Harvesting Fur and Feathers for Tying Flies

[Loper]

Mandarin Duck, Golden Pheasant, Rhea, Jungle Cock, etc....along with a few that aren't techincally legal to import to the states (anyone planning a PB hunt??).

Jungle Cock…I’ve never heard of it, but I’m afraid of what might show up if search Google images.

 

[Loper]

One of my greatest pleasures come from catching trout on an elk hair caddis tied myself from the hair of a bull I killed with my bow. To me, it’s like 100 times better with a fly I tied vs a bought fly.

This is a lot what fuels my desire to tie flys. I think it would be cool, to catch fish on flies I tied myself, but would be even better, if the material from the fly was from game that I harvested.

My cousin is a fly tyer and last year I just saved a bunch of feathers from some of my ducks I shot and gave them to him. I’m not sure if they were useful or not. However, if I figured this year I’ll save them for myself.

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

I’m chasing elk, but will also have opportunities to get a whitetail or two. I hunt ducks, but the areas I hunt I don’t get mallards, mostly teal and divers. I’ll be taking my son out to hunt squirrels this year and we may see some rabbits while doing so. I may hunt turkeys in the Spring. .

An entire elk hide for caddis would let even your grandkids grandkids tie them.

 

[Loper]

I should have probably mentioned that I’ll be fishing saltwater and freshwater lakes mostly. Not sure if that makes much of a difference at all.

 

[RufusB.Marion]

I should have probably mentioned that I’ll be fishing saltwater and freshwater lakes mostly. Not sure if that makes much of a difference at all.

Yeah, basically everything everyone has said is in reference to cold water trout flies

 

[TaperPin]

I thought saving raw skin squares was going to be great, but tanned hair is much cleaner, has no mites or other bugs, and smells better. Flies can be made from any animal, so there’s nothing wrong with experimenting. If you get a lot of satisfaction from harvesting your tying supplies, you might also enjoy dying some hair for different patterns. I may or may not have clipped some black dog hair for a fly or two.

A problem new fly tyers can get into is making up their own patterns, because they are trying to short cut around making well tested patterns to spec. Fish brains are pretty primitive and they are simply biting at attributes that trigger them, and existing patterns have survived so long because they tend to work better. After you get the basics down, making changes can be fun, but often those flies don’t outperform existing patterns.

A good rule of thumb is always make ten of any fly - you learn quicker, make more flies, and it develops good muscle memory.