Hunters Moon Name Origin


What is a Hunters Moon? The full moon that appears in October is called the Hunters Moon. The first moon after the Harvest Moon is the Hunters Moon, so named as the preferred month to hunt summer-fattened deer and fox unable to hide in now bare fields. Like the Harvest Moon, the Hunters Moon is also particularly bright and long in the sky, giving hunters the opportunity to stalk prey at night. Probably because of the threat of winter looming close, the Hunters Moon is generally accorded with special honor, historically serving as an important feast day in both Western Europe and among many Native American tribes. Note that some years the Harvest Moon falls in October instead of September.

Hunters Moon Name Variations

The Hunters Moon of October is sometimes referred to as the Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon, as the Native Americans named this bright moon for obvious reasons. Other names for this full moon include the Travel Moon and the Dying Grass Moon.

When is the next Hunters Moon?

The Hunters Moon dates are expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UT), the international basis for other time zones. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full moon dates shift from year to year. For Hunters Moon times in your city, please use the Time Zone Converter. You may also simply subtract five (5) hours to get to U.S. Eastern Time.

Full MoonYearDateTimeDay
Hunters Moon2011Oct 1202:06Wed
Hunters Moon2012Oct 2919:50Mon
Hunters Moon2013Oct 1823:38Fri
Hunters Moon2014Oct 810:51Wed
Hunters Moon2015Oct 2712:05Tue
Hunters Moon2016Oct 1604:23Sun
Hunters Moon2017Oct 518:40Thu
Hunters Moon2018Oct 2416:45Wed
Hunters Moon2019Oct 1321:08Sun
Hunters Moon2020Oct 121:05Tue

Popular Full Moon Names

The naming of the Hunters Moon has a pretty interesting history. Do you want to learn about other Full Moon names? If so, check out the following full moon names: Wolf Moon, Snow Moon, Worm Moon, Pink Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Buck Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Harvest Moon, Hunters Moon, Beaver Moon, Cold Moon, and, of course, the Blue Moon!

Popular Full Moon Calendars

Some popular full moon calendars, in addition to the Hunters Moon Calendar, include the following: Moon Calendar 2011, Moon Calendar 2012, Moon Calendar 2013, Moon Calendar 2014, Moon Calendar 2015, Moon Calendar 2016, Moon Calendar 2017, Moon Calendar 2018, Moon Calendar 2019, Moon Calendar 2020.

You can also check out our Full Moon Calendar, Lunar Calendar, Lunar Eclipse Calendar and Solar Eclipse Calendar!

Full Moon Names History

Hunters Moon

Hunters Moon (October)

Full Moon names have been used by many cultures to describe the full moon throughout the year. Specifically, Native American tribes used moon phases and cycles to keep track of the seasons by giving a distinctive name to each recurring full moon, including the Flower Moon. The unique full moon names were used to identify the entire month during which each occurred.

Although many Native American tribes gave distinct names to the full moon, the most well known full moon names come from the Algonquin tribes who lived in the area of New England and westward to Lake Superior. The Algonquin tribes had perhaps the greatest effect on the early European settlers in America, and the settlers adopted the Native American habit of naming the full moons.