July 2025 Full Buck Moon

July’s full Buck Moon will rise on Thursday, July 10, 2025, being its fullest and brightest at 4:37PM EDT.  The Moon will be below the horizon when this exact moment of full moon happens.  Be outside looking to the southeast at 9:24PM to watch this beautiful Moon rise.   Native Americans named Moons after what they were observing in the natural world around them.  July’s Moon has a fitting name.  Bucks (male deer) shed and regrow their antlers each year.  Beginning in late March a buck’s antlers begin to grow.  Deer, like all other animals, depend on Earth’s cycle of light and dark. The increasing daylight hours trigger the hormones that start the new antler growth each spring.  And antlers grow fast – one and a half inches per week, making them the fastest growing bones in the world!  It’s this time of year when a buck’s antlers are in full growth mode.  By early August the buck has a new set of antlers bigger and more impressive than his last set.  Native Americans observed this incredible transformation and it’s no wonder why they named July’s full Moon the Buck Moon.

Although Buck Moon is the most common name for July’s full Moon there are others. Western Abenaki call this Moon the Thunder Moon because of the large number of thunderstorms that happen at this time of year.  There are other animal related names for this Moon such as the Cree name Feather Molting Moon and the Tlingit name Salmon Moon which refers to the return of this fish.  And there are some plant related names such as the Anishinaabe’s Berry Moon, the Dakota’s When the Chokecherries are Ripe Moon, Zuni’s Limbs Are Broken by Fruit Moon, and the Cherokee’s Month of the Ripe Corn Moon.

Enjoy the full Buck Moon!