Hunter’s Moon 2027

Hunter’s Moon meaning

The full moon after the Harvest Moon. With the fields cleared, deer and other game were easy to spot by moonlight, and the foxes and wolves that came to glean the stubble were hunted too — the stores for winter were laid down under this moon. Like the Harvest Moon it rises soon after sunset for several nights running, which is what made it useful.

Also called: Blood Moon (traditional), Travel Moon, Dying Grass Moon, Sanguine Moon. The names come from the seasonal calendars of Native American, Colonial American and European tradition, as collected in the Old Farmer's Almanac; each one marks what was happening on the land in that month.

Harvest Moon or Hunter's Moon? The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the September equinox, which is usually September's but roughly every three years falls in early October. The Hunter's Moon is always the full moon after it.

When is the Hunter’s Moon?

• 2026Monday, 26 October 2026, 04:12 UTCEvery phase in October 2026
• 2027Friday, 15 October 2027, 13:47 UTCEvery phase in October 2027
• 2028Tuesday, 3 October 2028, 16:25 UTC · also the Harvest MoonEvery phase in October 2028
• 2029Monday, 22 October 2029, 09:28 UTCEvery phase in October 2029

Times are UTC; your local time is shown in the opening line. A full moon is an instant, but the Moon looks full to the eye the night before and the night after as well.

Best time to see the Hunter’s Moon

Go out at moonrise on the evening of Fri 15 Oct: look east just after sunset, when the Moon sits on the horizon, looks largest, and takes on its warmest colour. Catch it at moonrise: the Hunter's Moon comes up shortly after sunset for several evenings and glows a deep orange while it is low — the 'blood moon' of the old name, nothing to do with an eclipse.

Tonight's moonrise time for your location is on the live moon page.