Anybody know of a good way to gauge wind direction and speed downrange? When you're in the edge of a woods it's hard to tell what the wind is doing out in the open. A while back I saw some pics / diagrams of heat waves that you could use to judge wind speed, but it was cumbersome. Looking for a better way.

I’ve never relay dealt with the wind for taking long shots but if it’s a field that you always hunt, you might want to stick pegs with ribbons at different locations to judge wind direction and speed. Just a thought.

Reading wind direction and speed is something that is learned by experience and trial and error. On extended shots over open terrain the wind speed can and often does change in direction and speed over the distance the bullet must travel to impact the target. It's not at all uncommon to have a 3 mph. from the west at your position and a 6 mph. wind from the east at the target. Heat rising from the ground is also an important factor at extended range similar to shooting fish in the water with an arrow. Reflection and refraction must be weighed and considered before you drop the hammer. At 3 to 5 mph. wind will cause leaves to rustle slightly, at 5 to 7 there will be constant movement, at 8 to 10 the limbs will sway and anything above 10 mph. you better craw a bit closer unless you are experienced and very familiar with your rifle and bullet selection.

If the wind is that important to you , there is one simple way to jugde it at the rifle ,tie a piece of yarn or lite string to your barrel . With practice you will be able to get a guess at its speed. But it can change quickly.

just how far do you plan to shoot at a deer?? with my 308 win I have never had to compensate for wind drift much out to ranges asfar as 400 yards on deer sized game. IMO i think bullet drop is more of an issue then wind drift.

HighDesertWold, try a hunt in Wyoming's open plains for antalope or mule deer in Colorado rockies. I'm sure you'll know what I mean when you experience a constant wind with gusts that will shake your rifle, even on a bipod. You have invested a couple grand for the hunt, stalked your trophy animal for a day or two and now have a shot at 250 yards with the winds they experience. A very different story even with a super fast round.

Ya know, I just saw this dandiest little wind meter in last months petersons hunting mag and it was under 20 bucks,,,,,,, the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind.......EJ

Ah, the wind. A very tricky proposition. The only way to really find out what the wind does, and how to judge it, is to spend LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of time IN the wind SHOOTING at the ranges you will encounter when that big buck stops in front of the crosshairs. Those little charts sure are nice, but are absolutely meaningless to me. I have seen winds that will swirl, then stop, then gust in a totally different direction that you think it would. Swirling winds are tricky, as it can be blowing one way here, but 300-500 yards downrange, where your target is, it can be perfectly calm, or blowing the OPPOSITE direction!

Sniper151:

You know it! While in Gillette Wyoming hunting pronghorn last October there was an afternoon when the wind was so strong that you had to lean into it while walking. I can't reliably guess what it was, but I'm guessing over 30 MPH. Happily it did not interfere with our hunting. My son bagged his pronghorn around 10 AM that day, before the wind picked up. I bagged my pronghorn the next day around 10 AM and again there was not any wind that I noticed. Maybe the wind picks up later in the day. My son's shot was at 150 yards, and my shot was at 240 yards. My shot definitely would have been affected by the strong wind IF it had been present when I shot my pronghorn. Even at 150 yards I think that wind could have affected my son's shot, the wind was so strong.

well I dont plan on hunting wyoming anytime soon, but if i had a few grand invested in a wyoming hunt. You bet your rear I will have the best cartrdige suited for those conditions something with a high ballistic coeffient and a alot of velocity for the least time of flight possible.
I'm thinking a 338 remington ultra mag loaded with lost river ballistics 250 grain J36 with about 100 grains of retumbo behind it.