wind checker

[buckster]

I don't know what milk weed is, but I use cattails and corn starch.

[LA Trapper]

Roger,

That's why you leave the cap on it!!!  Sorry, I couldn't resist that.  I have never had it get sticky in one of those one ounce lense re-wetting bottles. And I have been using one for years.  Just dry the bottle out, snap the nozzle off, make a paper plate funnel and slide in the corn starch.  Made one just the other night. Some of the tops-nozzles have a baffle on the bottom.  Either cut it out with your knife or pull it out with a pair of needle nosed pliers.

Works great.  If the bottle will hold the liquid in without it seeping out, it will hold the moisture out.

Cheap and works great.  Just remember to remove the baffle, or you will have to pull off the nozzle and do it later. It restricts the amount of powder that comes out.


Billy

[Mo. Huntin]

They used to make a product called wind floaters it looked like yarn peices that had been shredded sort of.  Those milk weed pods or whatever you can find to imitate them are without a doubt the best way to go.  I have set on stand and had the wind in my face and for fun let one of those wind floater go and it went prolly 50 yards behind me and came right back past me about 30 yards to my left those things are priceless.  Terain makes a huge difference in what the wind does.

[ChuckC]

Try the colored yarn used to tie salmon egg flies.  Grab a few fibers from a piece asnd let it float.  Use fluorescent yellow or orange and you can see it a long way.
ChuckC

[mooseman1967]

buckster heres some milkweed pods, 4 or 5 of them will last ya a lot of seasons.
 

[JimB]

Mo Huntin is exactly right.I have used the wind floaters.Powder only tells you what is happening a few feet out.That may be all you need in open country.

In the woods,the wind swirls,twists,turns and sometimes reverses itself.You can't see that.

I had the same experience as Mo Huntin.I was sitting in a tree stand and the wind turned the wrong direction.I let go a floater.It went out several feet,reversed itself and landed near the base of my tree.

I was watching a spring 50' away and none of the floaters came close to reaching it.Powder would have told me to get ot of the tree.The floaters let me know I was OK.

I do find that floaters work better off the ground as they have a chance to go farther and give you the complete story.On the ground,they may go a few feet out,then hit the ground.I think on the ground,powder or floaters are sometimes equal.

[Gatekeeper]

I use the feather tied to my bow, milkweed seeds, and wood ash in a puffer bottle.

This is the method I use to filter out the chunks from the ash.

I cut a 6” x 6” section of window screen material and gather four containers (bowls).

Fill one bowl with cold fireplace ash.

I dump some of the “cold” wood ash from the bowl onto the screen and sifted the ash through the screen into bowl number two. This will filter out all of the big coal chunks. Once bowl one is empty filter (sift) the ash in bowl two, two more times and you will be left with a fine light powder.

This only takes a few minutes to do and you will have enough powder to last all season.

[straitera]

Very small wind feather tied w/dental floss.

[Bobby Urban]

I use the salmon fishing fly tying yarn because my old roomate was a fly fishing fool and he had tons of it.  I like the floaters better than powder for the reasons above but I have one question??? and I ask myself often?

If, while on stand, the wind changed and it was 20 minutes before dark, "Would I move?"  Would you??  I ask because it is fun to know where the wind is going but I am not sure it would change my plan of attack after I am in attack mode.  

What do you all think?

Bob Urban

[Jmatt1957]

cattails in a 35mm film canister.

[GBTG]

Milkweed in plastic/rubber coin holder like the old man used to have in his pocket.