# Diy wind checker



## cholt1986 (Sep 19, 2012)

I was at my local Wal-Mart and picked up a 2 oz. spray bottle for .97 cents in the travel section, which at my local Wal-Mart the travel section is a part of the touth paste isle. Any how I filled it up with water, and use it for checking the wind. It works great!


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## OhWell (Aug 21, 2013)

cholt1986 said:


> I was at my local Wal-Mart and picked up a 2 oz. spray bottle for .97 cents in the travel section, which at my local Wal-Mart the travel section is a part of the touth paste isle. Any how I filled it up with water, and use it for checking the wind. It works great!


I did the same thing last year except I filled it with estrus. It worked great until the breeze blew it in my face once..... After that it was filled with scent killer so I could spray me and check the wind..


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## dustoffer (Jan 24, 2009)

Go over a couple of aisles and get a bottle of generic saline nasal spray. Empty it out, rinse it clean, and let it dry a couple of days. Go to HD or Lowes and buy a bottle of the chalk powder like you would use to refill your chalk line. Fill the spray bottle about half-full of the chalk powder, and presto, you've got a silent, scent-free wind checker.


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## cholt1986 (Sep 19, 2012)

OhWell said:


> I did the same thing last year except I filled it with estrus. It worked great until the breeze blew it in my face once..... After that it was filled with scent killer so I could spray me and check the wind..


Ya I filled one with estrus too. I will make sure and stay upwind when I spray it haha!


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## cholt1986 (Sep 19, 2012)

dustoffer said:


> Go over a couple of aisles and get a bottle of generic saline nasal spray. Empty it out, rinse it clean, and let it dry a couple of days. Go to HD or Lowes and buy a bottle of the chalk powder like you would use to refill your chalk line. Fill the spray bottle about half-full of the chalk powder, and presto, you've got a silent, scent-free wind checker.


That is a good idea thanks!


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## escout (May 28, 2013)

Is the colored chalk any easier to see by chance?


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## Tennessee Lead (Sep 4, 2014)

Would corn starch powder work as a refill? 


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## theadmiral518 (Jun 10, 2014)

Tennessee Lead said:


> Would corn starch powder work as a refill?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That's what I use.


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## widow maker 223 (Sep 7, 2011)

Get a pill bottle, then go find some milk weed. Best ever wind checker.


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## Seadonist (Jan 5, 2015)

I bought a big bag of the fake snow from Hobby Lobby last year for like $3.00. It rises and falls with thermals and the bag I picked up is practically a lifetime supply.


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## Tennessee Lead (Sep 4, 2014)

theadmiral518 said:


> That's what I use.


Thanks 


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## stevenyoder.lil (May 14, 2015)

widow maker 223 said:


> Get a pill bottle, then go find some milk weed. Best ever wind checker.


This. Did that this year and those little things hang in the wind a long ways. Not only is it free but the you can see what the wind is doing 30 ft away. 

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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

I've used cat tails and milk weed free and an endless supply. They both work great. I'm on my third season of the same cat tail. 
I've also used the chalk in a bottle but it doesn't float like the commercial wind testers I think unscented talcum powder would be better but I haven't run out of the chalk yet to test it. Cornstarch can have issues if it gets wet but I'm sure that would work too.

Speaking of wet, using dental floss, I typically tie one of those fluffy feathers to the end of my stabilizer or a nearby limb if I'm in a tree. It's amazing how much that moves in the slightest of wind currents. What is nice about it is that you don't need to move to be able to check the wind. As you may have guessed it is totally useless when it is raining.


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## L8drop (Nov 1, 2013)

I use an empty travel size contact solution bottle filled with blue line chalk.
Works like a champ.


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## Ches (Aug 3, 2009)

Not the same but I tie a small (2") piece of Turkey down feather off my upper limb pocket. I can check wind direction at a glance, and if moves around a lot I know it's swirling. Only downfall is when it gets wet it does not work till dry. I know it does not show up or down currents, but it lasts for years and I don't need to mess with bottles.
Ches.


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## Konk (Aug 4, 2016)

I use the free milk weed also. If you harvest a milk weed pod before it opens you can open it up when you get home and de-seed it. Then let it sit and dry out. You will get years of use from a single pod. You can also watch the milk weed float on the air currents for quite a ways. Any updraft or downdraft is easily detected. Oh and did I mention .....it's free. If you can still find an old 35mm film canister, cut a small slit in the cover and stuff it with the milk weed. You can pull out as much as you want and slip the canister in your pocket.


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## Early Ice (Mar 18, 2008)

widow maker 223 said:


> Get a pill bottle, then go find some milk weed. Best ever wind checker.


