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Milkweed

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don hepler

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How many people gather milkweed pods, and use them as wind drifters, to show how the wind is blowing, raising, and falling.

A few years ago, someone had a commercial product that was sold as a wind floater/detector. It looked like Milkweed without the seeds. So....I gathered a few in a coffee cup and put them in a small container with a small hole in the lid. I pick out a couple and watch them drift in the wind. You'd be surprised at how well they work. Better than anything that you can buy. A cup full will last for years.
 
Not me but, I came across a recipe in one of my books entitled;

Milkweed shoots

Tips of young milkweed cooked in boiling salted water and served with butter like asparagus.
 
Tell me Ames, do you all see any Monarch butterflies out your way? Hardly see any here since the milkweed has all but disappeared.

Thanks for the offer. I may get a hold of you this Fall :thumbsup:

Best regards, Skychief
 
There is a Monarch Foundation that encourages folks to plant milkweed to help provide food for them. We have gathered the seed and planted them to try to get some growing on our property.
 
Colorado Clyde said:
Not me but, I came across a recipe in one of my books entitled;

Milkweed shoots

Tips of young milkweed cooked in boiling salted water and served with butter like asparagus.
Well that's dmjb'er then zhjt!
The milk weed pod,,"the seed thing" in the spring when young aka: small, are really good. And yes, when harvested within those first few days are even sweet like candy right off the plant.
Boiled or steamed, then buttered on the plate? Wow.
After they gone woody, :barf:
(kinda like fiddle head,, it's a very short seasonal harvest)

Later in the fall as they dry and crack ready to spread the seed, there is a thin "web" in each side of the pod that can be gathered that will catch a spark with no other prompt,
The pod itself "dried" can be "charred" and catch spark,, no need for cloth.
There is a lot of myth about the milkweed, it's poison!
:doh:
 
Something I picked up when bowhunting. Tie a 8-10" long thread on the tip of your bow or barrel of your gun. Fray the end between your fingers.

All you have to do is glance at it to see what the wind is doing.
 
If you don't want to go to the trouble of milkweed gathering (or don't have a patch available) you can get a bunch of marabou (turkey down underfeathers) and just pull off a 1/4" length and let it go with the wind.

I used to keep one marabou feather tied to my bowstring when I did a lot of ground stalking.
 
There is a big difference between using something like Milkweed to tell what the wind is doing in your area and having something tied to your bow or gun as an indicator, which tells you what it is doing at your specific spot.

Have you ever had deer snorting or becoming alert upwind of you and you wonder what the heck? Can't be me?

A friend of mine did several seasons worth of milkweed pod "study" while on stand and in our hilly terrain with many intersecting ravines and valleys, those pods would drift back and forth and many times make a big circle right to upwind of his position maybe 50 or 100 yards away. Sometimes it was literally only yards before it turned and headed "upwind."

What we learned from this is one had better try to control their scent as much as possible, at least in our terrain, because even if you have the wind in your face, it may be circling around and ending up where you least expect it, flowing like water through a winding creek bed, and alerting deer in the very area where you wouldn't think. Also realized that the strings or puff powders, etc. at our specific location meant virtually nothing. :grin:

If one is in flat terrain with a steady wind, this probably isn't a factor, but it surely is in our area.
 
I've learned a lot about how the air thermals, by using the Milkweed. Sometimes when the air is rising, the only way to tell is by watching the Milkweed float on the thermals.

When the wind is in my favor, I tend to be a lot more relaxed and take a little more time, rather than rushing a shot. Even when the wind is blowing off of me, if it is rising, the deer will not detect the scent. However, I might add, I hunt mostly from elevated stands.
 
I've learned a lot about how the air thermals, by using the Milkweed. Sometimes when the air is rising, the only way to tell is by watching the Milkweed float on the thermals.

When the wind is in my favor, I tend to be a lot more relaxed and take a little more time, rather than rushing a shot. Even when the wind is blowing off of me, if it is rising, the deer will not detect the scent. However, I might add, I hunt mostly from elevated stands.
 
Milkweed shoots
Tips of young milkweed cooked in boiling salted water and served with butter like asparagus.

YEAH BUDDY! :thumbsup:

I have also used the outer layer on the milkweed stalks to make cordage as a demonstration at historic sites.

As for wind direction? I have used a piece of thread under the front and rear section of my front sight post. You don't need much...

LD
 
Spikebuck said:
There is a big difference between using something like Milkweed to tell what the wind is doing in your area and having something tied to your bow or gun as an indicator, which tells you what it is doing at your specific spot.

Have you ever had deer snorting or becoming alert upwind of you and you wonder what the heck? Can't be me?

A friend of mine did several seasons worth of milkweed pod "study" while on stand and in our hilly terrain with many intersecting ravines and valleys, those pods would drift back and forth and many times make a big circle right to upwind of his position maybe 50 or 100 yards away. Sometimes it was literally only yards before it turned and headed "upwind."

What we learned from this is one had better try to control their scent as much as possible, at least in our terrain, because even if you have the wind in your face, it may be circling around and ending up where you least expect it, flowing like water through a winding creek bed, and alerting deer in the very area where you wouldn't think. Also realized that the strings or puff powders, etc. at our specific location meant virtually nothing. :grin:

If one is in flat terrain with a steady wind, this probably isn't a factor, but it surely is in our area.

Spikebuck, your post surely hits home with me as I hunt a lot of hilly ground. It's a steep learning curve for sure. In the most rugged terrain, it's a small miracle to kill any deer with those changing, whipping currents.

When we were young, a couple hunting buddies and I would set off smoke bombs from potential deer hunting sites. :haha: ahh, the old days.....Incredible what we saw! :shocked2:

I'd rather use some milkweed.

Most interesting to me is the effect of thermals morning vs evening. One can learn to take advantage of them if paying attention.

Best regards, Skychief
 
Skychief said:
Most interesting to me is the effect of thermals morning vs evening. One can learn to take advantage of them if paying attention.
Yes. As the air in the low areas heats in the morning it gets lighter, slowly flows up the slopes. As it cools in the evening the reverse happens, the air cools, gets heavier an seeps down the slopes. Even on totally calm days these currents flow, and you should keep them in mind when you choose an ambush spot.

Spence
 
Thistledown, Cattail, Cotton wood, Ballooning Spiders.
"Wish upon a fluff" -- the Dandelion.
All a lot lighter then the milkweed seed.

Awareness?
 
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