Tom Miranda’s Pike County Prizefighter buck taken in Illinois.
How Moon Phases & Weather Patterns Can Lead To Bowhunting Success.
By Tom Miranda
If you were to ask 10 bowhunters if the phase of the moon affects game movement, you’d likely hear 10 replies that would range from a resolute “No” to an emphatic “Absolutely.” Personal experience while hunting all over the world would place me firmly in the “absolutely” category. It’s no coincidence that a good number of African outfitters time their hunts to the dark of the moon, just as it’s not pure chance that leads more big bucks to be on their feet in the mid-western woods during similar moon phases.
Personally, I’m a firm believer in hunting around the timing of the moon. This is a bit of a crapshoot every year because it boils down to doing research and planning to be in the right place at the right time. The right place is simply the place that I’ll have the highest odds of encountering a whopper of a buck, and the right time means two things: the first is that the dates must fall somewhere between the last week of October and the third week of November. The second is that the moon must be as dark as I can get away with. In Africa this timing will be different, perhaps in May or June.
Of course, this isn’t always possible given the endless amount of variables associated with bowhunting (especially bowhunting that involves travel). This is also not meant to discourage you if time is limited and your best opportunities to hunt fall outside of prime time and optimum moon phase. But, if you’ve got the chance to burn up a few days of vacation in the hunting woods and have a flexible schedule, it might be time to turn your gaze skyward.
Lunar Lunacy?
There are plenty of bowhunters that believe lunar effects on game movement are largely overblown, but I’m not one of them. Having hunted throughout the world, with some of the most knowledgeable guides and outfitters available, the prevailing pattern is that it does truly matter.
My personal preference leans toward hunting after a full moon when the moon is waning as opposed to any time when the moon is waxing (growing fuller). This is something I live by for whitetails, but am also adamant about when I’m traveling to Africa or sticking to North America to hunt everything from elk to sheep.
Additionally, I’m a believer in the Moon Guide— developed by bowhunter and outdoor writer Jeff Murray (deceased) in the early 1990’s. This lunar calculator gives vast information on the moons position and the best times to hunt in the area where you’re located, suggesting the best AM & PM sit times. The major moon time is when the moons position is directly overhead. The minor moon time when the moon is at 90 degrees of overhead. When I first started using his Moon Guide I was amazed at how accurate it was. This works similarly to the solunar tables used in fishing.
Jeff Murray’s Moon Guide, now owned & sold by Ohio whitetail hunter Adam Hays.
The One-Two Punch
Although it’s obvious that I rely heavily on moon phases to influence my hunting schedule, that doesn’t mean that I don’t obsessively check the weather. Arguably the biggest predictor of game movement revolves around weather patterns. This is where the fickle hands of Fate reach into our bowhunting lives and either usher us into success or greatly hinder our chances of filling tags.
A prime example of this occurred while I hunted Illinois a few years ago. My cameraman and I sat in some prime stands located in famed Pike County, but even though we were hunting with a good moon, things just weren’t clicking. We sat all day, every day waiting for the chance at one of the great bucks we knew were in the area but they never showed. The weather was hot and the deer just didn’t cooperate.
As the hunt wound down and we were facing defeat, we sat one last morning. The moon had been waning, meaning it was at the darkest point we would witness on the trip. With daylight we were engulfed in a thick fog and the knowledge that we had to be at the airport at noon meant we were pretty downbeat. But, the fog eventually burned off enough to increase our view and we were stunned to see a whopper of a buck bedded 100 yards away. The buck eventually got up to drink, but was completely non-responsive to my calling efforts. At one point he sauntered out of sight, taking our hopes with him.
And then just like that, he walked right in to our setup. He was a big broken-nosed nontypical, that looked much more closely resembled a prize-fighter than the sleek, perfect bucks that grace outdoor photos.
This hunt was an example of hunting the right moon phase but being dealt a poor hand in the weather department, which simply boils down to luck. On the other hand, if you time your hunts around the correct moon phase and the weather cooperates, the hunting can be unbelievable.
It’s pretty easy to witness this combination thanks to the Internet and the availability of information available to us. It seems that every November there will be prime states, or parts of states, that experience unbelievable rutting activity while other areas that are relatively close-by seem to be shut down. These differences are almost always caused by unseasonably warm weather, but are also influenced by wind, storms, and precipitation.
So what’s the takeaway from all of this lunar-talk and meteorological-speak? Well, it simply means that to be successful as a bowhunter it’s important to pay attention to all of the variables and to do your best to take care of those you can control. Lunar phase is easy enough to look up and plan around, as is the moon position at key hunt times. But the weather, not-so-much. So, plan your hunt dates around the dark of the moon and cross your fingers that a cold front will creep it’s way into your hunting area at about the same time. The combination of the two might just be enough to get the game on their feet and moving in the direction of your treestand, blind or on the stalk.. After that, it’s up to you.
