Is the morning after a full moon a good time to hunt?

[Rank Bull]

I'm hunting hogs right now and the moon pretty full. So do you think hunting is better in the morning after a full moon or a dark moon?

Seems like the deer would all be out taking advantage of the moonlight.

[wingnut]

Hunt em at night in the moonlight.  It is a rush!!

Mike

[Rank Bull]

Originally posted by wingnut:
Hunt em at night in the moonlight.  It is a rush!!

Mike

On the hogs for sure. But I was wondering about the deer in the morning. So far I haven,t even seen a skunk.

[Charlie Lamb]

Juan... ya gotta be out there to kill them. Any time I can spend in the woods is a great time. I don't plan to sleep in just because of the moon phase.
   :D

[2treks]

What Charlie said. Anytime is a good time to hunt.

[Huntschool]

What Charlie said............

Time invested is gonna pay ya back.....

[Rank Bull]

Originally posted by Charlie Lamb:
Juan... ya gotta be out there to kill them. Any time I can spend in the woods is a great time. I don't plan to sleep in just because of the moon phase.
    :D  

Oh I'm hunting no matter what. But I was just curious.

Sitting under the moon, hunting hogs, surfing Tradgang ...life is grand.

[bad arrow]

Seems I see more deer when the moon is waxing after a new moon than waning from a full... Phil

[Rank Bull]

Originally posted by bad arrow:
Seems I see more deer when the moon is waxing after a new moon than waning from a full... Phil

Now I just need to look up waxing and waning. Lol

Is that from the Karate Kid?

[bad arrow]

I confuse myself sometimes  :confused:   ....Phil

[bad arrow]

Waxing-getting full....Phil

[Rank Bull]

Originally posted by bad arrow:
Waxing-getting full....Phil

Awesome. So I will probably get a Pope and Younger in the morning.

Gotta think positive.

[highpoint forge]

Rank- Whitetails are slaves to their rumen, and will feed every 4-6 hrs regardless of light or not. More important to them is length of daylight versus dark. Once the day and night are equal, the buck's brain tells them to start chasing does. During this period they are most likely to move and ignore their pattern of normal activity, i.e make "mistakes". As to rutting activity it depends where you are hunting in TX. East TX whitetails rut earlier than the rest of the state. 1st full moon in September is the Autumnal Equinox/Harvest Moon which starts the rut, then 2d full moon is called the Hunter's Moon which is the first peak of rut, then the next full moon is the secondary peak, coming up this weekend on the 20th here in TX...a full and just after full moon are always better hunting than a new moon. All of this is detailed in Solving the Mysteries of Deer Movement by James Kroll. This also is assuming some other things like condition of your herd, is hunting season falling during this peak time or not, weather, etc., can affect the shape of the activity curve if you plotted it on a graph.....so in short, in TX this week, yes. Read the book if you can.

[the longbowkid]

usually a full moon translates to less action in the evening hunt, since they move later after dark. but, the moon sets earlier when its full. the prime time on a big moon is midmorning-midday.
 good luck!

[Rank Bull]

Wow thanks. I will check that book out. Pretty sure we are in the rut right now.

Yesterday I saw an 8 point that I almost mistook for a hound dog the way he was going.
 
Coulda sworn his eyes were crossed and tongue was hangin out. LOL He was making a ruckus too.

[highpoint forge]

I had a non-typical 7-8 pt at 25 yards on Sunday morning that I almost ran over with my 4X4 Honda Big Red. After I decided to hang it up for the week, I climbed down from my tripod. I walked back to the vehicle, put up my gear, fired it up and started driving out of the huge pasture I was in, and there he is right in front of me. All that was between me and him was a spindly young pine tree about 8' tall and 1' wide which I hid behind. He's look at me and try to see what I was, then go back to walking and browsing. He was sniffing all over and paid almost no attention to me or the loud as hell ATV in plain sight, and I tried to get him on the ground, but never took the shot he presented me with (I should have shot him as he emerged from behind a bush).....he walked into cover very casually, and I never saw him again.

[joe ashton]

YES  but then my attitude is that every morning is a great day to hunt.

[Rank Bull]

Highpoint that is a buMMER but not sure if you read this. I feel your pain.

  http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=095918;p=1

[Kip l Hoffman]

Hunting at night in a fullmoon is great if it is legal.  one of many great things about instinctive shooting.  i do think the animals move more at night in a full moon so morning hunting is better than normal.  does depend on when the moon gets full though.  the earlier in the evening it is full the better the morning hunt and the early evening hunting will be.

[highpoint forge]

Hey Rank that's about the same thing that happened to me....pretty much. I was in 100% Sitka Gear Optifade and he didn't wind me. I should have taken the shot but felt it was a tad far. Oh well. It also didn't help that as soon as I left the ranch house in the ATV (cursing the noise it makes the whole way) and go out the gate there's a big 'ol buck standing right there, not 5 minutes into driving to my tripod stand!