Understanding wind influences

[Doc]

One thing we seldom discuss is a subject that is so critical to our hunting. That is, what is the real wind direction. It seems pretty obvious a few feet from our face, but there aren't really any deer right there. So we whip out our little squeeze bottle of powder and give it a squirt and we can see what the wind is doing maybe 10 feet out. But where is the wind going beyond that. The trail that we are expecting to see the deer coming in on is 20 or 30 yards away from the stand.

I have played with milkweed seeds a lot over the years, and noticed that those little white parachutes seem to defy gravity and can be seen floating on the breeze for about 25 yards or so.....More if your eyes are better than mine. And boy are there some eye-opening things that I have seen.

I remember a lot of times back in the days when I used to get up in the treestands, and on damp days I would watch those seeds go out a few yards and then start heading for the ground. Well so much for any theories that just because we are elevated, our scent goes over the heads of the deer. The air gets heavy on damp days. But another nifty phenomenon was to watch the seed float out  a handful of yards and then take a hard left or right. That's funny, at my stand it was a pretty steady "in my face" direction. Sometimes it is the work of some subtle thermals. Sometimes it is just some ground feature that funnels unseen air currents that have found a shallow ravine to follow or a thick stand of trees or bushes that can turn the wind around in a devastating direction that can ruin your hunt. Oh, and by the way I find it interesting that in this hill country the wind will reverse itself half-way through the afternoon hunt as the thermals reverse. Just when the deer begin to move.....isn't that nice. 

I live in hill country, and I have seen stands that were completely ruined by circling winds. And I have noticed that those trouble spots where the wind is always circling and changing are the favorite spots that the bigger deer like to travel through and hang out.

I would really like to see more discussions here on things that you all have learned about wind direction behavior. I think it is a subject that seriously gets overlooked but is so critical to our hunting success.

[airedale]

In hill country doping the wind exactly is extremely difficult, the trees and hill create swirling almost impossible. I just tried the powder stuff this month and for what it is worth it seemed to work halfway decently, as you pointed out long distance is not it's virtue.

Before I head out I will watch the flag on my flag pole to see which direction the wind is blowing, it at least gives me an idea. Then there are the old standbys, a wet finger and if I take my hat off a breeze hitting my shaved head gives me a good direction. That is it for me, has worked halfway decent down through the years.

What does work real well are shooting range wind flags, not the most practical in the woods hunting although someone with one of those fancy permanent stands could have them preplaced in their shooting lanes which would probably work and give a heads up.

Al

Edited February 23, 2023 by airedale

[wjay1552]

Using milkweed is a game changer, especially on calm days it lets you really see how thermals work in the morning and at night. Wonder why that deer spooked for no reason. Drop some milkweed and find out even though you had a slight breeze in your face that’s not exactly where your scent is traveling.

[Four Seasons]

Exactly why I use two of these from Halloween on everyday. One with Hot Doe and one with Dominant Buck fresh from the farm at Conquest.  Have had great success since I started using these compared to just scent canisters. 

[Red]

Is that one of those sun/heat activated drippers?

[Four Seasons]

17 minutes ago, Red said:

Is that one of those sun/heat activated drippers?

No battery operated. Sends a shot of vapor scent. Can set it to go off at different times. Pretty sweet to get the doe in heat and of course the dominant buck scent would be from a different buck then what’s in the area so that sets them off. 

[nybuckboy]

I use milkweed pods as well. It tells a much better story. I also have a piece of white thread about 4" long attached to my bow so I can see the wind direction. Another thing you can do is attach an alligator clip (AKA roach clip for the old hippies) with a white thread attached to either the bow or a branch in front of you. 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by nybuckboy

[Doc]

On 2/24/2023 at 12:16 PM, nybuckboy said:

I use milkweed pods as well. It tells a much better story. I also have a piece of white thread about 4" long attached to my bow so I can see the wind direction. Another thing you can do is attach an alligator clip (AKA roach clip for the old hippies) with a white thread attached to either the bow or a branch in front of you. 

 

Strings and threads will tell you what is happening exactly where the string is tied. But the milkweed seed tells the story for a far as you can see it floating through the air. If your eyes are good, sometimes you can see the exact wind trail all the way from your stand to where the deer will be when you shoot.