Hunting

Hunting for Fly-Tying Material

November 1, 2004

If it's hunting season, then it must be time to start thinking about fishing--especially if you like to tie your own flies or bucktail jigs. Many commonly (and not so commonly) hunted birds and animals provide prime fly-tying materials, as long as you know what to clip, pluck, or cut, and how to store and maintain the stuff. To preserve hides, you simply need to salt the patch of fur you wish to keep. Deer tails require boning out. If you're saving bird feathers, store them in a zippered plastic bag or screw-top jar. To keep matched feathers from curling or getting smashed, tape the quills together, and you'll have a perfect pair for streamer tails. --T. EDWARD NICKENS


ANIMAL	FLY MATERIAL	FLY PATTERN
Elk	Bull body hair	Elk Hair Caddis and parachute wings
Whitetail deer	Bucktail, natural or dyed	Body and wings for Clouser and Deceiver patterns; tails for bucktail jigs
Rabbit	Fur strips	Leech, Rabbit Candy patterns; guard hairs for white streamer throats
Gray squirrel	Tail hairs	Dry-fly tails and wings, crayfish legs
Red squirrel	Red, black, and gray tail fur	Collar on tarpon streamers
Wild turkey	Secondary wing quills	Wings for caddis, hopper, and Atlantic salmon patterns
Wood duck	Barred body feathers	Classic streamer patterns, tails on dry emergers
Ringneck pheasant	Rooster tails	Knotted grasshopper legs, Pheasant Tail Nymph tails
Sharptail grouse	Body feathers	Patterned body on tarpon flies
Ruffed grouse	Neck feathers	Hackles for wet flies
Hungarian partridge	Neck and body feathers	Soft hackles