by LiveOutdoors Staff

I’m sure you’ve noticed there are times that small game, birds, and big animals are out and easily found. There are also times it seems like you’re the only one out on the hunt. So, how does one come to know what the best hunting times are?

It’s a question many before you have asked, and many tried to explain, usually chronicling animal and fish movement in order to make out a pattern that could predict future animal and fish behavior. Hunters today mostly use Solunar Theory, proposed by John Alden Knight back in 1926. Out of 33 variables, Knight was set out to check their effect on hunting and fishing times; the position of the sun, moon, and tides were determined to be of the utmost importance.

What this means, is that there are periods of greater activity of animals and fish, and periods of lower activity. Actually, there are two “major” time periods and two “minor” time periods during each day when fishing and hunting are most likely to be productive (check out the link above if you want to understand Solunar Theory completely).

We’re in the age of technology, and unless you have a wealth of experience under your belt, you are quite likely to depend on it. We’d like to point out to few shortcuts that may help you out when searching for the best hunting times.

If you’re in the woods, or by the river, and still have cell signal, check out this website where you can create your Solunar monthly hunting and fishing times calendar just by entering your Zip/Postal code, month, and year.

This is an iOS app that can save you a lot of time in the woods. It comes with GPS-based seven day prediction for deer, turkey, or waterfowl to help you identify when your favorite game is on the move, Buddy Tracking on maps to keep tabs on your hunting partners while out, it’s weather forecast-based, and gives sun/moon best times based on your location.

Here’s another app for your iPhone. It determines when the best fishing times and best hunting times will occur for your exact location. Next time you are arranging your trip, just check ahead to find out the best hunting or fishing times for the date(s) you’re considering.

An Android-only app for your Samsung, LG, Motorola etc. You can use auto-GPS or manual entry to find out major and minor feeding/activity periods and save it for future reference.

One more top Android app with all the usual location-specific information that will make your next hunting/fishing trip a success!

Finally, for all you book connoisseurs,

this one gives you a forecast of the daily feeding times of fish and game for the year 2016, and can be easily adjusted and used anywhere in the world.

How have you determined the best hunting times? Let us know in the comment section below.

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