Yes, I use them. Floaters, I believe they are called. Besides knowing the direction of the wind, they are valuable for knowing the thermals.

Dan

I use the powder windicators as well as string tied to my stabilizer for tracking the currents.

If it is feasible yes, I would get down and move to a more appropriate setup for the conditions.

It isn't about if the wind is blowing hard enough to affect my shot but what the back drafts, thermals and swirlingcurrents are doing. Here at home the land is extremely flat and it is rather easy to pick a setup based on wind conditions, where I hunt a couple hours south it is very hilly old strip mine country. The swirls can ruin a perfect setup in the blink of an eye. You can have the wind in your face and have a deer snorting at you "upwind". The powder windicator really shows you what the currents are doing beyond the predominate winds direction.
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Powder bottle here. When it gets empty I refill with baking soda. I have gotten down more than once due to a wind shift. Particularly on a prime stand.

A dried out milk weed pod has a million little seeds in it and every one is attached to a little white puffy strip. These things sail forever and are easy to see, and are free. Also, cat tail tops that are old and dried out work great. Again, all are free and readily available.

I use 6 in of green yarn on my stabilizer.

I was addressing someone's else's concern RE: the wind affecting arrow flight.

So do you really get up and leave if the wind shifts? I just won't do it. Kudos to you guys who play the wind that much. First buck I took last year (no monster by any stretch).....I thought I had the wind played JUST RIGHT.

THIRTY deer came from downwind of me.....180 degrees from where I thought they'd be coming from. Go figure.

I hunt a lot of bedding setups, if the wind was to shift from me to the bedding area I would move without hesitation, really no other choice.

If I was in a transition area with "criss cross" trafficI would hold tight and trust my scent regime to work for me.

A powder bottle with baking soda or corn starch in it. I have never gotten down from a stand,but I am closer to a point where I would,especially so if I knew there was an exceptional animal in the area.Two seasons ago I was so pumped up about hunting a particular spot that I threw caution to the wind (Pun intended) and hunted what I believed was my best spot the first or second day of the season.(I should have been more patient).I am obsessive like many of you about scent reduction and control,the only time that I have knowingly been busted in the last several years have been in gusty or swirling winds.Our winds are fickle any way,I am in a mountainous area.Well It was windy as heck,the type of wind that drives your scent down to the ground with each gust.I had a doe beneath me at about 7 or 8 yards and every time a gust would come up she would get all jittery,she would take a jump and then settle down and go back to feeding,she knew something wasn't right but she couldn't pin point me.As this was happenning I look out through the woods and I see the buck that I was there after,a beautiful deer for our area,his attention was glued to the doe,he was about 50 yards out and wouldn't come in any closer,I am sure as a result of her behavior.
I never saw that buck again,and I don't believe he ever winded me.I to value my hunting time,I think most of us would be better served to have less frequent outings but under more perfect conditions.

I havea piece of thread tied onto the end of a turkey fan feather (one of the really small ones) and the other end of the thread tied onto the end of a clothes-pin. The clothes-pin will clip onto a tree branch or limb and the feather will catch air and blow whichever way the wind is going.

It's cheap and it works.

I'm with you there.

I think that leaving scent going in, then getting down at a time when deer are fairly apt to be moving around to leave (and laying more scent in the process) is going to do MUCH more damage than just having the wind switch. Wind swirls around all the time. Take a good reading on it before you commit to a stand.

Not to mention that as I reflect on hunts that I have fallen short on, well over 50% of the time, it was because I either could not make up my mind, or changed my mind half way through. Indecision, and lack of follow through have really hurt me on some past hunts. I have learned to stick with my gut and my experience, and it dang near always pays off.

BTW, I use a travel size bottle of Johnsons Baby Powder to check the wind....just because I happened to have it once when I needed a wind checker....been with me ever since.