 yr hunting experience that the best time to go hunting is when you can and nothing much else matters. :thumbsup:

BAM!!!

 

[buttonbuck]

I have found them very accurate for the 2 places I deer hunt. It helps me decide what weekend Day I get out and when. With 3 kids, wife, care of elder family members, house, hobby farm, this hobby, bow hunting, having older vehicles & everything that goes with them. I go out when It is most productive not that I do not enjoy the quiet but if I take the kids I would like for them to see activity to get and keep their interest. They are all gung ho about going but kids get bored with quiet.

 

[Mattole]

Yes it must have changed, because what I see is a section of a page with the 3-day best hunt times graph set within a larger Field And Stream online page, without any place to plug in a zip code. Bummer - I would have liked to have tried it out - I have a muzzleloader pig hunt I am going on this week and would have liked to have seen what the oracle had to say about best times to hunt...

Thanks for letting us all know about this, Roundball!

 

[roundball]

Yes it must have changed, because what I see is a section of a page with the 3-day best hunt times graph set within a larger Field And Stream online page, without any place to plug in a zip code. Bummer - I would have liked to have tried it out - I have a muzzleloader pig hunt I am going on this week and would have liked to have seen what the oracle had to say about best times to hunt...

Thanks for letting us all know about this, Roundball!

You make the ZIP CODE CHANGE in the middle of the URL string itself.
Look in about the middle of the URL and you'll see: ZIP=27613

Replace my 27613 with your Zip code, then use that new string as YOUR URL.

 

[Mattole]

Ahh - there it is! Many thanks.

 

[BrownBear]

Thanks for the clarification on making it work for my zip, roundball.

I overlayed it onto a plot for local tides for the same 3 day period, as well as the daily plots from NOAA. It's a 100% match for the tides.

Now here's the interesting part:

In local experience, best hunting is during the low tide periods, especially early in the day. That's opposite the F&S plot, which is showing the best hunting periods corresponding to the high tides. In that case the plot works well for predicting fishing, but is reversed locally for hunting. Obviously more research required.

Just one more excuse for me to get out in the hills.

Thanks! :hatsoff: