By Horace Gore
Moon phases may not keep a hunter from getting a buck, but it surely may have some effect on when the hunter kills it. If the hunter is not “hunting” when the deer is up and moving, then the moon may determine success or failure.
After 60 years of chasing whitetails, and hunting a lot of bright moon phases, I can assure you that the moon does have a lot to do with deer hunting. I can’t count all of the times that I have sat in a deer blind at daylight where deer were plentiful, and never see a deer of any kind all morning after a full moon night. Paying attention to the moon is rewarding to a deer hunter.
Hunters have long argued about hunting during a full moon. I have my own opinion on this: Deer may move a lot during the night of a full moon. A hunter getting into a blind just before daylight is beginning the hunt at the end of night. Deer will tend to bed down after an active night, and often do so before full daylight. So, the hunter can often begin the hunt just as the deer beds down for 2-3 hours.
The general scenario is that the hunter sits in the blind for 2-3 hours while the deer is bedded down, and goes back to camp about the time the deer may get up for a couple hours of eating and roaming. The hunter stays in camp until evening, and goes back to the blind about 3-4 pm, when the deer is bedded down again until dark when the moon comes up again.
After full moon nights, hunters who are in the blind from 10 to 4, near or in heavier brush, will have the best chance of killing a deer. Since there is always a chance of seeing a buck during the last 30 minutes of light, a hunter should continue to stay in the blind in the evening until dark. Note: Blinds in wide open pasture with little brush should be avoided during a full moon period, or be occupied all day.
On November 7, when the general deer season opens, the moon will be in 61% illumination. This is bright, but not bright enough to change the usual daylight to 9am—3 to dark routine. If I really wanted to kill a buck on opening weekend, I would take coffee, reading material, and go to the blind at daylight and stay until dark. Reason? With a half moon, you don’t know exactly when the deer will move. Note: When in a blind all day, remember that you may lose ½ to 1 hour of hunting if you get out of the blind to relieve yourself. Taking a can will help.
The first good period of deer hunting by moon phase will be November 14 -20, when the moon is in dark phases that will not affect deer movement.
The Thanksgiving weekend, and 2-3 days before and after will not be good for early morning and late evening deer hunting. The moon will be bright, so think about mid-day hunting during that time period. If you go early and stay in the blind until dark, that will solve the moon problem
December 9-20 will be good, but the Christmas week will be bright moon. In South Texas, December7-17 will be the darkest moon phases.
A bright moon won’t keep you from killing a deer, but remember the old Dr. Pepper jingle, “10-2-4”—the time you need to be hunting.
