Whitetail Instinct March, 2016 | Page 16

The Moon and D If you are like me, you may spend most of the offseason searching through magazines and webpages for information on the newest whitetail hunting strategies. One topic that always seems to show up is the moon. In the last publication we tackled the topic of how the moon may affect the timing of the rut. In this issue we will look at how the moon affects deer movement. Circadian or Nocturnal? So what does the biology of a deer suggest about their movement patterns? The structures and function of their eyes that we addressed earlier in this issues suggest that they are nocturnal, but the fact that deer are ruminants suggests otherwise. A deer’s eyes are specifically adapted to seeing in low light conditions, so like we all know, they are going to restrict most of their movement to the last few minutes before sunrise and sunset. The ruminant component of their biology, 16