Can hunting deer be affected by the moon phase? Read Mossy Oak's article on research that may change your opinion about when to hunt and when not to hunt!
www.mossyoak.com
If the hunting gods ever created a belief system more indifferent to scientific scorn than the moon’s supposed impact on big-game animals, they’re keeping it to themselves. Researcher after researcher since the 1970s has failed to document any changes in deer activity during new moons...
www.themeateater.com
"Of the review’s three findings, most hunters probably already believed two of them:
- Deer were more active at night than day during all three moon phases.
- Deer activity was greatest within two hours of sunset and sunrise during all three moon phases.
- In contrast, most hunters probably doubted the third finding:
- Deer activity neither increased nor decreased significantly during all three moon phases."
This is a VERY interesting topic to me (and a lot of other hunters). Most hunters feel quite staunchly that deer activity increases at night when there is a full moon, but the scientific evidence simply doesn't support that.
I'm trying to find the article, but I saw one study that in fact showed that deer activity actually increased during the 'new moon'. The theory being that as nocturnal animals, they preferred the darkest nights as opposed to nights where the full moon provided slight illumination.
