O.K. here goes, how does everyone hunt the moon phases. For example this weekend we will have about a 2/3 moon riseing at 2:29 pm and setting at 1:01 am, give or take a little bit. In my opinion the morning hunt up through about 10 or 11:00 am would be the best time. I think the afternoon hunt might still be productive but slower than usual. What is everyone else's take on this.

I have noticed that deer seem more active early and late during periods near the new moon and will be more active around mid day during periods closer to full moons. But I also think that wind, rain and the rut affect them just as much. When in doubt, stay out.

with the rut starting to kick in around the state you should just spend as much time on the stand as you can. the bucks will run the does around the clock at this time. because when you only have a few weeks out of the year the breed the bucks dont want to waste time

JEB,

Let me add that this product forecasts and my thoughts are based on animals that are not under the influence of humans. We take extreme efforts to leave our game animals alone throughout the year and particularly in hunting season. All animals will get used to a routine of human activitiy but activity out of the ordinary spook and alter the animals response to normal environmental behavior (lunar, rut, solar, weather, etc.) Hunter (human) activity is the largest negative factor influencing animal behavior and movement there is.

I see many, many places ruined over the weekends when lease hunters show up, yet Sunday evening after they leave I could kill the best deer on their place. I realize guys get out there and want to see their place, see what's going on, but driving and walking where critters don't expect you is a very negative thing that affects your weekend more than any of these positive factors will help it. In fact, they can't repair it.

This weekend, I place a guy on a prime tripod on Sunday morning (prime time). Shortly after daylight some cattle moved into the feeder, he got down and moved the cattle off. After a little while, he got sleepy so he laid under the tripod and took a nap. That activity ruined this setup and we are in the process of moving both feeder and tripod. I make my setups to see a specific deer so the action is slow. A very large buck felt comfortable using the feeder but he won't anymore. You have to let deer alone so they can responsed to these predictive elements.

RanchDog, I could not agree more about everything you said. Especally about ruining the lease for a weekend with people comming in and running ATV's or Trucks all over.

This last weekend on friday night around midnight 4 of the guys I hunt with went out to the blinds and feeder they were going to hunt in the morning and "checked" the feeders and blinds. I thouhgt this was by far the dumbest idea I had heard and made sure they did not go "check" my feeder for me. And as I had suspected, NO deer were killed at ANY of the checked feeders all weekend long.

This is the primary reason I like to hunt weekdays, cuase I just see 10 times more deer where there is not a ton of noise and people all moving around the lease.

Goodluck everyone.

I have keep very detailed records of my bowhunting for many years.About half the time in Alabama and the rest in other states.I have always seen about one deer in the mornings compared to ten in the same time frame in the evenings.My records have proven for me that the absolutly most productive periods are the 4 days before the full moon and the 2 following it.If it is solid overcast this does not work.At least one half of the time has been while hunting public property.While bowhunting it took 7 sets to get a killing shot off.Over most of this time I was able to hunt 70 days a season.Alabama had 1 deer a day limit and Florida had 2 deer a day limit with no tags.

I would havlf to say i agree with the liking to hunt weekdays you dont half to worry about any kind of noise and dont half to work around or help any one else my new job im off mon tuesday so every one is gone when i get there and most of the time i see the most deer.

Thanks for the info guys. It will be very helpful. I am going to the lease in the morning and will be there all by myself until after Monday mornings hunt when I will be coming home.