Weather and Wildlife charts are easy to read graphics that combine solar and lunar influences and illustrate the effects of these influences in a clear and easy to read format. Unlike traditional solunar tables, Weather and Wildlife charts combine game specific solar profiles and known lunar influences for different groups of game animals and fish, providing more accurate and useful data.

     All game animals and fish repeat certain activities each and every day, week and month. Within their habitat, all of them need nourishment, and rest to sustain life. The movement necessary to accomplish these basic needs is what provides all of us with the opportunity to observe and harvest these animals. Our ability to understand these solar and lunar influences that affect feeding activity has made hunting and fishing more predictable.

     The Best Day of the Month chart is based on the lunar influences that cycle each lunar month. The chart shows the days of the month and their rating graphically. These monthly influences determine the intensity of the daily influences. The days with the higher rating have a greater combination of lunar influence and thus a higher probability of heightened wildlife activity. All Weather and Wildlife charts are specific to your location.

     The Best Time of the Day chart is based on the solar and lunar events that cycle during each day. The chart shows each hour of the day graphically and its numerical rating. The hours with the higher rating have a greater combination of solar and lunar influence and thus a higher probability of heightened wildlife activity. Sunrise and set are indicated on the chart. As with the Best Day of the Month, this chart allows you to see how each hour compares to other hours within the day.

     Solar Influence The sun is the largest body in our solar system and some would say exerts the greatest influence in our daily lives as well as that of wildlife. Animals that are active primarily in the daylight are called diurnal and those active at night are nocturnal. Animals that are most active in the period of twilight or transition between day and night are called crepuscular. Deer is an example of an animal that is primarily nocturnal and also crepuscular. The primary solar periods that are factored in Weather and Wildlife charts are dawn, dusk, midday and midnight. Each of these periods is determined based on the exact time of sunrise and sunset for that specific location and date.
    The sun has its greatest influence when it is at its zenith or most directly overhead. That point occurs in late June each year in the northern hemisphere. Even though the solar influence on wildlife within each day is significant, the day-to-day and even the week-to-week change resulting from this solar influence is incremental and not very noticeable. Therefore the sun is a major factor in the Best Time of the Day Charts but not significant in Best Day of the Month Chart.

     Lunar Influence The moon is also a large factor in the day-to-day activities of wildlife. Some of the lunar influences are obvious while some are not. The most obvious and measurable forces the moon exerts on the earth are gravitational and rotational which are easily demonstrated by observing tides. The gravitational force of the moon is one of the primary influences in the rise and fall of tides. The period that the moon exerts its greatest influence at any specific location on earth is based on the relative position of the moon, the distance the moon is from the earth (apogee/perigee) and the angle of the moon above that position (declination).
     Most evidence indicates that the periods of greatest lunar influence on wildlife is when the moon is most directly overhead and then again when it is most directly underfoot (opposite side of the earth). These two positions are usually referred to as "major" or excellent activity periods. There are two other daily periods of lunar influence that occur halfway between the overhead and underfoot positions and they are usually referred to as "minor" or "good" activity periods.
     When the moon is at perigee (closest to earth) all other lunar influences are magnified. This is also the case when the moon is at its highest declination or so called high moon. The moon phase has also been shown to indicate, if not directly cause, certain heightened periods of activity.

     Understanding the affects of the sun and moon on wildlife is only one part of the complex puzzle that helps predict when game animals and fish are most active.
     All wild game and fish share many things in common such as their universal need for habitat sufficient to provide food and shelter. Many different species of game animals may live and thrive in the same habitat and as a result experience the same weather and the same solar and lunar influences. However some species of animals respond to these influences differently. For example: the same rainy windy weather that may inhibit deer activity may in fact be good weather for waterfowl hunting.
     Obviously animals are also different physiologically. Some animals are carnivores and exist entirely on the nutrition from other animals; others are herbivores that exist exclusively on vegetation, while still others are omnivores and derive their nutrients from both vegetation and other animals and even insects. Knowing (or being familiar with) the diet of wildlife along with their habits will go a long way in understanding and predicting daily movement patterns.

     Deer and other Game Animals include several groups of animals with the largest being ungulates. Ungulates are hoofed mammals comprising one of the most diverse and successful groups of animals in existence including deer elk, moose, caribou antelope, sheep, goats, bison, boar, javelina and peccary. Most of these animals are also ruminants, which are cud chewing animals having a stomach divided into four parts. The first chamber in an ungulates stomach is the rumen, which serves as a large fermentation tank full of bacteria and other microorganisms necessary to breakdown the partially chewed digestive matter. Fine digested matter moves from the rumen to the reticulum, which is the second compartment of the stomach. Vegetation that is too coarse to leave the rumen is regurgitated and chewed further to make it fine enough to pass through to the second chamber.
     A deers digestive system works non-stop twenty-four hours a day. A breakdown in this process for even a few hours can result in a potentially deadly situation for a ruminant. In order for a deer to continue the digestive process it is critical to maintain the microbial balance in the rumen. That is the primary reason that you will almost never find a ruminants stomach completely empty. Since most vegetation moves through a ruminants digestive track in 11-12 hours, deer need to eat about every six hours. The balance of the time is spent between chewing their cud and resting. This helps to explain why deer that feed at or before dawn are likely to feed again during the day. It also explains why the two major activity periods and the two minor periods work well in forecasting deer feeding activity. (See ungulate feeding chart)
     Predators such as mountain lion, bobcat, lynx, coyote and fox are generally carnivores. A carnivore is an animal that is primarily a meat eater and as a result it will have a completely different gastro-intestinal system. Unlike ungulates (deer), the stomach of carnivores process food differently. Their stomachs have developed to withstand periods of great activity followed by long periods of inactivity. Although animals that are predators (carnivores) can be more flexible with their eating habits than herbivores, they generally are most active when their prey is more active. Therefore the times that deer and other ungulates are active is also the most active time for predators.

     Turkey and Upland Birds include quail, pheasant, dove and other game birds, which eat a wide variety of things including insects, berries and seed. Birds have a high metabolic rate and therefore must feed frequently and consume large quantities of food compared to their body weight. Although game birds can be found and hunted in areas other than their feeding areas, they are usually easier to locate as they spread out in search of food.

     Game Fish species are carnivores and will eat a wide variety of foods but quite frequently other smaller fish. Fish are opportunistic feeders and will feed ravenously when hungry and food is readily available. When the food source for game fish is scarce, they will respond to feeding opportunity first and solar and lunar influences secondly. There is an extremely large number of different species of fish that are sought after in both fresh-water and salt-water. Weather and Wildlife charts rate the lunar and solar events that generally affect all fish. However, each species has certain specific habits and diet that requires specific knowledge and individual study in order to understand their feeding tendencies.