That beautiful waxing moon that’s been illuminating this week’s clear, starry sky is called by some the Rutting Moon, and it’s supposed to have an amorous effect on mature whitetail bucks, which go into full rut and throw caution to the wind in search of receptive does.

Tonight it’s totally full, so bowhunting has likely improved greatly and will continue to be productive for the next few weeks, when dominant bucks will come out of seclusion and be on the prowl day and night, some losing up to a quarter of their body weight pursuing females over a wide territory, too preoccupied to think about eating.

“Yeah, they’re starting to get fired-up, from what I hear,” said Sunderland Hatchery manager Chuck Bell, who Friday checked a nice 8-pointer weighing 191 pounds, shot earlier that day in Leverett by Brian Kellogg of Northfield. “I guess it’s the influence of this full moon and the colder nights, but the guys say the bucks are getting active.”

The archery season opened on Oct. 17 and Bell claims his checking station was slow until this past weekend, when he noticed an obvious spike that carried into this week. By midday Monday, the station had handled a total of 25 kills, compared to 17 at the Charlemont Inn, 13 at Bitzer Hatchery in Montague, 11 at Grrr Gear in Orange, and nine at Flagg’s Fly & Tackle in Orange, where always affable proprietor Ronnie Flagg was full of chatter.

“I don’t think there’s many hunters out there,” he said. “Times are tough. I don’t think guys want to take time off because they’re afraid their bosses will find someone else. I’m not seeing any cars side of the road, I can tell you that. And a lot of the hunters I’ve talked to agree there ain’t many hunters out there. I don’t know what happened during turkey season (last week). I didn’t check a one.”

Fran Frew at the Hatfield Market checking station wasn’t doing any better, checking just one turkey last week along with “six or seven deer” in more than two weeks. “I think the storm threw turkey hunters off,” Frew said. “Everyone was scrambling to clean up the mess. As for deer, I think it’s about to change.”

Skip Walker, Flagg’s Orange competitor at Grrr Gear, agreed with Flagg’s perception of a hunting-pressure decline. “To be honest with you,” Walker opined, “I think there are fewer hunters than there’s ever been. Hopefully it’s about to get better. I’ve been out and only one hunter’s passed my blind in one spot. I haven’t seen a hunter near the other two areas I hunt. In fact, not even a vehicle. Maybe they’re only hunting Saturdays.”

Of course, another reason for a paucity of hunters around the Orange area could be the scarcity of deer. Flagg says he grew accustomed years ago to seeing two or three deer daily in the field across the road from his place of business, “and three to five would get killed in the road out front every year.” Well, times have changed. “For Chrisesakes, I haven’t seen a deer in that field for five years,” scoffed Flagg, blaming diminishing numbers on the annual Quabbin hunt, which over the past 20 years has, in his not-so-humble opinion, removed too many deer from a once dense population on the state reservation.

“It’s no secret that they did a job on the deer around my place, I’ll tell ya that,” Flagg said. “Last year they had a couple of thousand hunters in the Quabbin and I don’t think they shot much more than 100 deer. It ain’t like it used to be there or here on the outskirts. The Quabbin’s just a mile up the road. I notice a big difference in the number of deer.”

Nonetheless, there are still a few nice bucks in Quabbin country. Orange archer Brad Jacques proved that by finding himself a trophy animal well worth parading around town. Killed in Orange on Oct. 22 — before any Rutting Moon influence — and checked at Flagg’s, the bruiser sported 11-point antlers and tipped the scales at an impressive 205 pounds.

“I weighed it,” said Flagg, “and it was a beauty. The kid lives in the center of town and everyone’s seen pictures of that buck by now;” among them Walker, who said he often does business with Jacques. In fact, he disclosed a little secret.

“The kid’s determined to get another one right in the same place,” Walker said. “He claims he’s seen a bigger one in there.”

With the Rutting Moon casting its spell through skeletal trees in the forest these days, Jacques’ determination will likely increase, as will his unavailability for other obligations and responsibilities. Let’s just say a comfortable couch can come in handy for such a man who’s married, engaged or living in sin. To some it’s worth it, an annual fact of life. But veterans will tell you it’s only temporary, plenty of time to repair frayed ends of a damaged relationship while trapped indoors during the dead of winter.

Then again, some men are cut loose to the matchmaking websites.