effects of the moon

[vandeman17]

I was wondering what you guys think about the effects of the moon phase on an elk hunt? I know it depends on the weather because if it is cloudy, rainy or snowy the moon doesn't have quite the effect but still has a little. We are still shopping around for either a guided hunt, drop camp or a DIY hunt and are keeping track of what the moon phase will be during the different hunt dates offered.

[Tbar]

Imo it allows them to be more active during hours of darkness therefore they head to bedding areas a little earlier. I don't think   it effects the rut however I think higher daytime temps will have an adverse effect on daytime activity more than moonphase. The breeding occurs on the same general days of the year. I think if you book a hunt in late september or early october in a good area you guys should be fine regardless of moonphase. Good luck and have fun

[vandeman17]

Imo it allows them to be more active during hours of darkness therefore they head to bedding areas a little earlier. I don't think   it effects the rut however I think higher daytime temps will have an adverse effect on daytime activity more than moonphase. The breeding occurs on the same general days of the year. I think if you book a hunt in late september or early october in a good area you guys should be fine regardless of moonphase. Good luck and have fun

Thanks! I just hope that whenever we decide to go, we have some cloud cover so that I don't have to worry. On our last trip, the only clouds we saw in 10 days were the ones on the day we rode into camp. It was full moon by the middle of our hunt so it was tough to say the least! 

[coachcw]

try to be the first group in the area if your bow hunting. if it was a rifle hunt the end of november would be your best bet 

[vandeman17]

We will not be bow hunting, at least this year because of my old man's shoulder. I think we have it narrowed down to two outfitters if we go that route. One of the hunts would be over Thanksgiving and the other would be the last week in October but that one is on private ground and we would be the first group in there. Only issue I see is that the full moon would fall during that hunt.

[400out]

I think the moon changes feeding patterns but that also changes your hunting patterns. If they feed all night and bed before or right at day break then you could possibly find them up during mid day feeding again vs. them feeding for the first couple hrs. of day light and then coming back out a hour or two before dusk. Hope this helps 

[et1702]

Been hunting them over 32 years and I definitely believe the moon afffects critters movements and patterns.  I've had a lot of luck in my tree stands using sonular tables to predict peak movement times.

http://www.usprimetimes.com/zip.html

You can actually input GPS coordinates at this site and get the moon phase info and game movement times.  Of course this is only one tool and greatly depends on weather too.