cleverfeathers33 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 Hello fellow fly tyers, Lately I have been shooting a variety of birds in order to supply myself with free feathers. I'm new to the fly tying game so I'm not really familiar with what types of feathers to use for different parts of a fly. Birds have many different types of feathers, so it's hard for a beginner to know what types of feathers work best. Does anyone have any suggestions or websites to look at in order to better my understanding for which feathers to use and how to use them? Thank you, and may your lines stay tight! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dcap240 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 There are lots of birds used in tying flies. If you know what type of bird you're after it is a lot easier to find out what you can use. Pheasant, grouse, ducks, geese, partridge, turkey, etc, etc. You could find info easily if you look up a specific type of bird. You can go to any fly tying website and see what they sell to get a good idea of the most popular feathers. But I would say any bird would probably have something that could be used. I've even heard of using crow and blue jay. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Christopher K 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 That's probably indian crow you heard of. You can pretty much use any feather for something, experiment and see what works! I've even used turkey flats and pheasant tails as hackle! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jacobellis008 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 Make sure to get rid of all feather/material destroying bugs by freezing all feathers for one week take it out for a day or two then put it back in the freezer for another week and it should be good! Just assume every bird you kill is infested will bugs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Christopher K 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 Make sure to get rid of all feather/material destroying bugs by freezing all feathers for one week take it out for a day or two then put it back in the freezer for another week and it should be good! Just assume every bird you kill is infested will bugs. Why not just cover in borax for a few days? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jacobellis008 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 Make sure to get rid of all feather/material destroying bugs by freezing all feathers for one week take it out for a day or two then put it back in the freezer for another week and it should be good! Just assume every bird you kill is infested will bugs. Why not just cover in borax for a few days? Haven't heard of that way... hmm i will have to try it maybe! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 lets not assume that you can just go off into the woods and shoot willy nilly at any bird that flies. most birds are protected by the migratory bird act. birds protected by the migratory bird act http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/mbta/mbtintro.html understanding feathers http://www.eflytyer.com/materials/feathers.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jacobellis008 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 I will post some photos of me extracting cdc from some ducks i shot today! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SILKHDH 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 This has been brought up before. FACT!!!! The only song type birds (small birds) that you can kill or even have feathers in your possession are English Sparrow, Starling, and Pigeon. If there isn't a season for it. You can't have it. PERIOD!! Doesn't matter if you found it dead in your yard, YOU CAN'T HAVE IT IN YOUR POSSESION. The jay you heard of is imported. Eurasian Jay. Not north American Blue Jay. That's a NO NO. Same for King Fishers. Must be imported species. Non native to North America. Can come with a hefty fine. I have spent much time on the phone with the Federal Fish and Game on this. I suppose you can use regular Black Crow for something. You can shoot them during season. You probably can't afford Fruit Crow, but who can at 10 dollars for one 3/4" long feather. LOL. Stick to ducks, turkey and pheasant. No problem there. Borax dries the skin, but does nothing to the bugs. Freezing kills the bugs. You need to do both to do it right. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Christopher K 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 This has been brought up before. FACT!!!! The only song type birds (small birds) that you can kill or even have feathers in your possession are English Sparrow, Starling, and Pigeon. If there isn't a season for it. You can't have it. PERIOD!! Doesn't matter if you found it dead in your yard, YOU CAN'T HAVE IT IN YOUR POSSESION. The jay you heard of is imported. Eurasian Jay.Not north American Blue Jay. That's a NO NO. Same for King Fishers. Must be imported species. Non native to North America. Can come with a hefty fine. I have spent much time on the phone with the Federal Fish and Game on this. I suppose you can use regular Black Crow for something. You can shoot them during season. You probably can't afford Fruit Crow, but who can at 10 dollars for one 3/4" long feather. LOL. Stick to ducks and pheasant. No problem there. Borax dries the skin, but does nothing to the bugs. Freezing kills the bugs. You need to do both to do it right. Good to know about the borax! I guess you're in the states, but up here I believe we can take any dead bird that we find as long as you have a certificate of reporting (something like that), not sure, I'll check with the local CO. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SILKHDH 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 To answer the actual question you asked, pheasant is probably the one bird the you WILL get the most use of. Every feather on it has some type of use. Especially the tail. Mallard too. Use the duck CDC feathers (Google It) and Wing Quills for Dry fly wings, flank feather for all sorts of fly parts. I use Green Wing Teal small flank feathers and body feathers as a Partridge sub all the time. Makes a real nice soft hackle, plus it has nice striped pattern that looks really speckled when wrapped around a hook. Looks great. Goose and Turkey primary feathers (ON THE LEADING SIDE ONLY) will have nice biots. The little stiff barbules on the leading edge of the feather. Make nymph legs and tails, small wing buds, ext. Turkey wing and tails make great Muddler Minnows . Turkey fluff around the butt is awesome marabou. You got a duck a pheasant and a turkey, you can tie a hell of a lot of flies. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SILKHDH 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 I assume the person who started this forum is in the United States too. I have no knowledge of foreign regulations. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dcap240 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2013 Sorry I was not telling you to shoot blue jays or any other bird that you can't hunt for. I was assuming you do all of your hunting legally. I was just trying to give examples that you can use anything if you find a use for it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m_grieb 0 Report post Posted November 8, 2013 i use everything. (assuming its legal) Matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
