Hiding behind a pine

The moon was hiding behind the pines this morning when I looked out. So I am out on the porch in my pajamas with my tripod and 70-300mm trying to get the moon clear and the branches not.   It was a little chilly but not terribly cold thank goodness.   I could not find the right settings to make that happen.  I used the center only focus point, with the camera set in shutter priority mode and tried various speeds.  I tried different iso's also.  But still could not get this the way I wanted.  Any suggestions would be appreciated as the full moon is tonight and I can try again.  I usually do okay with the moon if it is wide open by itself but not behind trees.