Just my .02. I tie a lot of wooly buggers and had the same problem. When you palmer the hackle does the tips of the hackle point toward the eye of the hook? If so then you have placed the hackle on the bugger wrong. When I tie a bugger I tie a very thin piece of gold wire on the off side of the hook (the side away from you) and then tie in the body material and wrap to the head of the bugger. Then I tie the butt of the hackle to the head of the bugger and wrap to the back. I let my hackle pliers weight hold the hackle in place and then wrap the wire to the head of the bugger covering the wraps of the hackle. I tie off the wire and then trim the hackle at the butt of the bugger. Tie the head and you are done. The hackle tips will point to the butt of the bugger and it will give the body a tapered look from head to butt. Hope this helps.