"Scientists have known for decades that the length of daylight each day, which fluctuates throughout the seasons, serves as the trigger for hormone changes in deer that bring on breeding and the rut – though the timing of the trigger varies widely in different regions and deer populations for several other reasons. But stories persist among hunters that the moon plays a role. In 2007, wildlife biologist Rod Cumberland was the deer management biologist for the small Canadian province of New Brunswick, which borders the state of Maine, and Rod wanted to study the moon’s effect on deer breeding dates. He already had a great data set at his disposal.

From 1997 to 2005, biologists with New Brunswick DNR visited the sites of reported deer road-kills to collect biological data, including fetal measurements from pregnant does. The measurements, taken with a fetal scale invented by QDMA founder Joe Hamilton, allowed biologists to age each fetus to determine the precise conception date. With more than 1,600 does providing fetal data across nine years, the enormous sample size was more than adequate for Rod to draw sound conclusions."