October's full moon — the hunters' moon that follows the Harvest Moon, lighting the autumn hunt. The lore, the look, and how to see it.
After the Harvest Moon lit the gathering of crops, October's full moon lit the hunt: fields lay bare, animals were fat for winter, and the bright moon let hunters work into the night. Like the Harvest Moon it shows the 'short rising interval' effect — rising only a little later each night, giving several evenings of early moonlight.
The Hunter's Moon shares the Harvest Moon's trick: around this time of year the Moon's orbit meets the horizon at a shallow angle, so it rises only ~25–30 minutes later each night instead of the usual ~50. The result is several consecutive evenings with a big, bright moon low in the east soon after dusk.
The 2026 Hunter's Moon is the second of three consecutive supermoons closing the year — and falling deep in the supermoon window, it is among the largest, brightest full moons 2026 offers. Fullness lands at 04:11 UTC on October 26, which for North America means the evening of Sunday, October 25 (12:11 AM EDT; 9:11 PM PDT) — a prime-time supermoon rising near sunset on a weekend night. Europe sees it essentially full on both the nights of October 25 and 26, with clocks freshly returned to winter time and darkness arriving an hour earlier.
Centuries before "blood moon" became eclipse shorthand, October's full moon was the traditional Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon of northern Europe — named for the slaughter month, when herds were culled before winter and game was hunted over bare, moonlit fields. It is the hunting cultures' mirror of the farmers' Harvest Moon, and it inherits the same orbital trick: rising only ~25–30 minutes later each night, it hangs low and enormous over the eastern horizon at dusk for several evenings running. The low, long light path is also why the Hunter's Moon so often glows a deep orange when it clears the treeline.
Get a closer look
A beginner telescope or good astronomy binoculars bring the Moon's craters and phases into stunning detail: the CELTICBIRD 70/700 refractor (about €140) or the Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 binoculars (about €130, 22,000+ reviews).
CELTICBIRD 70/700 telescope (~€140) → Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 (~€130) →As an Amazon Associate, Furiosa Studio earns from qualifying purchases.