Brian, Thanks for checking out GrowingDeer.tv! There are gads of calendars, articles, etc., that predict when deer will be most active based on the phase of the moon. Some are online, some are for sale, and some are published in hunting magazines. However, there have been numerous scientific studies using actual conception dates of deer, … Read more
Robert, There have been and currently are 1,000’s of deer wearing GPS units (on collars). Other researchers and myself have analyzed data collected by these GPS units and found no relationship between any phase of the moon and the timing or amount of deer activity. Enjoy creation, grant November 24, 2015
Nathan, Thanks for offering to share notes with us about deer activity compared to moon phases. There have been 1,000’s of deer fitted with GPS collars throughout the whitetails’ range. Researchers have looked for a relationship between when deer are active and many characteristics of the moon’s orbit. To date, no relationship has been found. … Read more
Luke, There’s been 1,000’s of deer studied with use of a GPS collar. There’s no evidence that deer respond in any way to different phases of the moon. They do respond to changes in the weather. Unfortunately the weather can’t be accurately forecast for more than a day or so. I suggest hunting when you … Read more
Jeff, Research scientists have now placed 1,000’s GPS collars on deer. Some of these studies looked directly at variables that are related to deer movement. I’m not aware of any of these studies that has found a strong relationship between any aspect of the moon’s orbit (phase, degrees north or south of the earth’s equator, … Read more
Andrew, Myself and several other researchers have collected literally 10’s of 1,000’s of fetuses from hunter harvested does. The date of conception can be determined from fetal length. Theses data clearly indicate deer in the same location breed during the same time frame from year to year no matter the moon phase or weather. However, … Read more
Ron, I record the date, start and stop time of each hunt (morning and afternoon). I record the time in military style so morning and afternoon are never confused. I also record where I hunt based on a grid system, I don’t use stand names as stand names change from time to time. I also … Read more
Barry, My data (gads and gads of deer fetuses backdated to the date of conception during the past 20 years) match the observations of many other scientists. The timing of deer conception dates are not triggered by any phase of the moon. Growing Deer together, Grant
