Moon and Muleys

bigbull1

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I have always been under the impression that when the moon is somewhat in the "full phase", that muleys would feed more at night, and bed earlier in the morning than when the moon is at a quarter or less.

I have read recently in a couple of books that this premise is false, as deer have such exceptional vision, that feeding habits are basically the same with or without a big moon.

Your thoughts...

Ed
 
my whole life every old timer and every magazine writer always said that hunting was harder during a full moon because of the reason you mentioned. but i have always found it to be the opposite. first thing i look at after getting a tag is the moon phase. the brighter the better. seems to me that animals are up longer in the morning in a full moon and up earlier in the afternoon. and i know from my rut elk hunting experience that hunting them during the full moon is dang sure the best time. the lunar pull seems to have some effect on cows in heat. really tips the bulls over. for me, i'll take the full moon everytime.
 
I just did a little research on this myself and this is what I dicovered. A deers vision is best under low light conditions like morning and evening or full moon. I can't remember the scientific name that describes their eyesight but there is one :). Now, the rut is actually triggered by the amount of low light that is available, since that is when the deer are at their highest activity level. If you look at how much low light or twilight you get on say... Nov 12 in Wyo versus how much you get down here in AZ in veries greatly. A full moon in Nov in Wyo might give the deer.... lets say 10 hours of good bright twilight while the same full moon gives the deer down here in AZ only 8.(just numbers I tossed up) Now from what I can tell it takes the right amount of that bright twilight to kick start the rut. Thats why the rut starts in say Nov. up north while it doesn't start down here till late Dec or early Jan. There has been alot of research done on this and I'm sure if you scour your old hunt mags you'll find some articals on it. Now weather and food also play a huge roll so don't forget to factor those in. I know down here with the drought we had, we probably lost more deer numbers due to the fact that some does won't even come into season if food supply is low.

Now pre-rut or post rut is different. The deer will be more active all the way around during the full moon. I always see more deer on a cloudy day as well and the reason is that they see better in low light.

Anyway, thats my opinion and I'm sure someone will disagree, its seems like thats how it goes around here some times. Hope that helps.

Donnie
 
i read an article years ago about rut timing. as i remember, the study was based on length of daylight-though i could be wrong. and according to the study, everything a mule deer does is timed off of photoperiod(lenght of day)apparently they had some deer in an indoor habitat, where they controlled everything from weather to lenght of daylight, and by manipulating the length of day actually got bucks to grow and shed 2 sets of antlers in one calender year.
 
rut is triggered from my understanding by basically the amount of light through the eyes. There is an study I think by Valerie Geist sp? and other biologist types that support this. I cant explain it technically, but cold weather doesnt kick animals into rut, it is some "photo something" that is the basis for rut. Moon phase issue is like what RLH talked about, actually a bit more activity during full moon cycles. I assume the lunar cycle and the earth's season change triggers all the migration, rut etc... God planned all this to ensure animals survival, best time to raise the young and allow the continued viability of the species......... Thanks, Allen Taylor......
 
Photosynthesis is the term.
It is what triggers the rut,
basically the direction the light
hits the eyes. That is the easiest
way to explain it. I also have found
more animals in full moon and cloudy
days over the years.

Allen
 
Up here the fullmoon can be a blessing and a curse. Early season I have not found greater activity during the full moon but exactly the opposite. So much so I pay attention to the moon alot. Early season, the whole week of the full moon can see lower deer numbers moving during the day. Night feeding patterns are the norm and they will normally bed most of the day. Late season, if the full moon falls during the traditional rut, they will be rutting hard that night, and resting up come morning. Noon is normally the better time of day to hunt. If the peak of the rut falls during the full moon phase, the rut will normally be more intense. I believe that the cold that normally comes with the fullmoon does play a role. Not in triggering the rut as per say, but by bringing more does into estrus all at once. Cold ruts always have way better action over a shorter period of time. Warm ruts are hard to hunt as the does seem to trickle into heat one at a time throughout a greater timespan.
 
I believe the term is "photoperiods". Photosynthesis is the process plants use to convert cabon dioxide to oxygen using light as an energy source.

I'm not a scientist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
 
I have also heard the moon beds deer during daylight. I have never found this to be true either. Wind has been my only enemy to put deer to bed.
 
what the biggest buck you guys ever caught in your headlight?
I seen some big ones while driving and not one of the big boys stopped even for a second just kept moving!Think about it!!
sure that must come from age however The DOES and smaller bucks are mostly getting wacked by car because they stop!
All about light!
RM
 
BCBOY pretty much covered my findings. During a full moon early in the season you should be out hunting during mid day as deer that have bedded early will be up and about stretching, going to water, or whatever.

Steve
 
Check out Jeff Murray's book "Moonstruck" he also markets his lunar tables and minor/major feeding times. It is not generally the phase of the moon, but the location of the moon in relation to our area of the earth....north america that is. If the moon (full or cresent or whatever....although full seems to create the highest feeding activity) is directly overhead this has the highest gravitation pull on water and cells....osmosis I believe.....sometimes the moon rises right in the middle of the day......and sometimes it rises in the evening and is out all night....the point is no matter if it's a night moon or daytime moon, the position is just as important. Likewise when the moon is directly under our position in north america....this is a minor feeding period.....I THINK!!!!!
Chris
 
Full moon , no moon don't matter . Hunt ALL day , hunt hard and hunt smart . You can't kill a buck waiting for the moon to be just right .
 
I happened to just catch a show last night dedicated entirely to this topic. It was on the outdoor channel called "Deer and Deer Hunting". They spoke at length with a fellow who has been studying the effects of Lunar phase on triggering the rut. They said that there was conclusive evidence at least in northern states, the study was in New York, that the three phases of the rut are dictated by both the lunar phase and the length of daylight hours. Specifically that the three phases would begin directly following the first full moon in November. They were actually predicting the exact weeks during which the three phases would occur. The study was based on over 15,000 data points on both wild and fenced deer. I don't know if anybody can find the study but it was very interesting. The guy they interviewed conducted the study with a respected biologist, I believe the state biologist for New Hampshire. Didn't catch his name but maybe the same guy who wrote the book reffered to above. Anyhow you can't go wrong hunting all day regardless of when! Just two more weeks up here in these parts!!! Oh yeah the study was on whitetails of course, but probably applies somewhat to Muleys.
 
O.K. the hole ruting thing with the day light seems off it may be true but. Riddle me this if they rut in the fall when the light is just so then why don't they rut during the spring when the day light is the same??????? Just something to think about.
 
I agree, I have always had the best hunting when I was in the field and not on the couch. Full moon just means I don't have to use my headlamp to get back to camp.
 
They dont rut in spring because the offspring would be born in mid winter. Not much food/shelter,etc. etc. Nature pretty much has things dialed in.
 
This was last year in E. Montana.
Nov. 16th and 72 degrees.
430a15b4718c9f8d.jpg


When it's time....it's just time.
 
Thats what I was getting to that no matter what the temp. is or how long the day is or what cycle the moon was in when it's time it's time. I have seen the rut on some bucks as early as oct. and as late as dec. so all good luck this hunting season and have fun thats what its all about. Mack
 
they don't rut in the spring because the females are all knocked up and can't go in heat. they have in the early summer because the feed is best then. if they had the younguns in the winter they'd starve and freeze.
 
Is'nt the rut triggered by the does? From what i understand they goe into heat once a year(Oct-Dec)depending on location and moon phase. Its all about that sweet smelling scent that brings in the big ones
 

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