The Beaufort Wind Scale is one way to estimate wind speed without a wind meter. Wind speed judgements are based upon viewing the environmental reaction of elements like leaves and trees. Use these observations to figure out the approximate wind speed.
If you do want to go the wind meter route, there are multiple choices. Here's a link to Amazon's top wind meters.
Once you have a good idea of wind speed, how do you know how to adjust your weapon's aim?
The above table was calculated using Gundata.org ballistic calculator. You can see the winds impact is minimal at short range, but can have a huge effect on long range shots. For example, a shot at 100 yards in 20 mph winds is about 1 inch, but at 400 yards is close to 20 inches! This knowledge at 400 yards can prevent your missing or wounding an animal.
The key once again is practice. Figure out the ballistics for your rifle and cartridge including data on wind speed. Create a "cheat sheet" that has the information and tape it onto the butt stock of your gun. Hornady's web site has a ballistic calculator that will take your data and covert it into a cheat sheet automatically that you can tape to your rifle. Other ballistic calculators can be used to do the same thing.
Here is a cheat sheet I created for my Weatherby 300 Magnum using 180 grain Norma ammo. Several of us are using this gun so you can just print it out and attach it to your weapon.
When preparation meets opportunity is where you create success! Everyone hopes they will have an easy shot, but hunting usually doesn't work that way. Figure out the wind and put the odds on your favor.
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