What Is A Hunter's Moon?
QUICK ANSWER
The Hunter's Moon is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon, usually in October but sometimes November. Like the Harvest Moon, it rises shortly after sunset for several consecutive nights, providing extended early-evening light. Hunters traditionally used this light to track and shoot game before winter.
The Hunter's Moon shares a unique observational property with its predecessor, the Harvest Moon. Both moons rise shortly after sunset for several consecutive nights, providing hours of useful evening light. While the Harvest Moon was important for gathering crops, the Hunter's Moon traditionally helped hunters by giving them extended visibility to track game animals as they prepared for winter. The name has roots in both Native American and European traditions.
How is it defined?
As the full moon after the Harvest Moon. According to NASA, full moon names like the Hunter's Moon trace back to Native American traditions, particularly those of the Algonquin tribes. The Hunter's Moon is defined relative to the Harvest Moon (the full moon closest to autumn equinox), so it's the next full moon after that. Most years, this places the Hunter's Moon in October. In years when the Harvest Moon falls in early October, the Hunter's Moon shifts to November. The naming is calendar-flexible rather than monthly.
Why hunter's?
Extended evening light helped track game. Pre-electricity, the Hunter's Moon was useful for similar reasons as the Harvest Moon. Its bright light rose just after sunset for several consecutive nights, giving hunters extended visibility into the early evening. With autumn meaning game animals fattening up for winter (and deer entering their rutting season), this was a critical time for stocking food for the cold months. The Hunter's Moon traditionally helped tribes and settlers gather meat to last through winter, in much the same way the Harvest Moon helped with crops.
What's the moonrise pattern?
Same as the Harvest Moon. Like the Harvest Moon before it, the Hunter's Moon rises about 25-30 minutes later each night instead of the usual 50 minutes. This is because of the angle of the ecliptic (the Moon's orbital plane) relative to the horizon at this time of year. The result is that the Moon appears full or nearly full at sunset for three or four consecutive nights, providing extended evening light. After the Hunter's Moon, the moonrise lag returns to normal.
What other names does it have?
Several across cultures. Native American tribes used various names including the Falling Leaves Moon (Anishinaabe), Migrating Moon (Cree), and Drying Rice Moon (Dakota), reflecting the autumn activities of different regions. Old European traditions sometimes called October's full moon the Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon, referring to the bloody business of hunting and slaughtering livestock for winter. (This is distinct from the modern usage of blood moon for total lunar eclipses.) The Hunter's Moon name became standard in English-speaking traditions.
The Hunter's Moon is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon, usually in October but sometimes November. Like the Harvest Moon, it rises shortly after sunset for several consecutive nights, providing extended early-evening light. Hunters traditionally used this light to track and shoot game before winter. The name traces back to Native American Algonquin traditions and European farming traditions, both of which valued the extra visibility during this critical pre-winter season.
More Moon Questions
Mystery Question?
Mystery Question?
Mystery Question?