October’s full moon, this year on Wednesday, October 24, is commonly known as the Hunter’s Moon, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac [1]. This year the full moon will be visible from Tuesday through Thursday, October 23-25.
The Hunter’s Moon is always the first full moon after the Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, and is usually seen in October but once every four years it falls in November. It will be in the sky all night, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise.
As the full moon rose from the ridge behind our house, it began with an orange glow caused by rising near the horizon at sunset.
The Almanac gave background on the name:
The Algonquin Native American tribes referred to October’s Moon as the Full Hunter’s Moonbecause time to go hunting in preparation for winter. Since the harvesters have reaped the fields, hunters can easily see the fattened deer and other animals that have come out to glean (and the foxes that have come out to prey on them).
The earliest use of the term “Hunter’s Moon” cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1710. Some sources suggest that other names for the Hunter’s Moon are the Sanguine or Blood Moon, either associated with the blood from with hunting or the turning of the leaves in autumn. Other Native American tribes, who tied the full Moon names to the season’s activities, called the full Moon the “Travel Moon” and the “Dying Grass Moon.”
It’s autumn in the Shenandoah Valley.
Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
Full moon appears to rise through the trees on the ridge behind our house