I'm sure like many of you, I've seen the solunar tables, checked the day and time I was going to go hunt and if it were marked as four stars I was more confident, and if it were only a one star day, well I still went anyway. This past season I decided I had a pretty good opportunity to put these tables to the test and thought what I found may be of interest.
I looked at 17 cameras on 200 acres for most of our season her in the FL Panhandle. Every day I recorded deer seen in the morning (shooting light to 9:00), mid day, and evening (3:00 to end of shooting light). I then separated deer recorded according to the solunar table i.e., if a major or minor period occurred during the morning for a three star day, any deer recorded before 9:00am went in the "Three Star/Morning" column.
After 114 days and 1,191 deer recorded, this is what I found for an average of number of deer seen:
Morning Mid Day Evening Total
* 2 1.6 6.2 9.9
** 0.9 1 8 9.9
*** 2.2 1.6 9.7 13.4
**** 1 1 6.9 8.9
So, according to this, the best time to hunt was on a three star day with an average of 13.4 deer seen in total on those days, mostly in the evening. The lowest average was for four star days oddly enough.
This was not an exact study, sometimes I moved cameras, sometimes they ran out of batteries, etc. However, there really seemed to be nothing to the predicted activity from the solunar tables.
interesting. I've found the most predictive thing here in south AL is the wind. our prevailing winds are NW, but we get a lot of days of E wind, and the deer hate it. if they can't have the wind in their faces on their preferred travel trails, they just lay up and don't move at all.
E wind usually means a total bust on our land.
Yes, absolutely. However, certain weather fronts can disrupt it.
Johnny, hunt the east wind more, you will learn a lot. There is also a saying wind from the east the fish bite the least. Not if you know where they are. They aren't doing to take a day off from eating, they just go on a diet. So do deer.
We've noticed they move less on the really windy days. Our wind is very predominately out of the north, but I'll pay more attention to direction, maybe do the same this year as I did with the solunar tables last year.
The north wind is irritating in that we have 30-50 deer come into our big field in the evenings through a hedgerow along the north property line. Mostly, they go through and jog straight out into the field so unless you pick the spot they decide to go through that day, you just to get to watch a bunch of deer feeding out of range. The few that do walk along the hedgerow usually cross just downwind as they come into range for a shot :banghead:. Oh well, as my dad used to say, "If it were easy, Jane Fonda would be doing it".
Camp, that is an old wives tale that way too many believe. They are moving, your just not in the right place. I love hunting those days when I was on a lease, no hunters, and the deer concentrated certain areas. The fist 'big buck' I killed was a nice 8. Very windy day. So windy all the other father and sons stayed in camp all day. I was the talk of the camp when I came in with him. :readit:
I haven't noticed much difference in moon phase but I have planned trips to NZ to coincide with the 1st quarter. Only so I know I have moon light straight after sunset to help get back to camp in the evenings.
Yeah OZ, I didn't notice either till I started cataloging years ago. You might be surprised. I sure was. When growing up hearing "we don't hunt during a full moon", I found out that was a wives tale also because while everyone went back to camp at 10 AM the animals were just getting started. This lasts till about 2 PM then movement subsides again till after dark.
I have seen my biggest bucks during a full moon, as well as rut chases and fights.
Quote from: Terry Green on May 16, 2025, 07:30:05 AMYeah OZ, I didn't notice either till I started cataloging years ago. You might be surprised. I sure was. When growing up hearing "we don't hunt during a full moon", I found out that was a wives tale also because while everyone went back to camp at 10 AM the animals were just getting started. This lasts till about 2 PM then movement subsides again till after dark.
I have seen my biggest bucks during a full moon, as well as rut chases and fights.
The problem I have is getting a property to hunt on let alone one with enough game that you actually see anything with enough regularity to establish a pattern.
If all you have is low animal density where what you see is just travelling through on the periphery of where you can hunt then things are pretty tough.
Typical behaviour is totally different too between where density is high vs low.
I laugh when you see YouTube videos or listen to podcasts of people explaining behaviour and hunting methods. They assume everyone has access to amazing properties like they do where there is game behind every tree it seems.
