Natural fur for fly tying question.
 

My cousin bagged a bear the other day/week/year, and this weekend he is bagging a deer.

I asked him to grab me some fur from the animals for fly tying. Is there a specific spot he needs to harvest from on these animals for decent fur?

I figure at $4 for a little patch of fur --*snicker* reminds me of a joke-- is a little crazy if I can source my own.

Does any prep work need to be done to the fur before it can be used?
Any specific types of dye specifically for this?

Thanks in advance. You guys are the best!

Deer hair has various qualities from different areas of the hide.

Are you looking to tie deer hair hoppers, streamers or wings on dries?

Search the net and you'll find alot of info. Just make sure you process the hide with borax or tan the hide to preserve it. I my self just buy patches from fly shops. Easier that way and garanteed no bugs.

Alright I'm back from work and a quick fly fishing session.

This will help you out if Google didn't.

There's about 7 areas on the deer that could be used as fly tying fur.

The face has short fine hair, good for caddis wings.

The neck area this hair doesn't flare and is good tailing fibers.

The flank is great for spinning deer hair.

The rump stacks very well and is great for spinning.

The belly hair is excellent for spinning and dyeing.

The tail doesn't flare much and is suitable for streamers.


That should cover that. Just make sure it's properly clean and bug free before bringing inside.

Awesome!

You need the hide tanned man or it will stink something fierce . I had one done as with my fish hooks go thru 150 bucktails a year and it just wasn't worth it , as I can buy the, bulk from my wholesaler .

All I have ever done is nail to a board and borax it, no smell and then I give the hair a rinse and its good to go.

Did the same. Just nailed it out fur to the plywood of course and salted it repeatedly. I actually left it out most of the winter standing up where the sun could get it it and it bleached out nicely. Some of the colored stuff I ha e bought seems dry and brittle to me. I have a theory based on absolutely no science that my non bought deer hair is tougher and floats better because it was not overcleaned.

I have cured several pieces of fur over the years. I just make sure there is no fat on the hide. Then put a mixture of equal parts of borax and salt. Let it sit in the open and dry. I still have parts of a bucktail that I cured with this process 20 years ago.

Rob

I think the science behind your theory might be that the oils from the deers skin keep the water repelled.

Awesome information guys.

I don't think the oils from the hair have anything to do with it.

Deer hair is hollow as is elk and antelope. Elk is thinner than deer and deer is thinner than antelope. The hair is thicker on all of them around the neck and therefore floats better. It is probably a genetic thing. Anyway that is where I would get my hair from if I was going to choose it from one of those critters. If your going to get a whitetail then be sure to get the tail. It is aways good for some good bucktail fles.

Rob

I agree I think the natural oils help as well keeping in mind which animal it's from as well as where on the body the hair is from. Careful about the animal fur obsession as you will start to look at road kill differently.

I live in Calgary. The only roadkill we see consistently is cats, squirrels, and the occasional pedestrian that was talking on a cell phone while crossing a C-Train Track.

I will admit to liberating a squirrel of it's tail after hitting it with my car. I don't have a black squirrel tail though. They are still around the zoo I trust?

All over YYC. One in my back yard right now. But his name is Alfred and you can't have his tail.

Any road kill is fair game in my books. My wife even knows what the side cutters are for that I keep in the glove box. I stop and grab tails from everything from squirrels, coyotes to fox and everything in between. As matter of fact this thread reminds me that I was out on a fishing trip in early October with my wife. We were driving along a bush road and I spotted a red squirrel and stopped on my way back to cut the tail off. I kept the tail and it is still sitting in the bottom pouch of my fishing bag. I had better get it out of there.

Rob

i just bought half and elk hide and a full deer hide off ebay , tanned for 150.00, of course i go threw a ton of hair a year but they do sell big pieces for around 6 bucks give or take a buck. i did do my own hides in the past but for all the b.s this way is way better, but if you do decide to do your own go with a mule deer hide, wash in borex, rinse real well. then pinned it to a piece of plywood so that it is strenched out, and apply alot of salt to help in the drying process, yes the hide can sometimes stink a bit, but i find the longer you let it dry the less smell. make sure to get all the meat, fat ect off the hide.