Moon Phase and Mule Deer

[BigDirtyBuck20]

I'm really curious to find out more about how the moon phase affects mule deer hunting. I've been told the closer it gets to a full moon, the more the deer feed in the middle of the night which makes sense because it gets brighter but I've had a couple of my best days of hunting the morning after and the evening of a full moon. As it's been getting closer I've seen a big decrease in the amount of deer on the move while its light out. It would be cool to find out more about this and what everyone else thinks.

[Sofa King]

only the deer truly know.
we all just speculate.
everyone will tell you something different.

[Buckmeister]

I had fun one night sitting on the edge of a field watching "white tails" run around in the light of a full moon.

[Steelpulse]

I would lean towards more active during the night but like sofa king says



only the deer truly know.
we all just speculate.
everyone will tell you something different.

[brian]

There has been a few GPS studies done and and their data all shows that moon phase has little to no effect on deer movement levels. I like the idea that the full moon affects deer movements, it has a romance to it. But I have a feeling it is just an old hunters tale that is supported by a healthy dose of confirmation bias. I keep an eye on moon phase, but I am going out there regardless of what the moon is doing.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijecol/2010/459610/
http://www.qdma.com/articles/10-things-we-know-about-mature-buck-movements
http://www.brynathyn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/NJAS-paper1.pdf

[snareman1234]

There has been a few GPS studies done and and their data all shows that moon phase has little to no effect on deer movement levels. I like the idea that the full moon affects deer movements, it has a romance to it. But I have a feeling it is just an old hunters tale that is supported by a healthy dose of confirmation bias. I keep an eye on moon phase, but I am going out there regardless of what the moon is doing.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijecol/2010/459610/
http://www.qdma.com/articles/10-things-we-know-about-mature-buck-movements
http://www.brynathyn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/NJAS-paper1.pdf


Nice one Brian. Thanks for posting this. I respect someone that goes to the primary literature.

[Mikey Rafiki]

Thank god we had a bright one last night or I would still be stumbling around the mountain gutting and packing out my muley after my headlamp broke.