Deer Hair

[Musky0503 0]

Where do you get yours?

[flytire 0]

from a deer

[SilverCreek 0]

Best place is Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone.

 

Read this:

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=69829

 

 

[mvendon 0]

Hi Musk0503,

 

The link SilverCreek posted has a lot of info on Comparadun hair. There are many types for different applications. Here's a link to selecting the right type depending what you want to use it for. Look to the upper right hand box in the article for lots of additional info. It would help if you wrote what you want to tie with it.

 

http://globalflyfisher.com/staff/helm/selecting/

 

Regards,

Mark

[deerhairdan 0]

I focus my tying around warmwater applications. I use deer hair for big topwater bugs like divers and frogs, or I use it for spinning bulky heads on streamers. For all of my deer hair work, I purchase it directly from the deer hair master himself Pat Cohen. The reason is, he gathers the hair from several sources then hand sorts them himself. He sells the best of the best.

 

For other applications, I have no idea cause I dont have much experience using it.

[cheech 0]

I focus my tying around warmwater applications. I use deer hair for big topwater bugs like divers and frogs, or I use it for spinning bulky heads on streamers. For all of my deer hair work, I purchase it directly from the deer hair master himself Pat Cohen. The reason is, he gathers the hair from several sources then hand sorts them himself. He sells the best of the best.

 

For other applications, I have no idea cause I dont have much experience using it.

Pat is the man.

 

If you had to choose a brand, Nature's Spirit travels around the country to gather the very best natural materials. I can honestly say that I've never been disappointed with any of their hair.

[troutguy 0]

If you want natural colors......roadkill. Skin, scrape and Boarax. I only buy colored bucktail or body hair.

[planettrout 0]

As stated by the other guys...Blue Ribbon Flies first, then Nature's Spirit...

 

 

PT/TB

[Dave G. 0]

I landed this fantastic skin of deerhair in a shop in Maine, it's maybe almost 2 ft long and 6 inches wide. it was folded in half in a package. A bit darker than the average with tan tips and fairly long hair fibers, enough to last the rest of my life probably. I couldn't believe it was Hare Line brand. Best deer hair I ever had unless I want to tie light colored flies, Then it's pretty useless. Fantastic to use with something like a medium badger hackle or Furnace. Good for all the early caddis or even the later mottled and Tiger it might pass. Perfect for my Norther Maine Muddlers for sure, which was my main goal for it.. I just walked into the shop and there it was hanging all by itself .

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

My favorite deerhair supplier is still Wapsi (and you'll find their products in many shops since they do it all....). I'm partial to their deer belly hair for spinning, particularly their bleached white and the very bright dyed over white colors since I'm only tying for the salt or brackish waters...

[TheCream 0]

I only buy from Cohen for bass bug hair. Compared to what you get from other places, in my opinion, there's a major difference in quality.

[Musky0503 0]

The reason I ask is because I make In-line Bucktail Spinners for (coincidence, I think not) Musky. I tend to get 4-8 inch Dyed Tails. Lure Parts Online was my supplier. They have XL Deertails but their Colors are off. Their Red is orangey-pink. in general their colors have been washed out. I need a good dark solid RED. As well as the rest of the color spectrum . You all no what I mean right. Thanks all

[deerhairdan 0]

Bucktail and deer belly hair are two different ball games. I thought you meant belly hair patches. Bucktail is hit or miss too. Hareline is fairly consistent if you ask me.

[Goose77 0]

deerhairdan I'm going to have to try some of Cohen's hair...thanks for the tip. It's been my experience that buying hair through the mail is iffy. I almost always now go to a flyshop and pick out the pieces and highgrade them one by one. It also helps to wash the hair when you get it home. Gentle dishsoap, doing same colors in a batch. Rinse them thoroughly and blowdry against the grain of the hair. Lay the pieces out on a board...I use plywood, and let them dry. This drying takes days...don't bag them too early or you'll get rot from the moisture. This sounds like alot of work, and it is...but the results are tremendous. This helps prevent color bleeding too...on your hands and tools, as well as on the bug itself. This works with belly and body hair, but is especially effective on belly hair for tying ease. It seems Chris Helm favored body hair for tying, and Pat Cohen favors belly hair. Body hair can be [at times] deceptively slick and stiff. More and more I'm using belly hair and have truly come to prefer it...not only for handling, but for colors too. Sorry for the long note, but it's disheartening to see people who want to learn trying to work with materials that don't work well. Cheers, Ed

[Goose77 0]

Oh yeah, deerhairdan is right on the bucktails too. Also I would strongly discourage trying to use bucktail bases for tying deerhair bugs. I've read that it can be done, and have tried it...not cool. Ed