Moon favors mornings on opening weekend

The moon was almost perfect for youth deer season and could be considered even better for this year’s firearms deer opener.
A dark night is best, it is said, and for youth season Oct. 29-30, moonrise didn’t happen until 4 and 5 a.m. And then it was but a sliver of a moon. So kids had a little help from the moon getting into the woods, but deer did not have enough light to have gotten all their activities done. They should have still been active for the kids’ morning hunt.
For regular deer opener, Nov. 12, it is even better. The moon comes up Friday before season at 2:35 in the afternoon. It is on the increase and should be fairly bright for hunters setting up camp after dark.
But the moon goes down at 2:48 a.m., and with sunrise about four hours later, deer should bed down. They’ll be ready to get up and travel around as hunters go into the dawn woods. If you go in early you may need a light, but know that it should be an active morning.
Sunday of opening weekend will be almost as good. Sunrise is 3:25 Saturday afternoon and the moon goes down at 3:59 a.m. Another dark morning with dawn after about three hours of rest period for deer.
The idea behind moonlight and deer hunting odds is based on simple eye sight. Deer see well in dim light - some say deer see as well in moonlight as we see in sunlight.
But with no moon, even deer have a hard time seeing to get around. Like us in moonlight, deer with only starlight usually find it easier to take a nap and wait for better light.
The down side is that deer may be able to anticipate when the moon will be up. After all, they spend their whole lives with the moonlight and may learn the patterns. If this is so, they may wait to get active in late afternoon opening weekend, staying bedded down until after sundown.
The affect of the moon may not mean much where hunting pressure is heavy. An army of hunters moving into the woods at dawn is going to get them up. And if the morning is cold, all those humans moving around about 9 a.m. is going to get them up again.
Midweek, the moon comes up at 5:02 on Wednesday evening, which is just a few minutes after sunset. And it stays up until 8:40 Thursday morning. What’s more, it is a full moon. Best bet Thursday if you are in an area with sparse pressure might be to concentrate on midday when deer may stir to get a drink.
The second weekend, the moon comes up Friday at 6:38 in the evening and is still up at 9:42 the next morning. Saturday, moonrise is 7:36 p.m. and moonset is 10:35 Sunday morning. With most of the night well lit, deer will have a tendency to bed down most of the day. But they may be anxious to get moving again in late afternoon, “knowing” the moon won’t be up for a couple hours after sunset.
All and all, the moon would seem to be favorable for most hunters. Most hunt opening weekend, and most pressure is in the morning.

Two dozen years ago, November 1981

Has it ever happened to you? You are helpless crossing a fence or climbing into a deer stand, the buck of your dreams chooses that moment to reveal himself. Al Agnew chose one such moment for a pen and ink cover for the November, 1981 edition of Traveler.
The idea of merging State Parks and Conservation Department was a hot topic and Traveler came out in favor of the idea - provided it was a planned-for merger and not just a political shuffle. At the time, Parks had about 90,000 acres and allowed no hunting. Conservation was moving toward 300,000 acres with virtually no recreational development beyond hunting.
Surely, we reasoned, some of those Parks acres could be hunted, and surely some of those 300,000 conservation acres could serve park functions.
The outdoor public hunts, fishes, camps, swims, floats, hikes, studies nature and loves the scenery. We like it all. The public could satisfy more of its wants and needs if the two agencies were merged with a plan to utilize all lands for overall outdoor enjoyment.
We wouldn't change our argument much today. But the urgency is gone.
Duck and turkey seasons overlapped a few days in 1981 and there was a story about a float trip on Meramec River to hunt the two very different birds. Net result was one wood duck shot and gorgeous fall scenery.
A court battle was shaping up over whether or not the National Park Service could limit the number of rental canoes on Current and Jacks Fork River.
Millstream Gardens on the St. Francis River sold to the Conservation Department. MDC had a policy against acquiring land adjacent to national forest holdings, but the feds were not going to buy it and it was too outstanding an area to pass up.
Ruffed grouse were stocked in Watkins State Forest. And 20 otters were to be stocked in the Grand River in north Missouri.
In 1980, deer hunting accidents included only one where the victim was shot by another hunter and the victim was not wearing orange. So MDC was requiring orange again in 1981.
There were some deer stories, including an account of a deer stand that produced deer year after year after year. It was something not very common in 1981.
Traveler was still being done on an IBM typewriter in 1981 and we purchased a new print head. The new type for Traveler was known as Venezia.

Click here for back issues