Milk weed substitute

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sheettvet
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Milk weed substitute

Unread postby sheettvet » Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:33 am

If milk weed, is not abundant in your area or you have trouble locating the plant, polyester pillow stuffing is a substitute that works well for checking thermals. It can be purchased at many stores(walmart) and is very inexpensive.

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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby PLB » Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:38 am

sheettvet wrote:If milk weed, is not abundant in your area or you have trouble locating the plant, polyester pillow stuffing is a substitute that works well for checking thermals. It can be purchased at many stores(walmart) and is very inexpensive.

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I did not know this.. Thanks for the tip!!

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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:56 am

Milkweed gets a lot of press on this site, but there are several other natural options. Dandelions, thistle, wild lettuce, aster, cattail heads, cottonwood...just to name a few. I used a cattail head yesterday after forgetting my milkweed in the truck. Worked great.
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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby Swampbuck » Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:20 am

Those do work but not the same as milkweed. I find cattails much denser and don't pick up thermals the same

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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:32 am

Swampbuck wrote:Those do work but not the same as milkweed. I find cattails much denser and don't pick up thermals the same

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You're right about cattails. The others float very similar though. In fact, I'd argue that thistle floats the best of all.
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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby cbigbear » Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:57 am

BassBoysLLP wrote:
Swampbuck wrote:Those do work but not the same as milkweed. I find cattails much denser and don't pick up thermals the same

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You're right about cattails. The others float very similar though. In fact, I'd argue that thistle floats the best of all.


I find the whole thistle pod (the white hairs less the seed) floats better than milkweed pods, but if you separate or pull the hairs apart & just use a section the milkweed works better. This is becoming a highly technical floater discuss!!!!!!!
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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Tue Sep 16, 2014 4:11 am

:lol:

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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby cbay » Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:01 am

Ever go through a grown up field and see what appears to be thin dried up grean bean like pods on plants? It's dogbane. A type of milkweed. It has excellent floaters!! http://www.primitiveways.com/hemp_dogbane.html
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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby Swampbuck » Tue Sep 16, 2014 7:41 am

Agreed, thistle is just a little more finicky... but it floats awesome!!

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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby Bowhunter4life » Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:45 pm

I like using just a cotton balls and tear a very small amount off. It floats great and a single cotton ball will last a long time

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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby dehart89 » Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:25 pm

Awesome post. Thanks for the substitute.

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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby Buckbuster28 » Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:59 pm

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried dying the milkweed to possibly make it more visible at greater distances not sure if it's necessary or would be worth the trouble but just a thought. Seems like just cheap food coloring and water would do the trick

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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Tue Sep 16, 2014 11:25 pm

cbay wrote:Ever go through a grown up field and see what appears to be thin dried up grean bean like pods on plants? It's dogbane. A type of milkweed. It has excellent floaters!! http://www.primitiveways.com/hemp_dogbane.html


I'll have to keep an eye out for this one. I don't see it a lot up here, but it sounds like it becomes more common the farther south you travel. Thanks for noting! 8-)
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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby Country » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:23 am

I went out for a hike with my wife and kids the other day. I happened to take a small adventure up a creek in the kayak (another story). When I came back, the kids had our wagon full of milk weeds. "Look Dad, we got you some milk weeds!" Boy was I proud!
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Re: Milk weed substitute

Unread postby PLB » Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:56 am

CountryJoe wrote:I went out for a hike with my wife and kids the other day. I happened to take a small adventure up a creek in the kayak (another story). When I came back, the kids had our wagon full of milk weeds. "Look Dad, we got you some milk weeds!" Boy was I proud!

That's awesome!

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