Deer hair

[Ray Kunz]

Is there a difference between White Tail deer, Texas deer and Coastal deer?
Are they the same species with just different hair lengths caused by the different area climates? I've always wondered.

[Sully]

Their hair can be different because they can be different subspecies along with their variance in enviroment.

* Odocoileus virginianus borealis (Northern white-tailed deer, the largest and darkest white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus dacotensis (Dakota/Northern Plains white-tailed deer with the most northerly distribution, and rivals the Northern white-tailed deer in size)
* Odocoileus virginianus virginianus (Virginia/Southern white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus macrourus (Kansas white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus mcilhennyi (Avery Island white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus osceola (Florida Coastal white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus seminolus (Florida white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus clavium (Key Deer found in Florida Keys)
* Odocoileus virginianus ochrourus (Northwest/Northern Rocky Mountains white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus leucurus (Columbian white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus couesi (Coues deer/Arizona white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus carminis (Carmen Mountains white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus texanus (Texas white-tailed deer)
* Odocoileus virginianus truei (Central American white-tailed deer found in Costa Rica's Guanacaste Province)
* Odocoileus virginianus gymnotis (South American lowland white-tailed deer found in northern half of Venezuela, including Venezuela's Llanos Region)
* Odocoileus virginianus apurensis (South American lowland white-tailed deer found in southern Venezuela's Llanos Region in Colombia and Venezuela)
* Odocoileus virginianus peruvianus (South American Andean white-tailed deer with the most southerly distribution found in Peru and possibly, Bolivia)

[kbproctor]

BUT! Will the fish give a rat's rump?

[Gandolf]

Hi Ray,

The whitetail deer here in the Texas panhandle has hair about 1/2 as long as the whitetail in north west Kansas where I grew up.

I have quite a bit of central Texas panhandle deer hair, and also a bit that a friend shot in my old home town, and the difference in the hair length is striking.

Regards,

Gandolf

[Buddy Sanders]

The fish don't even know...

But, we do. As tyers, the 'type' of hair, often only roughly, but sometimes specifically, matters...you can't use all deer hair for every type of 'use'.

There are some guys out there who can tell you that a certain sub species of deer from a particular place and time of year will produce the perfect hair for such and such use....

I don't hunt, so my 'options' for 'harvested' deer hair/hide are limited...I won't turn down any. I can always find a use for any that I get.

When I end up having to 'buy' deer hair, I buy what I need for a specific use....since it's usually packaged stuff, I have no clue what animal it came from. I just look at it and pick based on my own criteria.

Buddy

[William Fitzgerald]

For all the info you need on deer hides types etc go to www.globalflyfisher.com/staff/helm Chris Helm tells how --------BILL

[Steven McGarthwaite]

Every Deer has various deer hair on their body that is different from the other hair, each has a specific use in fly tying.

Mask: short deer hair. medium texture, best as part of deer hair dubbing.

Back & Neck: fairly long, with fine texture, great for wings, not as buoyant as rump and belly hair.

Flanks: medium length, course/medium texture, best for spinning on small hook patterns, surface fly patterns

Rump &Belly: long course hair, best for spinning large bass bugs requiring buoyancy. Belly Hair is best for dying bright colors, since the deer belly hair is white.

Legs: short fine textured, best for small hook patterns, less buoyant.

http://globalflyfisher.com/staff/hel...ing/chart.html

Bucktail: tips least hollow and less buoyant, best used on streamer patterns, that are for below surface presentation. Most commercial Bucktail is from the White Tail Deer, that has a edging of white and the center is brown, the edges are take a good color from dying, the central portion is shorter hairs and the dying colors are muddled.