ohio rookie

I have a Brittany and a German Shorthair Pointer and I plan on using both of their fur as I progress in my fly tying adventures. I highly suggest using a brush called the Furminator - it gets the undercoat out as well and makes it easier to separate that fur from the longer, outer hairs. I am hoping my GSP will be a great source of dubbing with her underfur...

I would fish with that fly! I am a beginner as well and just tied my first fly in a class the other night. The reason I am replying is that I concur with the advice of Bryon Anderson; Skip Morris' book is great. I have several books on tying that I have been studying, but Skip's book was issued as part of the class and it is far more helpful than any I have read. I hope you reply to this post and let us know what you caught with it.

Is it okay to "shear" fur off of a rabbit (or other critter's) carcass for use in tying and, if so, what is the best tool for doing it? I have some friends with beagles that do a lot of rabbit hunting so I have access to some bunnies...

Greetings all, This is my first posting on this site, so hopefully this has not been covered before (but it probably has). I used to trap and I never had a problem picking up raccoons or fox (although fox have very thin skin and they must be skinned and fleshed within 12 hours or so of their demise) and skinning them out for their fur. The key is to scrape the fat off of the flesh and stretch the skin out to be dried. Afterward, I would send the ones I wanted to keep (the ones I didn't sell locally) to Moyle's in order to have them tanned. My question is, would tanning fur in this manner be the best way to get the fur prepared for fly tying, or is simply drying the flesh and putting Borax on the flesh to dry it out good enough? I would consider trapping again on a small scale to get fur for this purpose if I can take care of it myself without shipping it out of state. Muskrat seems like a really good fur - it is waterproof and easy to get. Also, I have bird dogs and do some upland bird hunting (pheasant and quail primarily, but occasionally woodcock or chukkar). Does anyone know the best way to preserve their feathers/carcasses after they are harvested from hunting? Thanks for listening - I enjoy reading the posts.