The effect of Solunar Events on White-tailed Deer Activity By: Sam Berglund Researchers: Jeffery D. Sullivan, Stephen S. Ditchkoff, Bret A. Collier, Charles R. Ruth, Joshua B. Raglin. Institution: Auburn University, Louisiana State University

Purpose of the Study To evaluate whether solunar charts can predict periods of increased activity in male white-tailed deer.

Null and Alternative Hypotheses Null Hypotheses: The deer movement based off of solunar charts are accurate for male white-tailed deer. Alternative Hypotheses: The charts are accurate for night time activity for male deer but that these solunar charts may be misleading when it comes to the deer movement during daytime periods.

Key Definitions Moon Overhead- When the moon is directly above you in the sky. Moon Underfoot- When the moon is directly under your feet on the other side of the earth. Solunar- Combination of the moon and sun. Logistic regression- Statistical method to analyze a dataset when there are one or more independent variable to determine an outcome.

How the Study was Conducted Thirty-eight adult male white-tailed deer were equipped with gps collars that were programed to collect data on their location every 30 minutes from the months of August to December in the years 2010-2012. The deer were considered active or inactive based on the total distance that they moved between consecutive gps locations.

Results of the Study There are problems with the way solunar charts show the relationship between deer activity, solunar events, and the moon phase. Due to conflicting trends between moon phase and solunar events, the data suggests that the day ranking system currently used by the solunar chart producers does not accurately predict deer activity during the day. It has been found, these solunar charts can accurately predict periods of deer activity only half the time. These findings have shown solunar charts are accurately depicting deer movement only during the night. The charts can mislead the general population by showing that deer are moving equally during days and nights during certain moon phases. In actuality, deer move best only during moonrise and moonset periods and worse during moon overhead and moon underfoot periods.

Conclusion The charts can mislead the general population by showing that deer are moving equally during days and nights during certain moon phases. In actuality, deer move best only during moonrise and moonset periods and worse during moon overhead and moon underfoot periods during certain moon phases.

Tables http://www.rnr.lsu.edu/bret/BretWebSiteDocs/Sullivan2016.pdf