Lunar calendar and Rut...

[CanOCorn]

Was wondering how this works. Most years, the November full moon comes earlier in the month and is a good indicator of the full swing of rut. This year it is very late and the October full moon is right at the end of the month. How does this effect rut? Will rut start earlier than most years during the Oct full moon or will it be a later rut? Or am I giving the full moon way too much credit? Let me know your thoughts.

[smnduck]

I'm not sure but I think the rut is dependent on the amount of sunlight.(surise to sunset) When the temps and moisture in an area are out of the normal range it can speed up or slow down the amount of time spent in(cycle)?

I think the full moon part of it is that the deer can see better at night and are more active because of that and not the hormone thing. Any deer biologists out there? Please chime in.

[slick814]

Rut has little to do with the full moon, other than a change in activity. Rut is started by a combination of amount of daylight hours and temperature... that said, they may be more active during a full moon when the rut is on.

[Polar Bear]

CanOCorn. I've spent a lot of time researching this topic and here's a summary in very general terms:

Moon Phases and Predicted Rut Activity

"Pre-rut starts from a couple days before the second full moon after the fall equinox and lasts for about 9 days with the Main Rut starting at the last quarter moon phase and lasting 6 more days to the New Moon with the Post Rut lasting for 7 more days during the New Moon."

In other words the predicted date of buck pre-rut activity for 2007 is Oct. 24 with most breeding ended by Nov. 10.

Next year will be quite a bit later...Predicted date of buck pre-rut activity for 2008 is Nov. 10 with most breeding ended by Nov. 26.

The above predictions are based on average weather conditions. Severe local weather events can affect the timing of the rut activity.

I bet you'll find this is pretty accurate. Hope it helps.

Polar Bear

[FL SNIPER]

Looking at last fall's lunar schedule it seemed to line up with that logic...at least for me and my experiences anyways. Just another factor to keep in mind.

[fishwithteeth]

I am by no means a biologist. I agree that decreasing daylight etc. has an impact on buck activity (rutting), but isn't the "true" rut a result of does beginning their estrus cycle?

[B. Amish]

yes, but a lot of hunters believe that the moon cycles are what kickstarts the does estrus cycles, which in turn motivates bucks to be more active.

[BLACKJACK]

Just remember when you read articles and ads selling moonlight/rut predictions, thats exactly what they're doing - selling you something.

Biologists have said for years that its decreasing daylight that triggers the rut, plain and simple. Weather does affect it though, if its hot, bucks will become nocturnal.

Bottom line, spend as much time in the deer stand as you can from Oct 25 to Nov 15, the bucks will be actively seeking and breeding does during that whole time period. Peak rut in MN always comes around November 12 but one year I saw three bucks chasing a doe on Thanksgiving day.

The last several years I've taken the first week in Oct off in order to hunt hard before the gun opener but I really haven't seen as much activity as I'd like so this year I'm going to save a few of those days and take off Nov 7-9 and Nov 15-16.

[Piker]

I think the photoperiod is the most important biological alarm clock for most everything from trees turning to deer rutting.

In order to shoot a deer you've got to see it during shooting hours. Obviously, you won't see it if you're not hunting. What I've read is that a full moon leads to more deer moving mid-day because they move more mid-night. With no moon they move more at twilight and sunrise. Sounds logical.

In my personal opinion I think that temperature/weather/wind direction is the biggest factor in seeing deer mid-day. A S or SE wind usually leads to + average temps. A warm stretch of S/SE wind ending with a cool down, clear sky and NW wind seems to lead to more deer. There was a change like this last year mid-week and the night it changed we had our best night of the week.

I think a more natural NW wind and average to cooler temps lead to more predictable deer movement and in turn more success.

[muzzy]

I personally don't pay any attention to lunar phases. I just try to get out as often as possible and spend as much time on stand as possible. For those of you that do pay attention to these moon cycles, how does it affect your hunting? Are you just hunting during those special times to better your odds? I don't know what moon phase we are in today but yesterday evening I had a smaller 8-pt. chase a doe at full bore right towards me. Startled the bejeezus outta me! I'm guessing we are in the pre-rut stage unless that doe did something to really p-off that buck! I love seeing this kind of activity. She kept going while he stomped the ground, rubbed branches...emitting his scent, and marked his territory and walked away, ignoring my calls

[Scott K]

We have scientist out there trying to figure out deer esterus cycles, and rut times, when we cant even figure out our own species estrus cycle and behavior. , So how accurate do you think they are

[Bassboy1645]

LOL AMEN!

[Cooter]

Questioning the moon theory, what happens when its cloudy at night during the full moon?

[B. Amish]

good point on photoperiod affecting almost everything in nature.

It seems to me though that the lunar phases are attracting more attention from biologists today than years back when everything was automatically attributed to daylight length. But until someone talks to a deer and gets their point of view, we may never know the whole answer. For now, it's just another one of those topics that are interesting to discuss.

The only thing that I know for sure is that the best time to hunt is whenever you can.

[FISHINGURU]

whats wrong ladies? if any of you have been out in the woods with your bows you'd see that this yrs rut is gonna be on schedule with the moon phase...do u think it just happens that some yrs rut is late and some it's early? my records that i've been keeping since this lunar thing got popular match up to other resources findings...this yrs chase phase is already underway...bucks are on the does right now...by the way the rutting moon was just a couple days ago...it will be on hard for the next couple weeks...when the rutting moon is in nov it's a later rut.

ofcourse weather and other factors play a part but you'd be crazy to say the moon has nothing to do with nature...i guess your saying it has no influence on the walleye bite either? go walleye fishing at night 3 to 4 days before and after the full moon and tell me different.

we can all agree the most important part is just being in the woods..it gets pretty tough getting them big bucks on your computer chair

get out there cause from what i've seen it's on! bucks are on the move and they are already chasing...i seen 15 bucks this week and 3/4 of them were chasin and searchin!

[ddp]

I personally believe it is right place at the right time and let everything else fall into place.

Anyways. I have been watching the live deer webcam the last couple of weeks. I have noticed a lot of mid-day action the last couple of days. Much more compared to the previous weeks. Not sure it's because of the full moon, rut cycle or what...

Even thought it's in NJ

All I know is that I am getting a lot done at work

Is it Nov 3rd yet????????