The full harvest moon that rose in the east on Sept. 17-18 was also a supermoon, which meant that it was slightly larger and brighter than an average moon. This moon appeared full for approximately three days, from Monday evening through Thursday morning.

Also on the night of the full moon, there was a partial lunar eclipse that added to the skywatching delight. The harvest moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox, which occurred on Sept. 22.

This full moon reminded me of something that had occurred many, many years ago. It was a cold but clear fall day in October, and the harvest moon was just rising in the sky. I had received a complaint concerning hunters that were hunting ducks late on a beaver dam and headed to the area on Armenia Mountain. After hiding my vehicle, I posted myself so I would be able to see late hunter activity.

As the sun set the cold penetrated my jacket and it was beginning to get dark. I decided to head for home where a warm fire and a good meal would be waiting for me. While traveling east, I noticed the full moon rising above the horizon.

“Wow, look at that moon,” I said to myself. I pulled my state vehicle behind a camp, groped around in the dark until finding my binoculars and climbed out of the vehicle so I could watch the moon rise. It was just breaking over several treetops on the horizon.

The moon was so bright and so large that it seemed as if I could reach out and touch it.

Have you ever noticed that the sun and the moon appear larger when they first appear? In “A Book About a Thousand Things,” George Stimpson states that the reason the sun, the moon, and the stars appear larger when they are near the horizon is because the human eye can compare them with objects on the Earth.

The full moon will also appear larger when it comes out from behind a cloud because you have the cloud to compare it against. In fact, the angular size of the full moon is larger when seen directly overhead than when seen near the horizon. This is because when it is directly overhead it is about four thousand miles closer to you. This should make it 1/16th larger.

However, this difference is too small for us to see.

Others say the reason the moon and sun appear larger when on the horizon is because of the refraction of light. On the contrary, refraction causes the sun and full moon when close to the horizon to appear vertically flattened. So, this refraction decreases the apparent vertical diameter.

Vertically flattened or not, that October evening the moon was awesome. I began trying to pick out different areas on the moon, starting with the Sea of Tranquility. All of sudden I was startled by the sound of a rifle shot piercing the night air. I had not seen or heard the approaching vehicle.

The car had come up a side road and turned onto the road where I was positioned, approximately 150 yards away. The vehicle was sitting in the middle of the road, headlights on and a powerful spotlight was being used to search the field. I watched as the driver of the vehicle pulled slowly away.

I jumped into my vehicle and followed at a safe distance. The driver checked the fields, with the powerful spotlight, and then started down the mountain. I quickly pulled up behind the vehicle, turned on my red light and stopped the vehicle. I approached the vehicle and identified myself. A man and a woman were in the front seat, with a rifle positioned between the two. I had the man, who was the driver, get out of the vehicle.

He was no stranger to me since I had arrested him years before for possessing a deer illegally. I seized and unloaded the rifle and removed the keys from the truck. I asked if he had hit the deer when the shot was fired. Of course, he denied doing any shooting. I asked him to accompany me back to the area where they had shot. When I stopped at the exact spot, we got out of the vehicle, and I found the empty shell laying on the berm of the road.

I then had him accompany me in a search of the field, but we were unable to find a deer. I commented that if he was such a good shot — he bragged that he was — how did you miss? He replied that it is his wife’s gun and he seldom uses the gun.

Along with his confession, he told me that although I had arrested him before for shooting deer at night, this was the first time he was caught in the act.

Had it not been for the full moon rising, I would not have stopped. When I see a full moon I am often reminded of this case. Just as the early farmers used the full harvest moon to gather their crops, a game warden can use a harvest moon to help in making an arrest.

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.