This. cheap, and you can see what the wind is doing 50 yards from your stand or even further. Powder just tells you what is happening in the first 20 feet. you'd be amazed what it does at 20 yards. Only wind checker worth having. good example was last night. SE wind light to variable....the milk weed would go northwest for 10 yards then suck to the east about 20 and fall to the ground....there is a reason I saw nothing last night. I should have just left, i'm sure the deer were getting my wind even though the wind was supposed to be blowing to the NW. That you will never know if powder or the real affects of the swirling with something attached to your stabilizer. Not that i care what others use, but i've been down ALL the above roads mentioned, milk weed or cattail...it's about the only thing you can watch for 20-30 yards.


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## HoytCharger6 (Sep 29, 2016)

That's an awesome idea I will use that when Finally get in the woods


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## dustoffer (Jan 24, 2009)

Ches said:


> Not the same but I tie a small (2") piece of Turkey down feather off my upper limb pocket. I can check wind direction at a glance, and if moves around a lot I know it's swirling. Only downfall is when it gets wet it does not work till dry. I know it does not show up or down currents, but it lasts for years and I don't need to mess with bottles.
> Ches.



I have a piece of the inner "thread" out of paracord tied to my stabilizer. I fray the loose end and it is always available and sensitive.


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## kerrye (Sep 1, 2010)

widow maker 223 said:


> Get a pill bottle, then go find some milk weed. Best ever wind checker.


This. and it's free.

Also keep an 8 to 10 inch piece of thread tied to the bow.


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## Squoose (Sep 15, 2016)

Milkweed is the best thing. Another option (if you feel the need to purchase something) is bubbles. Party favors section in Walmart comes in tiny little bottles. Might be the best artificial wind checker as you can watch it go for a long ways and floats extremely well.

Just another option.


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## Rooksc (Jun 27, 2016)

Good idea


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## Challenger (Nov 4, 2007)

Milk weed for the win!


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## vonfoust (Jan 9, 2012)

Squoose said:


> Milkweed is the best thing. Another option (if you feel the need to purchase something) is bubbles. Party favors section in Walmart comes in tiny little bottles. Might be the best artificial wind checker as you can watch it go for a long ways and floats extremely well.
> 
> Just another option.


Been doing this for years. $1 in the dollar store goes a long way.


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## hillscreekkid (Sep 4, 2012)

They make it in white...


escout said:


> Is the colored chalk any easier to see by chance?


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## csoutfitters (Mar 1, 2016)

Arm and hammer baking soda works but is a little heavier. It also works for neutralizing odor


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## brettomite (Oct 18, 2016)

I drop about 80 cents on a bottle of kids' bubbles every season and keep it in my pack as my wind detection device.


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## theadmiral518 (Jun 10, 2014)

I've found cat tails to be great. I put one fiber in the air and watch it for a good long time. It has amazed me what I thought wind was doing and what it is actually doing. I put my cornstarch away.


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## fisher.dc.1 (Nov 26, 2011)

hang a peice of yarn from a tree limb, that way you don't have to reach for anything just look at the way the yarn is moving


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## AnnaChris (Nov 3, 2016)

Can you send its pictures?


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## OKBOWHUNTER13 (May 20, 2016)

Never thought of bubbles 

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## schrepfer (Jan 22, 2016)

I like to use pepper. Just make so you don't stand downwind!


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## Buttista (Feb 12, 2016)

did the same with an eye drop bottle and flour


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## jonbutcher05 (Sep 15, 2016)

wow thanks!


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## Memmax (Jun 26, 2016)

Tire talc from like Napa is what I use.

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## bowguy1101 (Nov 18, 2016)

great idea!


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## ltben (Nov 28, 2016)

Nice cheaper idea!


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## reddogjack (Dec 7, 2016)

i've been using milk weed pods longer then i can remember. just pick the whole pod & put in your pocket. this is the best, i mean BEST wind checker. it hangs forever !!!
you can really see a LONG way off, how your scent drifts. let at least 4-8+ go at once. i use this also when i'm bird hunting- so i run the dogs 
into the wind. if you just need wind direction, use - powder - bic lighter - wind on your cheek ! if you want to see wind currents, use milk
weed pods. show this one to your buddies. better yet, bring a few extra pods to give out ! " your welcome "


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## Michael T Herne (Jun 25, 2014)

Never even thought of some of these thanks guys! 

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## Bowhntr30 (Dec 15, 2016)

New to site. 6 month recovery from rotator cuff surgery so plenty of time on my hands. Same idea as milkweed but use non scented cotton balls. Cut x it top of pill bottle and pull tiny bit through. 1 cotton ball has lasted me 3 seasons. It travels for a long distance


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