Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 13,000+ trailcam pictures organized by Phase of Moon?

Hey guys, check this out, I used a program (www.outdooroutlook.com) to instantly analyze over 13,000 trail cam pictures from last season and this season. Look at the peak in photos during the third quarter of the moon. The second graph shows the comparison by time of day AND age of moon.
Thoughts?
Johnnie

What do the small white areas in the second graph indicate? Kinda confirms what we all think. Deer move best around the new moon and even then, mostly during darkness. Excellent study.

that's pretty interesting! thanks for posting.

Does not bode well for the next week or so...

http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon/

Interesting. Not much increased activity around noon during a full moon.

Where were the trailcams located? Feeding areas, bedding areas, travel routes, water?

ltppowell, the white spots are simply areas where the program is trying to fill the voids. They are meaningless.

Redrabbit, the cameras were all located at feeding sites/baited sites. Since food is the driving force behind deer most of the time, I'd say this is a good indicator of activity.

Johnnie

Interesting, I always felt that first quarter was best hunting, and then in the evenings.... Shows strong movement there dark to first quarter but both AM and PM....

I"m more inclined to hunt first quarter than I am new moon any day.

But full moon, we've got more than a few photos mid day....

Jeff

Jeff, If this info applies to east Tx we should see an awesome 2nd rut around the end of the month. My observations make me believe we peaked about the 1st of November, so the second should fall during the third quarter.

ltp, here is the third quarter, any update?

Johnnie

IF one pays attention to the solunar cycle, he can accurately predict peak activity for game or fish based on moon-sun orientations.
Free site, sign up-register and then type in the neares zip code for the area that interests you..Jim:

http://www.solunarforecast.com/solunarcalendar.aspx

Definately secondary rut going on. Lots of chasing Friday and Saturday. Weather today made it hard to hunt. We saw some running does, but I ain't so sure the wind wasn't after them 'cause if the bucks were, they wouldn't come out in the open. Hindsight is 20/20 ain't it?

Jim, I am not sold on the solunar tables ( I used to hunt by them for years). They often predict "peaks" in the middle of the day. Personally, I've never seen a "peak" in the middle of the day that was more productive than the morning or afternoon. Based upon when my cameras take photographs, they rarely take pictures during the middle of the day "peak" or no "peak".
Not trying to argue, just stating my (and my cameras) observations.

Johnnie

I have had a Lot of success on 3rd /last Quarter evenings. I generally wont even get out of bed on/or 3 days before a full moon, to hunt in the morning. Maybe it's in my mind, maybe I just like to sleep in
But historically speaking the 3rd quarters of Oct. & Nov. have been "good" to me in the evenings.

Three months of deer season for me generally, three moon phases...

Never paid that junk no mind.

If I want a deer I simply go find one and kill it.......

Well that is "one" way to look at it, and it is true that you can't kill anything unless you go out, but having said that. "Time" to me is very valuable, and I can't spend every waking moment of deer season in the woods, so learning to up my odds has been key to my hunting. The moon phase is just one such factor. Infact the Barometer, Temperature, and general weather conditions play larger rolls in my stratagies than do moon phase. But when you are putting in for vacation leave in Feb. or March for the next hunting season. Third Quarters make a lot of sense to me.

I can't know your pain...

I'd guess me livin' in the woods makes a difference.

Was marveling a few minutes ago at last night's "deer activity" just out back of the house, in the fresh snow, there's a few apple trees and such out there.

I could go out now...but I'm not in the mood to gut, drag, skin today. I've a turreted M8 6X to switch over to my inline .50 for next week's late season start.

Livin' where I do...is almost cheatin'.

'Course, I'm not much prone to perch in a tree and waste time waitin' on 'em to move around either.

I tend to go huntin', which means to me, findin' 'em....and killin' 'em.

That my friend, can be done anytime, anywhere, regardless of moon phase.