What do you use to help detect the wind?
i pick up a leaf and just let it go and see where it blows. its easy and i dont have to carry it with me
My face. If you concentrate a little, you'll find your face (or any exposed skin) can be very sensitive to air movement.
Milkweed duff.
x2, milkweed duff
Wind feather. Prefer very small & light as in down feather tied into the loop of my LB string.
When you are stationary it is pretty easy to check the wind and you can use a natural checker like leaves,tall grass etc. or your feather tied on the string. When you are elk hunting trying to follow a fast walking herd on very dry or sough wet ground you need something really consistent,and something that you can use several time because in the elk woods the winds swirl pretty much.This is a case you can need some good powdered wind checker.A couple of bottles can last a season.
two things:dental floss attached to the string and if milkweed duff is the sort of cocoon we harvest at end of summer,that's what I use.
My wife can detect it before I even think about it.
Milkweed fluff is the best, you can actually see it for quite a ways. The wind a lot of times is doing something different 50 yards away(bouncing off a hillside, swirling in the trees) that is why I do not trust the powders or a feather on a thread. Shawn
Good one Roy!
Mike,
I've been working real hard to win back my "Couth" merit badge. I think I just took a step backwards!
Milkweed fluff works great, I use it always.
I get a bag of marabou feathers from any fly fishing store. Bright lots of colors. Just peel some off and shove in pocket they last even in put in wash,small fibers will stick to your coat or sleeve. I have used them for 20yr and think they are great.
Milkweed fluff has worked for me 40 years.
Down feather with a light piece of thread.
Go to a contruction supply store that sells acoustical ceiling tile and supplies. Ask for "jet line" it is very light string that frays with time to even smaller strands. It comes in white and flo orange usually. the orange works great, I can see it all the time. $5 will get you enough for a lifetime.
i tie a piece of feather or use one of the pretied wind detectors from 3 rivers to my bowstring. i also use the puff bottles full of powder when stalking. When sitting a tree stand, i will take a cotton ball and just pinch a little off of one and let the wind take it.
Puff bottle, feather tied to my bow, cattail reed pods...
I use unwaxed dental floss tied to my bow and also a puff bottle of corn starch! Works good for me!
Kenny :wavey:
Milk weed will let you see just exactly what the wind is doing. It will amaze you how it takes off one direction just hangs for a few seconds then takes off in a complete opposite direction.
Milkweed makes me question comments like the deer was directly downwind and didn't smell me. Chances are if you let a milkweed fluff go it would show it passed 20 or 30 yards over the deer or off to the side.
One of the Wensels or Brunner tapes years ago showed them setting off a colored smoke bomb just to show the actual path of slight breeze. It floated around swirled around and did all kinds of direction changes.
Turkey maribou (down) feather on a thread tied to my upper bowstring.
1) puff bottle with baking POWDER-works great. 2)New lesson this year: had a friend tie thread on the end of his arrow- wow was that great to observe as a deer was approaching.
Dental floss (unwaxed) on the upper limb. Flare the end. Got that tip from Barry Wensel on a video back in the '80s, worked since!
I use a piece of frayed dental floss taped to the upper limb of my bow.
If you want to see the thermals, try taking a chunk of the fluffy yarn they use to tie yarn flies (salmon egg imitator). Strands from that yarn almost float by themselves and come in very bright colors. You can see that fuzz a long way.
ChuckC
I use milk week at my ground stand and power at the car.
I use a 6" piece of sewing thread tied on the top loop of longbow string.
Until now I've used the unwaxed dental floss on the upper bowstring, but after seeing this thread, I'm gonna try milkweed...
While I like using the milk weed fluff, over the years I've gotten to where I can detect the slightest breeze naturally just by paying close attention to natural cues in the forest.
First you must understand that favorable winds are almost always harder to predict than than the bad winds.
I've gotten pretty good at detecting the bad winds by listening for natural sounds associated with them, like crashing of leaves and brush and loud snorting.
Pretty dependable!
:D
Derek. . don't STOP using the dental floss. it is there 24/7 and I personally have come to glance at it all the time, especially out west.
The other stuff is not so readily available for all the time use but makes a great addendum.
ChuckC
Dental floss tied to the top string nock of your bow. We should ALWAYS be thinking of wind, but we done because of our everyday world. Being on the tip of your bow remind you.
Bowmania
QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
Derek. . don't STOP using the dental floss. it is there 24/7 and I personally have come to glance at it all the time, especially out west.
The other stuff is not so readily available for all the time use but makes a great addendum.
ChuckC
Chuck,
Sounds like good advice that I'm gonna be sure to take...thanks!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/134sawney/elkhunting2010001.jpg)
Well these have worked for me:... a very thin strand of line about 10" long with a bit of small feather or fur attached,
one of the commonly available small bottles sold for this purpose, with talc type powder,
and I have been known to light a bic lighter briefly to see which way the wind blows the flame...usually using this method just as I'm leaving the vehicle to see which way I want to head out while 'still hunting'.
Gene
Got a product from 3 Rivers a bottle full of white powder . Squeeze it & will detect any wind currents .
Dental floss on the bowstring works for me.