In December we will be hunting pheasants here in the Texas Panhandle and I was wondering if anyone here could tell me what parts of the pheasant I should keep for tying materials.
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In December we will be hunting pheasants here in the Texas Panhandle and I was wondering if anyone here could tell me what parts of the pheasant I should keep for tying materials.
Save the entire skin of at least one bird and grab all of the tail feathers you can get. What you can't use can be sold or traded.
Yep save it all....
http://www.jackgartside.com/art_pheasant_feathers.htm
If hens are legal they are nice too.
The entire cape
I agree, get the whole skin. It's easier to salt and dry the whole skin and the feathers ae much easier to manage when attached. If you can't or don't want the hassle then I would get the tail feathers, some of the wing primaries (for quill wing style flies) and the blue rump feathers for soft hackle streamers like the Carey Special
Some of my favorite nymph and wetfly patterns are tied with the smaller & darker neck and shoulder hackles off both Rooster and hen pheasant skins. I have one full skin of each, and they've served me for a number of years.
I use the whole skin when it comes to my fly tying. As as to a good roast pheasant with a choice wine......yummy just yummy (the flies you can make outta any part of the pheasant are yummy too.....to the trout that is and to my fly fishing and artistic fly tying eye) !!!