moon phase charts, game activity tables

[ididnotvoteforobama]

Here is going to be a controversial thread. Does anybody look and follow these charts. Are deer really centered around sun and  moon phases?  Weather,  I think is the biggest factor along with availability of food. Thinking , food that is overly abundant will tend to suppress activity along with  nice weather. Why move around much if,  food ,shelter and nice weather are there ,  along with little or no  hunting pressure.

The reason I bring this up is , since opening day I have only seen 3 small doe and jumped 3 doe  in the creek bed only 50 yds from my cabin. The weather,  minus only one day has been high pressure , sunny, 60 to 70 during the day and mid 40's at night. The apples trees are loaded,  with alot of activity around them only at night.

A full moon ,that I have noticed,  will push movement to later into the mid to late morning. I have begun looking at these charts and can't find any 2 that are the same , with movement times from 2 to 3 hrs different. I'm thinking , I will begin to see more movement with a significant weather change and increased chasing phase.

  Bottom line , it can only get better , maybe I'm over thinking this. What are your thoughts?

[SDS]

I have the trail cam software W.I.S.E by hunt club which takes the meta data from your pictures and downloads all the corresponding weather data to pattern the deer.  I've only been entering bucks into the software not does.  Personally I haven't been able to pattern them yet based upon temp, barrometric pressure, windspeed/direction, moon phase, etc.  The software has a feature called stand suggestion which is supposed to take that data and based upon the upcoming weather tell you what your probability is on different stands.  When I checked it on the stand 4 weeks ago it was wrong so I'm not sure how much trust I put in that.  I might be using it wrong though.

 

If anyone else has had good experience with this and can give me better suggestions how to use the software, let me know.  I'm kind of using it blindly...

[WNYBuckHunter]

I used to base things around those activity charts, and moon theories, etc, but could never match the activity levels in any of my spots, with what those theories were saying should be going on. Was I in the wrong spot? Maybe, but I didnt base it off of just one stand, area, or even property.

 

There are ongoing GPS tracking studies that are starting to show that most (not every one) of the theories are bunk. Now days, I get as much seat time as I can, and base my locations on the wind, and sign I find while scouting and hunting. The biggest weather related conditions I will factor into things (other than wind) is if a storm is coming in. I have noticed that they do tend to feed more, and therefore move more, before and after a storm front.

[bluecoupe]

Nope, pure bunk.  Deer move when deer want to move, period.  Get out every day you can and stay out all day rather than the out at 10:00 and back at 2:00 routine and your success rate WILL go up.  You can't see 'em if you're sitting on your couch.

[ididnotvoteforobama]

Nope, pure bunk.  Deer move when deer want to move, period.  Get out every day you can and stay out all day rather than the out at 10:00 and back at 2:00 routine and your success rate WILL go up.  You can't see 'em if you're sitting on your couch.

 

I agree whole heartedly, weather is a bigger factor than moon phases. I have always seen more deer on overcast and light rainy days snowy days. . A full moon and new moon may have an affect on activity more than any other phase but weather will trump the moon every time. I'm just hoping for a change in the weather , like cooler , rain , less leaves and the increase of the chase phase.

 

I never had this problem when the opener was after columbus day,  I'm out more but getting frustrated with not seeing much

[bluecoupe]

I agree whole heartedly, weather is a bigger factor than moon phases. I have always seen more deer on overcast and light rainy days snowy days. . A full moon and new moon may have an affect on activity more than any other phase but weather will trump the moon every time. I'm just hoping for a change in the weather , like cooler , rain , less leaves and the increase of the chase phase.

 

I never had this problem when the opener was after columbus day,  I'm out more but getting frustrated with not seeing much

 

When I said "bunk", that's just my own view of course. I'm sure a lot of guys and girls take the tables as gospel and have very good success.  What's "right" for me doesn't mean it's right for everybody.