They discount the fact that most people don't have access to populations where that behaviour happens. Either the population density is very low and/or the land has fragmented ownership where you would need simultaneous permission from several owners to hunt it properly. It is very rare to get a property that encompasses bedding, feeding and travel areas.
It would be akin to someone on a fishing video outlining the tactics and methods that are super successful for lake fishing but they are the only one allowed to go lake fishing.
It's frustrating. Sorry for the rant.
In my experience, in both hunting and fishing, the solunar works.
Penn State University did a study on deer movement and determined that the moon phase had no significant impact on deer movement. When it comes to salt water fish, there was some limited impact. My home state wildlife department publishes the tables...but offers a disclaimer. Frankly, I tend to believe in the data tables; despite evidence to the contrary.
I do know for sure that the best time to go is when you can.
https://www.mdwfp.com/wildlife-hunting/feeding-times-moon-phases
Yeah stringwacker, not interested in penn states findings. They're more interested in indoctrination. I know what MY study has found over the last forty years.
I always look at those but I cant say they usually seem correct. I hunt when I can.
Far from being a lunar expert, from my experience, deer aren't in your living room, unless hanging on the wall, they aren't on your computer, unless they're a screensaver, and they aren't anywhere except where they're supposed to be, which is in the woods, in the fields, in the swamps, in the cedars, etc... one thing that I will agree with, is that there is more deer movement between 10AM and 2PM than we were led to believe.
Personally I've never paid any attention to the solunar tables , I just hunt and fish when and if I can :dunno:
I have looked at the calendars for years haven't seen any more deer movement in the times they say. I'm not a believer. That's over a 50-60 year period. I do see more Bucks from 10-2 in the past few years but being retired I can hunt more days then.
All else being equal, deer in Ag/rural/suburban are slightly more visible (out eating) during daylight on those best moon time hours.
The Penn State study was done in a remote big woods area, where deer are more active all day and largely unaffected by outside sources. There is a lot of deer travel info on the blog, it is worth reading. Especially if you hunt big woods.
BTW, I'm no fan of PA deer management on public land. Or on private land either actually. Biologists and students are still trapping and collaring deer in PA. It has been going on so long that I can't imagine what is left to study! I have asked, but didn't really get an answer as to why they are continuing to collar deer. The fawn mortality study was done twice and it is over. So I don't know what they are doing other than giving students practice. They will never improve the forest to hold more deer, only protect the forest from deer.
We had a very localized strike of EHD that killed a whole bunch of deer real quick late last summer/early fall. Most of us kept our mouths shut. One neighbor called the PGC. EHD stops itself when the frost hits. The PGC decided to flood the area with doe permits. Which takes awhile to issue. To kill as many remaining deer as possible. You know, the survivors, that might have some resistance to EHD, after the frost hit. When EHD was over. My herd is way down this spring.
TD
I'm hunting suburban deer on Long Island and haven't noticed any change based on the moon. As far as wind, they might change their route but they are moving and feeding. I read a study a couple years back of collared deer and they found out that bucks moved much more on windy days as opposed to calm days. I started hunting days with more than 18 mph winds and even stronger gusts and I did see bucks almost every time as opposed to the really calm evenings. Calm mornings I still saw deer heading back to their beds.
They only time I really saw a change in movement though is when someone is illegally baiting a stand site. Then it totally messes up an area since the does and even bucks will bed close to the bait pile with the bucks bedding in thick stuff close by. Whenever i have a stand site dry up until after dark I always go looking for a bait pile and that's usually the culprit. Seems the deer will hit the bait pile first and then wait until dark to move through my areas to feed on oaks.
Penn state has done extensive research on deer including movement during moon phases, changes in weather and hunter pressure. They have a blog that can be searched by topic with tons of excellent information, much of which was acquired by monitoring radio collared deer for decades.
Penn State Deer Blog (https://www.deer.psu.edu/cold-wet-winds-of-change/)
I think that taking notes Solunar included and referring back to it throughout the season or historically works. I had good deer movement on a certain moon this past season three months in a row. It could just be a confidence thing. For some of us who still have to go to work....It just seems critical to take notes and study your notes on any factor you can attribute to a good or bad day. Especially when you are picking vacation days to go hunt, and you've only got a limited number of days.