The first use of the term “Hunter’s Moon,” is from 1710, cited in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Many stories surround the naming of the moons, notably the Hunter's Moon. Hunter’s Moon name is tied to the season.
According to some sources, the Hunter's Moon is also known as the Sanguine or Blood Moon, which is associated with either the blood from hunting or the color of the changing autumn leaves.
It is believed that the October full Moon got its name because it signaled the time to start hunting in preparation for the cold winter ahead.
From a practical sense, the Harvest Moon and subsequent Hunter's Moon provided nighttime light for farmers and hunters to complete their tasks.
In North America, the Harvest Moon was a time when the bright moon meant farmers could remain out later, laboring in their fields and harvesting and gathering their crops before the first freeze.
Animals start getting fat ahead of winter. Since the farmers had just cleaned out their fields, hunters could easily spot the deer and other animals that had come out to root through the remaining scraps (as well as the foxes and wolves that had come out to hunt them).
Farmers would turn to hunting deer and other animals after harvesting to bolster their food supplies before winter.
The light of the full and almost full moons would let them hunt into the evening hours.Thus, it is called a Hunter's Moon.
In 2022, the Hunter's Moon occurs on October 9. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the moon will reach full phase on Oct 9 at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 UTC)